Shooting woes send Port Washington boys home

A lack of offense was the story of much of the Port Washington High School boys’ basketball team’s season, and the playoffs turned out to be no different.

The No. 5-seeded Pirates lost at No. 4-seeded Kewaskum on Feb. 16 in a Division 2 regional game, 47-37.

The Pirates fell behind early, 16-4, because they shot 6-for-22 from the field.

But Port stepped it up on the other end of the court.

“We were able to lock down on defense the last seven minutes of the half,” coach Brian Hebein said.

In the final minute of the first half, Pirate junior guard Brayden Thompson picked off a pass in the lane, and junior guard Aedan Egan drove three-fourths of the court for a layup with 40 seconds left.

The Indians tried to answer, but Port’s only senior, 6-foot, 4-inch Nick Burmesch, blocked a shot with eight seconds left.

Despite the bad offensive first half, the Pirates were only down, 18-13.

They quickly cut the lead to three on an inbounds play early in the second half. Michael Bunyan scored a wide-open layup on an inbounds play 34 seconds into the half.

But the Pirates’ offense then went on a 10-minute break.

With 7 minutes, 13 seconds left, freshman guard Ben Fritsch ended the scoreless stretch with an offensive rebound and putback on a three-pointer that got all air.

By then, the Indians were up, 30-17.

Fritsch later hit a shot inside to cut the lead to 32-25, and sophomore guard Ryan Burmesch made a bucket inside to cut the deficit to 34-27.

The Indians built the advantage back to 41-27 during a Pirate two-minute scoring drought. Nick Burmesch hit a three-pointer to make it 41-30 with 1:26 left, but Port never got closer than eight after that.

“They made just enough free throws to keep us at distance,” Hebein said.

Egan had 10 points. Ryan Burmesch had eight and Nick Burmesch had six. Fritsch and Bunyan each had four.

Guard Kyle Hoeft led Kewaskum with 22 points. Michael Daniel had 10.

The Indians went 14-for-22 on free throws.

“The crazy part is we didn’t shoot one free throw the entire game,” Hebein said.

Port, which had beat Cudahy at home for its first win of the season days before, finished 1-22.

Kewaskum (7-16) went on to lose to No. 1-seeded Grafton, 71-56.