Port boys closer to figuring it out

A new wrinkle in the lineup for the Port Washington High School boys’ basketball team provided a spark but not the Pirates’ third victory of the season on Friday.

North Shore Conference opponent Hartford beat Port, 69-59.

Junior Payton Lambrecht started at point guard, which allowed Tamai McKoy-Jackson and Evan Lilly to play the wings.

“It was working really well. Payton was doing a really nice job, gave us a nice spark,” coach Brian Hebein said.

“We were getting quality shots. We had a couple rim in and out on us. We were playing better and taking care of the basketball better than we had in the last couple of games.”

The Pirates trailed 30-28 at halftime. In the second half, the Orioles pulled away.

“We were kind of scrambling. We made plays to keep it close,” Hebein said. “We got into the foul game at the end.”

Lilly and Mikey Ross each scored 15 points.

“Mikey Ross came in and gave us a nice spark off the bench,” Hebein said.

McKoy-Jackson scored 12. Post player Noah Melka had eight points but sat for part of the first half after committing two offensive fouls. He still played 32 minutes.

“Noah did a nice job for us. It was really good to see he was able to get position down low,” Hebein said.

Lambrecht scored seven points and grabbed eight rebounds.

“He did a good job from the point guard position. He was very active for us,” Hebein said.

“We had some decent balanced scoring. Now if we can figure that out and consistently do that and get four or five guys putting the ball in the hole, we should be in good position for this second half stretch run of the conference season.”

For Hartford, Jadon Melvin and Blake Voss each scored 14 points and Thomas Sheehan and Nate Bloxdorf each had 11.

The Pirates are 1-8 in the NSC and 2-9 overall.

“I like the energy that we played with,” Hebein said. “We’re heading in the right direction, hopefully. I’m excited to get this second half of the conference season going and show we’re a better team than our record indicates.”

The Pirates host West Bend East (2-6 NSC) on Friday. The Suns beat the Pirates, 68-48 in the season opener on Dec. 4 in West Bend.