Bay Port ends De Pere’s streak

By Rich Palzewic
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
SUAMICO – The Bay Port and De Pere girls’ basketball teams came into their Fox River Classic Conference (FRCC) game last night heading in opposite directions.
De Pere had won five straight, while Bay Port had lost two consecutive — something had to give. After a tight first half, the Pirates pulled away in the second half for a 53-41 victory at Bay Port High School.
“This was a huge victory for us,” Bay Port coach Dennis Gladwell said. “Coming off two straight losses, we didn’t want to make it three heading into the second half of the season. De Pere is a good basketball team — we didn’t take them lightly.”
To begin the game, the Redbirds (9-8 overall, 8-4 FRCC) jumped ahead 6-2 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Kaylei Anderson and Egan Bierowski.
The Pirates (9-8, 8-3) responded with a 5-0 run to go up 7-6.
From there, De Pere answered with a 12-6 surge to bump the advantage to 19-13.
During the spurt, Sophie Hafeman and Annika Dugenske scored six and five points, respectively.
Bay Port’s Kyla Hendricks, a Division II commit to St. Cloud State University, hit a long 3-pointer near the end of the first half to cut the Redbirds’ lead to 21-18 at the break.
“I was happy with our first half, but we turned the ball over too much,” De Pere coach Jeremy Boileau said. “I was glad we could keep the lead going into halftime — I felt good where we were at.”
In the second half, the Pirates came out of the locker room on fire.
Fueled by a 22-3 run, Bay Port increased its lead to 40-24 about halfway through the half. Hendricks, Rhyan Coughlin and Emma Krause all hit 3-pointers during the stretch.
“We knew De Pere was playing some good basketball, so we had to play a strong game to win,” said Coughlin, who had seven points on the night. “We played as a team tonight — this victory gives us a lot of confidence going forward.”
The Redbirds ended the game by scoring 10 of the last 11 points, but it was too little too late.
“Bay Port grabbed the momentum at the end of the first half and carried that into the second half,” Boileau said. “We played hard, but we went too long of a stretch without scoring. We ended well — we showed a lot of grit during our winning streak, but tonight, Bay Port did a great
job of getting offensive rebounds.”
Gladwell was proud of the way his players responded in the second half.
“At halftime, I told the girls we needed to play solid defense, play our game, pressure the ball and rebound,” he said. “De Pere did a great job of taking us out of our game in the first half — their defense made us force shots.”
Hendricks led all scorers with 21 points, while Ellie McDermid added 11.
Bierowski and Allison Wettstein led the Redbirds with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
De Pere has played the entire season without junior Claire Bjorge, who tore the ACL in her knee almost six months ago.
Bjorge, a Division I recruit, averaged almost 16 points per game last season as a sophomore and was a first-team pick in the FRCC.
“Claire is making progress every day,” Boileau said. “We’re trying to incorporate her into practice with what she’s allowed to do.”
Despite the injury, Bjorge suited up for the game and sat on the bench with her teammates.
“I think it’s therapeutic for Claire to sit on the bench — it means she’s getting closer to returning,” Boileau said. “Maybe that won’t be this season, but it gives her a sense of belonging. She has a great role without being able to play — being a leader and being vocal with her teammates. She’s also been communicating with the coaches about what she sees.”