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Fond du Lac's 'A' game too much for Bay Port to handle

12/07/2022, 1:15pm CST
By Mark Miller

Turns out, Fond du Lac 'A' game is better than Bay Port's 'D' game.

Far better.

Dominating from the opening tip, Fond du Lac registered an impressive 66-45 non-league victory over the Pirates Tuesday in Fond du Lac.

The Cardinals improved to 1-1 heading into their Fox Valley Association opener Friday against invading Kimberly by grabbing a 16-2 lead, extending it to 27-9 and being ahead 38-27 at intermission.

Bay Port slipped to 2-1 and could not muster a second-half rally due to sloppy passes, missed layups and a defense that allowed too much penetration. 

Senior standout Jamariea Dalton (6-2) led a balanced attack for Fond du Lac with 19 points and classmate Colton Blank (6-2) contributed 13. Dalton and Blank did an outstanding job of drawing fouls as Dalton went nine-of-10 from the foul line and Blank made five-of-six charity tosses. 

Sharing the wealth works well for Fondy

Moving the ball at a rapid pace on offense proved to be a huge benefit for Fond du Lac. 

Eight different players scored for the Cardinals and the constant ball movement kept Bay Port's defense off kilter the entire night.

"We shared the ball and moved it well all game," Fond du Lac coach Nick Ford said. "In our opener against Arrowhead, we took a 16-10 lead and then had 11 straight possessions one one or two passes. That's didn't work out too well for us. 

"Sometimes I think we have a lot of talented guys who have spent a lot of time in the gym and get into a game and want to show their stuff too quickly. But tonight we were more patient and did an excellent job of moving it."

With Dalton cutting to the basket and scoring early, his ability to slash to the hoop opened things up from the perimeter and the Cardinal shooters responded well.

Senior Stephen Schreiter (6-2) and junior Rocky Barfknecht (6-0) each drilled a pair of three-point baskets and the Cardinals finished with six triples in the contest.

The stellar mixture of perimeter shooting, getting to the foul line and scoring inside the arc was difficult for Bay Port to contain.

Defensively, Fond du Lac used is superior physical strength and the size and length of players like Will Braatz (6-6), Ryker Johnson (6-4) and Eli Braatz (6-2) to make things difficult for Bay Port, particularly around the basket.

"Defensively, I thought we did a good job of pressuring the ball," Ford said. "We wanted to speed them up and make them play faster. Our top eight players all played very well tonight."

Ford, now in his fourth year as the head coach at Fond du Lac, is excited to see if the Cardinals' strong play against Bay Port carries over to its outing with Kimberly on Friday.

"I've never beaten Kimberly as a coach," he said. "It's a different year with different players and Kimberly won't have Jackson Paveletzke or Owen Pawlikowski this time. But it's still Kimberly. They come into a gym, and there is immediate respect. However, if we play like we did tonight, I like our chances. We need to build on this win."

Fond du Lac's last victory over Kimberly took place on February 14, 2017. The Cardinals have lost 10 straight outings to the Papermakers. 

One of those nights does in Bay Port


Jayden Hackett

Tuesday non-league games on the road in early December can be a challenge.

The crowds tend to be smaller, there isn't as much electricity since it's an out-of-conference contest and the bus ride can be long and a bit sleepy. 

Bay Port may have run into all of that against Fond du Lac, or the Pirates may have just laid an egg.

Whatever the reason, veteran Bay Port coach Nate Rykal was at a loss to explain why his team dropped its first game in such emphatic fashion.

"I don't know if I can answer what we did well tonight," Rykal said. "We turned it over too many times, we got sloppy with the ball and we missed some layups. We have to learn to stay in front of people better on defense.

"But credit Fond du Lac. They got to the line and we didn't. They outscored us 18-4 from the free throw line. We didn't do a good job of attacking the basket."

Projected to finish second in the Fox River Classic Conference and already owning victories over Stevens Point and Appleton North, Bay Port was favored to leave Fond du Lac with a victory. After all, the Cardinals won just four games a year ago and lost their season opener to Arrowhead.

But Fond du Lac seized control from the very beginning and led by double-digits for the vast majority of the contest.

"We need to play as a team better," Rykal said. "It was a poor job by myself and our coaching staff tonight. We have to get better."

Senior standout AJ Lieuwen (6-0) was held to 13 points after scoring 25 against Stevens Point and 23 against Appleton North. Fond du Lac guarded Lieuwen well and made it difficult for him to get open looks at the basket.

Senior Jayden Hackett (6-4) led Bay Port with 18 points and drilled two of his team's three baskets from outside the arc. He also had one of the most impressive plays of the game when he soared in from the wing to get a tip-in for Bay Port in the second half. 

Senior Vince Vandervest (6-4) continues to battle back from an ankle injury and is not moving at 100 percent. Normally a very active player on both ends of the court with his length and athleticism, Vandervest scored just six points against Fond du Lac. 

For the latest and most up to date boys' basketball news and recruiting information, follow Mark on Twitter @wisbbyearbook. Email story ideas, recruiting info, etc. to Mark by clicking here.

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