Pirate boys seal a share of conference title

A team that just went to 20-1 and sealed a share of a title in the inaugural Glacier Trails Conference didn’t talk about its accomplishments this season.

Minutes after routing Kewaskum, 88-59, at home last Thursday, multiple members of the Port Washington High School boys’ basketball team reflected on how their experience two years ago helped them reach success.

“This means a lot to us. We’ve been working for this for three years now,” senior Cal Loose said.

“We started 0-13 my sophomore year. Building this program up, doing tons of work in the offseason just means so much to me and my friends and family. Everybody supports us.”

“It just shows the progress,” senior Grady Karrels said, “bringing a new coach in, improving every day, just pushing each other to work hard.”

Forward Izaiah Scheftgen said, “It means a lot. It’s a big turnaround from our sophomore year.”

Third-year coach Garrett Hoffmann discussed his team’s progress since he arrived.

“We had a talk reviewing the last two, three years. These guys have put in all the work. You can’t really describe this kind of feeling. It’s cool to see that pay off,” he said.

The Pirates started the game hot, vaulting to a 30-6 lead. They led, 49-22, at the break, racking up 18 assists in the first 18 minutes.

They finished with 32 assists on 35 baskets.

Eleven Pirates had at least one assist.

“We don’t care about individual success. It’s a lot of building up the team. Doing that, obviously, we win,” senior Colton Struckman said.

Thirteen Pirates scored, led by Loose’s 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting. He went 5-for-8 on three-pointers.

Karrels and Will Theisen each had 12 points and six assists. Finn Pashak had 11 points, six offensive rebounds and six assists. Scheftgen had nine points on 4-for-5 shooting.

“Everybody on the floor has got to be a threat. When all five guys are hunting their shots, if it’s not there for them, they create for another guy,” Hoffmann said.

Pashak created another hairstyle for his teammates. After planning to get a buzz cut, other Pirates joined in on a Sunday a few weeks ago. Pashak served as the barber at his house.

“It was like a garbage can full of hair,” he said.

“It was a blast,” Struckman said. “It takes the individuality out of it. We’re a whole team collectively.”

The haircuts are one example of the Pirates’ camaraderie they’ve built over several years. This year, they went to a retreat at the Bunkhouse in the Town of Belgium, and Hoffmann has had the team at his apartment for pizza and movie night.

“We’ve got the chemistry,” Karrels said. “We’re all best friends outside basketball too. Bringing that onto the court we can swing the ball all over, just make plays the whole game.”

“We’re just all connected,” Scheftgen said. “Everyone on the team is close. There’s no one who’s left out.”

Loose, who eclipsed 1,000 career points last month, passed Adam Baierl for second on Port’s all-time scoring list. Josh Gasser remains several hundred points ahead.

“Just gotta shoot the ball with confidence, work on my craft,” Loose said.

Thursday’s game was Port’s third win of the week.

The Pirates won at Cedarburg, 63-46,on Feb. 9. Loose had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Karrels had 15 points. Pashak had 11.

Port beat West Bend West, 63-49, on Feb. 11. Loose had 15 points and seven rebounds. Karrels had 14 points and six assists. Struckman had 10 points.

Port is 10-0 in the GTC and needs one win in its last two conference games to seal a solo league title. Port plays at Sheboygan South (5-4 GTC) on Thursday, hosts nonconference foe Cedar Grove-Belgium (16-4 overall) on Monday, Feb. 23, and plays at second-place Plymouth (8-2 GTC) on Thursday, Jan. 26.

Grafton boys lose two

Grafton lost two home games last week.

Nicolet beat the Black Hawks, 76-63, on Feb. 10.

DJ James had 20 points on 6-for-12 shooting and five assists. Josiah Gonzales had 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting. Caleb Battles had 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting and seven rebounds. Hank Doyle had nine points on 4-for-10 shooting and Parker Shaw had eight points on 3-for-4 shooting.

The Hawks shot 23-for-45 (51%) as a team.

Grafton lost to West Bend West last Friday, 79-60.

James had 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting. Battles had nine points on 3-for-8 shooting. Braxton Boehlke and Paxton Reichcyhl each had eight points. Shaw had seven and Adam Dembiec had six.

Grafton, 3-18, was to play at West Allis Hale (2-19) on Tuesday, Feb. 17. The Hawks play at Slinger (17-4) on Friday, Feb. 20.