Port Washington Tops Plymouth in Regional Final

Shane Kennedy took two shots for his team Saturday night.

The first shot, one to the chin while taking a charge in the third quarter, left him a bloody mess. The second shot, a short jumper in the paint, was the game-winning basket for Port Washington.

The Pirates rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half to defeat Plymouth, 48-47, in a WIAA Division 2 regional final at West Bend High School. Port Washington will go into Friday's sectional against Beaver Dam with a 12-11 record.

With 8.3 seconds left, Plymouth freshman guard Kollin Neils made a free throw to give his team a 47-46 lead. He missed the second shot, but the neither team could gain control of the ball as it went across the half-court line, which was a violation against Plymouth.

That left 3.4 seconds on the clock, just enough time for one good shot.

Kennedy was not the first option on the final play. He was supposed to get the ball to Sawyer Mosely. Mosely, however, was covered and Kennedy had no other choice but to shoot.

“I haven’t made a shot like that since sixth grade,” Kennedy said. “But this one feels a whole lot better.”

The winning shot caused an eruption as fans and players mobbed each other on the court after second-seeded Port defeated the No. 1 seed.

“I am really proud of my guys coming back from 10 down, they just kept battling and battling,” Port Washington coach John Bunyan said.

Kennedy, a 6-foot 4-inch senior forward, had to leave the game early in the third quarter when he took an elbow to the chin, which opened a wound. After a trip to the locker room, Kennedy returned with a bandage on his chin, and another uniform. His uniform, No. 32, was covered with blood. He ended up borrowing No. 33 from teammate Chaz Puckett.

“Kennedy was a warrior,” Bunyan said.  “He wanted the ball in the post and he did a wonderful job.”

The game almost got away from the Pirates in the third quarter. They went almost four minutes without scoring and Plymouth held a 33-23 lead at the midway point of the period.  

Port finished the third quarter strong as Mosely hit a pair of free throws and Eric Graf hit a basket at the buzzer to cut Plymouth’s lead to seven (36-29) going into the fourth period.

Mosely provided the spark to get the Pirates back into the game. He scored on a driving layup and followed that up with a 3-pointer to cut Plymouth’s lead to 39-37 with 4:29 left. Kennedy hit two free throws with 2:55 left to tie the game at 39-39.

Plymouth regained the lead and held a 46-43 lead. Mosely hit his third 3-pointer of night to set up the last second heroics.

“I wish we wouldn’t have made it so close, we missed some free throws. We missed a ton of them,” Bunyan said. “But I was really happy with the way we played in the fourth quarter.”

Port will take on Beaver Dam (16-8) in the sectional semifinal in De Pere at 8:15 p.m. on Friday.

Box score

Plymouth: Kastelic 1 4-6 4, C. Unger 1 0-0 2, M. Unger 1 4-5 6, Krueger 1 3-6 5, Neils 3 6-8 12, Dellger 2 1-4 6, Payne 3 0-0 6, Hanson 1 1-2 4.  Totals 13 19-31 47.

Port Washington: Burbach 2 0-0 4, McIlree 2 0-0 4, Graf 1 0-0 2, Schueller 0 4-6 4, Mosely 5 3-4 16, Rismeyer 3 1-3 7, Kennedy 3 5-8 11. Totals 16 13-21 48.

Plymouth:              9-16-11-11—47

Port Washington   6-15--8-19--- 48            

Three-point baskets: Plymouth: Dellger, Hanson. Port Washington: Mosely (3). Total fouls: Plymouth 19, Port Washington 19. Fouled out:  None.