Joey Payeur
Two teams, different approaches, same result.
The Muskie senior and junior girls’ basketball squads each improved to 4-0 in NorWOSSA play records after convincing victories over the visiting Kenora Broncos on Tuesday afternoon.
The seniors cruised to a 31-15 win over the Broncos (1-2) while the juniors doubled Kenora (0-3) by a 42-21 score.
Senior Muskie co-coach Dan Bird had his team slow the pace in the first quarter, which ended with more turnovers than points scored as the teams tied 2-2.
“We wanted to concentrate on looking at [the Broncos’] defence,” noted Bird.
“We wanted to be patient and work on getting a good shot.”
Fill-in starting point guard Cassandra Moffitt led with way with 10 points while Keira Lindgren added eight and Hanna McLeod seven.
With an 11-7 lead at halftime, Fort High came out showing a new full-court press in the third quarter, which put Broncos on their heels and led to the black-and-gold outscoring Kenora 20-8 in the second half.
“We’ve got to refine the press,” admitted Bird. “But it showed today it has a lot of potential.”
Rylee Smith had six points to lead the Broncos.
As for the juniors, a big first quarter led to a 14-6 advantage—and Fort High didn’t look back from that point on.
Lindsay Dixon proved to be a force down low and from the free-throw line, where she drained 7-of-9 on her way to a game-high 15 points.
“It’s key for her to make her foul shots because she does draw a lot of fouls down low,” noted Muskie co-coach Marla Knutsen.
Ashley Croswell chipped in with 10 points while Claire Hyatt added seven.
“Ashley had a great day scoring and Claire had another solid game,” lauded Knutsen.
“[Hyatt’s] got those quick hands to get our fast break going and she’s pretty dependable making lay-ups.”
In boys’ volleyball action, the Muskie junior squad evened its NorWOSSA record at 2-2 with a 3-2 triumph (26-24, 21-25, 25-16, 18-25, and 15-6) over visiting Kenora (0-3).
But a Fort High sweep was not to be as the senior boys (0-4) fell 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 26-24, and 26-24) in a close contest which saw the squad earn its first set victory of the NorWOSSA campaign.
The Muskies return to action next Wednesday (Oct. 16) when they host the Dryden Eagles starting at noon.
