Jamie Mountain
With the way they’ve played this season, NorWOSSA gold more than likely is in the near future for the Muskie junior girls’ basketball team.
The Muskies dumped the host Dryden Eagles 46-26 on Thursday afternoon to improve their league record to 6-1.
“I was happy that we got through the game as well as we did,” said Muskie co-coach Gord McCabe.
“Joanna Empey had another school commitment so [she] could not make the trip, Anna Gagne had to stay home sick, and although they played, both Keisha DeBungie and Becca Jourdain were not feeling well at all,” he noted.
McCabe felt that after Dryden had just won its first league game against Kenora, the Eagles would be psyched to play the Muskies–and that rang true.
“They tried to press us right from the start but we broke their press for easy baskets a few times and that seemed to deflate them,” he recalled.
“We also played excellent defence throughout the game after having a couple of rather sloppy defensive efforts the weekend before in Thunder Bay.”
The squad was slated to conclude its regular-season schedule here yesterday when they hosted the Kenora Broncos (3-3), with the outcome not known as of press time.
Fort High then will host the NorWOSSA playoffs next Tuesday (Nov. 6).
McCabe said his squad will be sticking to what has worked for it so far this season.
“We are not planning on changing anything drastically for Kenora on Tuesday [yesterday],” he revealed.
“We just want to anticipate what Dryden or Kenora may throw at us in the NorWOSSAA final and be ready for it,” McCabe stressed.
As for last Thursday’s win in Dryden, injured Tatum Glowasky and ailing Keisha DeBungie both led the way offensively for the Muskies with 11-point performances.
Fort High led the Eagles (1-6) by a 17-7 margin after the first quarter and then 26-16 at halftime.
I thought overall we played a pretty solid game but one area I would like to see us improve is our aggressiveness in going after loose balls,” McCabe noted.
“We sometimes have a tendency to reach for the ball, rather than stepping to it, and that can result in the opponent getting there first.”
Fort High then outscored Dryden 20-10 in the second half to preserve their league-leading sixth win of the season.
Justine Linklater netted seven points, Aurora Hutton had five points, and Lauren Penney and Jourdain both netted three to help the Muskies’ offence.
“I thought our Grade 10 players really stepped it up,” McCabe lauded.
“Aurora Hutton was forced to play out of her normal position and she showed real leadership,” he remarked.
“I also thought Keisha and Becca played great, given how they were feeling, and Kaylyn Levesque and Lauren Penney were also very important in providing that veteran leadership that kept the younger players calm,” he added.
McCabe also noted Glowasky was having a “fabulous game” offensively until she was injured as a result of a very aggressive foul.
“She may or may not be ready to play against Kenora on Tuesday [yesterday] but I am hoping she is back for the NorWOSSAA playoffs,” he said.
