By Ken McKenzie

The young Pacelli Lady Cardinals basketball squad fought hard Tuesday against Port Edwards of the Central Wisconsin Ten conference, falling short in the end by a score of 47-29.

Coach Adam Osypowski’s charges struggled at times to get shots off in traffic, while hitting the open looks they did manage remained a challenge in this contest.

Pacelli junior Sydney Alery hit a trey and a jumper in the lane to keep the Lady Cards in the contest early, giving them a 5-4 lead midway through the opening frame. The Port Edwards’ five shared the ball, with freshman Abbie Hutkowski scoring twice in the quarter and Jordyn Schraeder following up her own missed shot for a put back and another freshman, Cassidy O’Shasky, adding a steal and lay in at 1:12 to put the Blackhawks ahead 10-5 at the first break.

The visitors nailed a couple of field goals and hit twice from the line while Sami Kay Shafranski split her charity shots with Pacelli went only one of four in the quarter. Julia Grygleski hit a shot on an inbounds play for the Cards with Port Ed’s Alexandria Schraeder just beating the horn with a trey to push the halftime score to a 19-11 margin.

Jordyn Schraeder drove the left baseline, finishing on the right side as Port Ed’s went ahead by ten early in the third. Eventually, she scored all nine of the Blackhawks points in the frame. Pacelli sophomore Emma Kulick got a put back and Sydney Alery scored off a steal and lay in to end the quarter with the hosts on the short end of a 28-15 score.

With possession high on the right arc in the forecourt, Alery pivoted and with no one open to pass to, eventually let fly with her second trey of the night to open scoring for Pacelli in the fourth. Kulick hit both free tosses as substitute shooter for Shafranski who left with a hard fall in the lane to narrow the gap to ten at 7:11 but O’Shasky was quick to score off a press break for Port Edward to squash the momentum.

Katherine Mueller added twin free throws for Pacelli before Marissa Ziegler added a baseline jumper and Jordyn Schraeder a baby right half hook as Port Edwards began to pull away once more. Pacelli had several shots blocked and lost possession on a bad pass and a travel as the final thoughts of an upset dimmed.

Alery nailed another three-point shot from the right arc and Kulick crossed the lane for  a layup with Alery adding a jumper in the final half minute in between final hoops, one by each of Port Ed’s Schraeder girls’ tandem in posting the 47-29 final.

Alery played a nice game, leading Pacelli in scoring with 15 points, including the three treys, with Kulick adding six.  Jordyn Schraeder had a game-high 17 with Ziegler chipping in 11 to lead the victorious Blackhawks.

Pacelli now returns to Central WI 8 play, traveling to Amherst (6-11,4-6 in conference) on Friday night before returning home next Tuesday to play Manawa (3-15, 0-10 in conference) as the regular season winds down through its last five games.

Pacelli Scoring:  Julia Grygleski 2, Katherine Mueller 4, Emma Kulick 6, Sami Kay Shafranski 2, Sydney Alery 15.