De Pere edges Bay Port, stays at No. 1

DE PERE - Last week, De Pere put its No. 1 ranking on the line and eked out a 57-54 win over then-No. 2 Bay Port, when Jordan Poydras drained a 3-pointer with four seconds left in the game.

Poydras’ shot not only won a game, it kept De Pere perfect in the Fox River Classic Conference, clinched the FRCC title and assured the Redbirds of staying on top of the FOX 11 Top 11 boys basketball poll this week.

De Pere is 20-1 overall, 15-0 in the FRCC and Poydras said the Redbirds are flying high.

“Defensively, we’re playing great right now,” Poydras said. “We’ve come a long way offensively. We’re more comfortable with each other, we’re not as selfish. Teams better be watching out for De Pere in the future.”

Outside of De Pere’s loss to Germantown, Bay Port pushed the Redbirds arguably harder than any other team. But Poydras said two FRCC opponents stand out.

“Pulaski, just the way they play,” Poydras said. “Other than that, this was the hardest game.”

Meanwhile, there’s a new No. 2 this week as Fox Valley Association champ Kaukauna replaces Bay Port at No. 2. Bay Port falls just one spot to No.3 and then the top five is rounded out with No. 4 Sheboygan North and No. 5 Wrightstown.

In the girls, poll, New London’s quest for perfection continues as does its ranking as No. 1 in the girls poll. The top three actually didn’t change as Division 4 powers Oshkosh Lourdes and Algoma check in at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.

Bay Port’s loss to De Pere dropped it from No. 4 and out of the top five, so the new No. 4 is, who else but De Pere, and No. 5 is Sheboygan North.

Freedom, No. 9 last week, dropped out of the poll after a loss at Xavier and was replaced by Notre Dame, which moves into the No. 10 spot.

Here are this week’s polls:

Boys
1. De Pere (20-1): Redbirds beat Ashwaubenon on Thursday and would be 16-0 in FRCC. Last week: No. 1.
2. Kaukauna (19-2): Ghosts received No. 1 seed in Division 2 playoffs. Last week: No. 4.
3. Bay Port (18-3): Pirates did almost everything in loss at De Pere to win. Last week: No. 2.
4. Sheboygan North (18-3): Devin Yurk’s 3-pointer beats Pulaski in overtime. Last week: No. 5.
5. Wrightstown (19-2): Tigers have won last three games by an average of 30 points per game. Last week: No. 6.
6. Brillion (19-2): Lions won tough game with Roncalli last week. Last week: No. 7.
7. Little Chute (18-2): Mustangs have lost two straight? Hard to believe. Last week: No. 3.
8. Omro (18-2): Foxes two wins away from winning second straight Flyway title. Last week: No. 9.
9. Peshtigo (18-2): Bulldogs have wrapped up M&O title. Last week: No. 10.
10. Oshkosh Lourdes (18-2): Only losses have come to Oshkosh North and Racine Lutheran. Last week: No. 11.
11. Pulaski (16-4): Red Raiders suffer tough loss to Sheboygan North. Last week: No. 8.

-Dropped out: None.

3-pointers

• 1. It’ll be interesting this week how Little Chute finishes regular season after two straight losses. Mustangs finish with Xavier and Winneconne.
• 2. Bay Port might’ve loss to De Pere last week, but Redbirds are aware a rematch in the postseason will be a challenge.
• 3. Pulaski has proven to be a tough team to beat as its four losses have come by a combined 19 points.

Girls
1. New London (19-0): Any reason to think Bulldogs won’t go 22-0? Last week: No. 1.
2. Oshkosh Lourdes (19-1): Knights coasting to the finish line conference play. Last week: No. 2.
3. Algoma (19-1): Wolves force tie in Packerland with big win over Kewaunee. Last week: No. 3
4. De Pere (15-4): Redbirds smother Bay Port in key FRCC game, in control of FRCC. Last week: No. 7.
5. Sheboygan North (16-3): North eyeing second-place finish in FRCC. Last week: No. 6.
6. Appleton East (16-3): Patriots likely needs wins vs. Kimberly on Tuesday and Appleton North on Friday to win FVA outright. Last week: No. 8.
7. Brillion (18-1): Lions lose first game of season to Roncalli. Last week: No. 5.
8. Bay Port (16-3): Pirates have lost two straight, lose shot at FRCC title. Last week: No. 4.
9. Coleman (17-1): Cougars back on track after first loss of season two weeks ago. Last week: No. 11.
10. Notre Dame (15-4): Allie LeClaire has played big this season for Tritons. Last week: unranked.
11. Kewaunee (15-4): Storm has lost two straight to Xavier and Algoma. Last week: No. 10.

-Dropped out: No. 9 Freedom (15-4); 1-1 last week.

3-pointers

• 1. Outside of New London, best team right now is De Pere, which has been so impressive in 2012, winning 11 straight games.
• 2. Sheboygan North has the toughest road to finish in second in the FRCC with remaining games against Green Bay Preble and Notre Dame.
• 3. FVA race is interesting. Appleton East has two-game lead but with Kimberly and Appleton North left on schedule it’s possible East could not win title. That would be a surprise based on East’s play, but Kimberly and North aren’t pushovers.

doug.ritchay@wluk.com