Port girls get a glimmer of Hope

Less than 20 feet represented a giant leap in the resurgence of the Port Washington High School girls’ basketball program on Nov. 30.

The Pirates were behind the entire game against Cedar Grove-Belgium, at one point by as many as 13 points, before freshman Hope Gilhooly drilled a three-pointer from the left wing with one minute left.

That gave Port a 64-62 lead, and after frantic play for loose balls and rebounds in the final seconds, the Pirates hung on for a 66-63 victory.

“I usually don’t plan on taking threes. I just do it,” Gilhooly said.

When the ball sailed through the net, “I was shocked,” she said.

But Port had some work to do to survive the Rockets’ response.

Port senior Kayla Johnson forced a jump ball with 46 seconds left, and the Pirates had the possession arrow. Sierra Miller was fouled and made one of two free throws, making it 65-62 with 25.5 seconds to play.

On the ensuing possession, Rocket junior Alexis Bahr was fouled and missed the front end of a bonus with 10.4 seconds left. But Port fouled on the rebound. Alexis’ sister, freshman Olivia, made her first free throw.

Johnson snagged the rebound after the second shot missed with 9.4 ticks left.

Port freshman Maggie Zirbes was fouled with 6.1 seconds left, and her first free throw hit the rim, bounced straight up and fell through the cylinder on the way down. She missed the second, and Alexis Bahr was fouled on the rebound.

Bahr missed both her free throws with three seconds left, and Port secured the win.

“That’s awesome. The girls really battled,” coach Jakob Wahl said.

The win moved Port to 2-1 on the season, the first time the Pirates have been above .500 since winning their season opener in 2012.

Gilhooly led four Pirates in double figures with 15 points and went 3-for-8 on three-pointers, including the game-changing one.

“It’s a big shot for a freshman to make,” Wahl said. “She can shoot. She’s fearless.”

Gilhooly also had 10 rebounds and four assists.

Freshman Paige Schuenemann scored 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting. Miller had 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting, along with six assists, and Zirbes scored 12 points on 3-for-7 shooting and had four assists.

Freshman Lilian Merow scored eight points, and Johnson grabbed eight rebounds.

Alexis Bahr led the Rockets with 17 points. Katelyn Morris had 12, Sophie Beightol had 11 and Tara Schmitz had 10.

Morris went 4-for-4 from the free throw line, but the rest of the Rockets went 4-for-16.

“We just couldn’t land the free throws. We’ve got to work on that,” Cedar Grove-Belgium coach Mike Bikman, known as Coach Bik, said.

The Rockets took charge early, jumping out to a 12-4 lead. They held at least a two-point lead for the entire first half, topping out with a 31-18 edge with five minutes left. It was 37-27 at the break.

Bik said he was happy with how his team came out of the gates on the road.

“I’m proud of these players. I’m proud of the coaches,” he said.

Port bounced back and outscored the Rockets, 39-26, in the final 18 minutes.

“I kind of challenged them at halftime just to pick up the defensive enthusiasm, and they did. It was a great second half for us,” Wahl said.

“Their defense started pressuring us and they got a little more physical than us,” Bik said.

“We just got a little excited and we ran our offense way too fast. I know Port likes to push the ball. We do, too, but when they’re pushing we try to go faster, which we don’t need to do.”

The Pirates slowly chipped away at the lead, cutting it to 52-47 with nine minutes left, as their fans’ cheers coincided with the gradual shift in momentum.

The Rockets answered a few times, pushing their edge back to seven at 54-47, 56-49 and 58-51.

Three-pointers by Gilhooly and Zirbes cut the lead to 58-57. Schmitz and Scheunemann traded buckets in the paint to make it 60-59 before Alexis Bahr scored on a fast break and Johnson scored inside, moving the score to 62-61.

Port drew an offensive foul on Bahr and called timeout before Gilhooly sank the long ball to give the Pirates the lead.

They weren’t going to let it go.

“You don’t think about it much, but you put a little more effort into it and you make sure that you hustle back on defense and do what you have to do to make sure you win the game,” Johnson said.

Wahl praised the effort of Johnson, the team’s only senior, who battled hard for rebounds and loose balls late in the game.

“That’s awesome to see from Kayla. She’s leading the group right now, especially these moments right here,” he said.

The comeback gives Port an early boost that can resonate throughout the season.

“It proves that we can do anything. I think we’re going to have a pretty good season just with showing how hard we can work for this game,” Scheunemann said.

For the Rockets, 63 points were as many as they’ve scored since December 2018 in a 70-52 win over Kewaskum.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had this many points on the varsity level,” Bik said. “It was a very competitive game.”

West Bend East tops Port

The Pirates couldn’t keep the momentum going in a 72-48 loss at West Bend East on Friday.

Port was behind, 20-18, in the first half when a bad nine-minute stretch left them with a 44-24 halftime deficit.

“It was just coming down to a few turnovers on our offense, some poor decisions and not being in tune with what we had to do on defense,” Wahl said.

Scheunemann had 13 points and six rebounds. Merow had 12 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Johnson had six points and five rebounds and Gilhooly had four points and 10 rebounds.

Candence Xiong had 19 points to lead four Suns in double figures.

Port (2-2) was to host Grafton on Tuesday, play at Slinger on Friday and at Cedarburg at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14, in a girls-boys doubleheader.

Random Lake runs over the Rockets

The Rams put the pressure on the Rockets last Thursday and came away with a 60-34 win after jumping out to a 36-14 halftime lead.

“We came out a little flat. They pressed us and we panicked,” Bik said.

A timeout settled the Rockets, but their shooting followed the outdoor temperature trend. They were 1-for-30 on three-pointers and 11-for-34 inside the arc.

“I told the kids I was happy with their shooting attempts. We just need them to fall,” Bik said.

Morris led the Rockets with 12 points.

Abby Borchardt scord 27 for the Rams. Becca Arendt had 14 points, 15 rebounds and five steals.

The Rockets (2-2) were to play at Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah on Tuesday, at Oostburg on Friday and will host Manitowoc Lutheran on Tuesday, Dec. 14.