By Rich Palzewic
Contributing Writer
SUAMICO – The “Highway B Rivalry” came down to the wire.
Fueled by three double-digit scorers, the Bay Port boys’ basketball held off a scrappy Pulaski team on Dec. 19 in Fox River Classic Conference (FRCC) action, 75-72.
With the game tied 67-67 with 3:44 remaining, Bay Port’s Blake Buchinger scored five points down the stretch, including an off-balance 3-pointer that made it 74-69 with just more than a minute remaining.
“I’m not sure I should have taken that shot, but I was feeling confident,” Buchinger, who led all scorers with 26 points, said. “We picked it up late in the game and started making shots.”
Besides Buchinger’s big game, the Pirates (2-5 overall, 2-2 FRCC) also saw Sawyer Durkee (22) and Maddox Cornette (14) score in double digits.
Cornette also grabbed 11 rebounds for Bay Port, which shot 45% from the field.
“We made some big shots down the stretch, but we have to make our free throws – we’ve got to be better than that,” Bay Port Coach Nate Rykal said. “We’re getting tougher and better by the day, but Pulaski is, too – you can see that. They played well tonight.”
First-year Pulaski Coach John Polkowski – the former long-time Green Bay Southwest coach – said “it was a great game.”
“We knew Bay Port was better than its 1-5 record (coming into the game),” he said. “It’s what you’d expect from a Bay Port/Pulaski game.”
With the Red Raiders (4-3, 1-3) up 19-18 eight minutes into the game, they went on a 9-0 run to surge ahead, 28-19.
The Pirates got within 42-39 when Cornette’s 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the half banked off the glass and in.
Behind six quick points from Durkee to begin the second 18 minutes of play and five from Buchinger, Bay Port jumped ahead, 52-48.
“We could have come out stronger to begin the game, but we picked it up,” Buchinger said. “Noah Thomas and Roman Binns – two of our bench players – did a great job and made some big plays. Maybe they don’t show up in the stat sheet much, but they helped us a lot.”
After a basket by Colin Schultz – who came into the contest averaging 27 points per game – a 3-pointer from Ethan Schmidt and a bucket by Dylan Dorn, Pulaski went back ahead, 55-52, with 12 minutes remaining.
A three from Cornette tied the game at 55-55 moments later.
After the teams went back and forth from there, Pulaski trailed by three late in the game.
With possession of the ball, the Red Raiders missed a pair of free throws but corralled the offensive rebound off the free-throw miss – only to see another 3-point shot carrom off the rim.
The Pirates could have iced the game on the ensuing possession, but a missed free throw kept the game within reach for Pulaski.
The outcome wasn’t decided until Bryce Wotruba’s off-balance three at the buzzer missed the mark.
“You can see the Pulaski players enjoy playing this style of ball under John,” Rykal said. “They seem to have more opportunities to push the ball and score.”
Polkowski said his squad has adjusted to his up-tempo style of play.
“Offensively, they’re coming into their own,” he said. “We’ve been working on defense. There are things we’re trying to install, and they’re buying in. It will take a bit of time.”
The Red Raiders had four players in double digits, led by Schultz’s 15 points.
Dylan Dorn (14), Schmidt (14) and Dixon Holewinski (11) also put up double digits.
As a team, Pulaski was only 8 of 17 from the free-throw line, including a 1 of 7 effort in the second half.
The poor free-throw percentage offset its 50% shooting night from the field.