Port girls get some helpful experience

It wasn’t exactly the start the Port Washington High School girls’ basketball team was hoping for, but the Pirates picked up some valuable playing time before North Shore Conference competition starts.

The Pirates lost to Lake Country Lutheran, 50-38, last Friday in a contest that featured 50 fouls.

Port committed 30 ­and had two players, Kaytlin Kassens and Kate Erlandson, foul out.

“Obviously, what got us in trouble was the fouling situation,” coach Jakob Wahl said.

“As we start to get going here and get a little more comfortable, we’ll get that cleaned up.”

Senior point guard Lizzie Egan provided a needed offensive spark, scoring 18 points. She hit seven two-pointers and went 4-for-7 from the free-throw line.

“That’s what we kind of expect from her. I just hope that she’ll continue to lead her teammates, get them all involved. I would expect to see more from some of our other players as well. Ella Bierman,

Kate Erlandson, they’ll fall right behind her as well,” Wahl said.

Erlandson added 10 points, going 6-for-9 on free throws.

Sophomore Morgan Stone knocked down a couple of three-pointers, including one as the final buzzer rang to close the gap.

Barely four minutes into the game, Port had an 11-8 lead.

But a scoring drought that lasted more than seven minutes helped the Lightning get back into the game.

By the time the Pirates scored a bucket — Egan hit a shot inside over a defender — they were down 17-13.

Kassens picked up her third foul with four minutes to play in the first half.

In a 64-second stretch, Egan scored six points to keep the Pirates within two, 23-21, with 2 minutes, 54 seconds left in the first half. One bucket came on a nice cut to the basket, another inside under heavy pressure and a third inside after winning a scramble on the floor for the ball.

Port was down, 27-25, at the break.

In the first minute of the second half, Erlandson drove and hit a shot inside to tie the game, but that’s as close as the Pirates would get.

Less than two minutes into the second half, Kassens was whistled for her fourth foul and had to come out.

The Lightning went on a 15-0 run in a seven-minute stretch that gave them a 48-29 lead with 6:25 to play, which was too much for the Pirates to overcome.

Port had more turnovers than field goals in the final 18 minutes, but Wahl said he liked the aggressiveness.

“I thought we played pretty well offensively, especially when we made the mentality that we’re going to the basket,” he said.

Regardless, Wahl said it was good to get some game experience.

“We have a lot of returners, but we did play a handful of sophomores too. I think that’s really going to help us going forward so we can start to formulate some more depth there,” he said.

Port was to open NSC play at Grafton on Tuesday, at Cudahy on Wednesday and at Homestead on Tuesday, Nov. 27.