Pirate Competitor of the Week – January 18, 2022:
Junior Chase Dittmar is this week’s Pirate Competitor of the Week sponsored by Galena Culver’s and the Galena Gazette. Chase led Galena’s scoring efforts in a split meet with Lena-Winslow in scholastic bowl conference play. He answered a team-high 5 tossups of 48 heard in the categories of social sciences, science, and miscellaneous – including identifying the company that received the first ever audio trademark for the 3-note sequence G-E-C (Answer: NBC). Coach Ron Jenkins said, “Chase had a good performance in this first outing of the regular season. I look forward to seeing him continue to flourish as a player over the rest of the season.” Chase was honored with a gift basket from the Galena Culver’s, as well as a newspaper courtesy of the Galena Gazette.

Also Nominated:
Sophomore Ella Getz played a crucial role in the JV Scholastic Bowl earning 2nd place at the Pecatonica Scholastic Bowl Tournament Thursday night.  She not only led the team with 21 correctly answered toss-up questions, which then gave Galena control of 21 bonus question sets, but she also was an excellent team captain.  According to coach Mary Calfee, “Ella listens to input from all team members and is quick to put together a solid answer to all questions asked at the meet.”

Junior Kolby Knautz helped the Pirates go 2-1 last week by averaging 5 points and 5 rebounds per game.  Coach Wienen commented, “I have been really happy with Kolby’s play these last couple of games. He got the opportunity to play a lot and took advantage of his opportunity. Kolby has a good sense of how to find the opening in our opponents defense and his teammates have done a great job finding him when he’s open. His ability to understand his role on our team and excel at his role is a big reason for our team’s success this season.”

Sophomore Addie Hefel averaged 12.4 ppg, 3 assists, 4 rebounds, and shot 10-12 from the 3-point line last week, helping the Pirates pick up 4 wins.  Coach Jamie Watson praised the effort, saying “this past week was a big one for her.  She had big games in big wins vs RRSM and Rockford Harlem, and was a major reason that we won 3 of 4 at the Byron Tournament for a second-place finish.  Addie has emerged as one of the best players in the area and her big week is only a sign of things to come.  She does everything well on the basketball court and can consistently be counted on in big situations.  She has an extremely bright future ahead!”