Bay Port girls look to get healthy, compete for conference title

SUAMICO – Coming off a 17-8 overall record and a 13-5 mark in the Fox River Classic Conference (FRCC), the Bay Port girls basketball team is looking to make some noise this season.

If the Pirates are going to make a serious run toward an FRCC title and a deep run in the postseason, Coach Adam Lemorande said his squad first must get healthy.

“Currently, [my sophomore daughter] Alayna [Lemorande] and [sophomore] Madeline Lewitzke are battling through their rehab with ACL tears,” he said.

“Alayna is 16 months out and is still fighting through some knee pain. If all goes well for Madeline, she’ll hopefully be cleared in early January or February.”
Lewitzke averaged 5.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game a season ago.

“Last season was a good year for us,” Lemorande said. “I think we may have looked past Germantown [in the WIAA Division 1 regional opener] a bit. We all wanted a shot at Pewaukee in the regional finals. It was a fun year, and we got better. Hopefully, we can build off that this season.”

Moving forward to the 2025-26 season, Lemorande said senior Keira Lynch isn’t playing because of a volleyball injury.

“Keira won’t be playing, but we added a really good sophomore in Ava Nagel,” he said. “She’s a strong kid and will help us a lot...she’s a strong rebounder. She understands the game well and will be an asset.”

Ava is the younger sister of Emma Nagel, a member of the 2019 state championship team.

Besides needing to get healthy, Lemorande said his squad will lean on a nucleus of three players — senior Melia Lemorande (17.9 points, 6.8 rebounds per game), junior Olivia Williams (14.4, 4) and sophomore Kailynn Thompson (9.6, 8.4).

Melia recently signed with Division II Maryville University in St. Louis.

“I’m hoping those three players can build off last year’s experience,” Lemorande said. “All three of them worked on their games a lot over the summer, so they got better — I’m hoping the results show on the court.”

With the injuries and a few other issues the Pirates are dealing with, Lemorande said the first five games of the season will be tough for his squad.
“To begin the season, we are not too deep,” he said. “I really like this team, but it might take a bit to get in sync and get everyone healthy. Hopefully, after the holidays, we will be good to go.”

Though Bay Port will be shorthanded to begin the season, Lemorande said that doesn’t mean his squad will slow the pace down.

“Nope,” he laughed. “We are going to try and push the ball. Olivia has some speed, and we’ll also rely on [senior] Payton Dudra, who has been a four-year starter. She is intelligent and possesses strong leadership skills. She’s kind of the nucleus of our team — she’s a really good point guard and also a really good defender.”

Lemorande said he thinks Notre Dame Academy and De Pere will both be strong again this season.

“I like us in the top three of the conference,” he said. “I think if we were healthy to begin the season, the top spot would have been a realistic goal — I would have owned that and taken that to the bank. I think we’ll go through our growing pains early on as we adjust and get healthy.”

After taking on Luxemburg-Casco, Appleton East, Appleton North and Oshkosh North in late November, the Pirates will take on Manitowoc Lincoln on Friday, Nov. 5.