Court teams sweep Kenora

After a delayed start in both gyms, all four Muskie court teams sailed through their matches with the visiting Kenora Broncos yesterday afternoon.
The junior boys jumped out to a commanding 31-15 lead at halftime en route to a 43-24 win. Logan Donaldson led the way with 12 points.
“The positive thing was that the players used everybody and they did very well on the defence,” said coach Claude Gagnon. “They were ready for this game.”
Meanwhile, the senior girls’ volleyball team needed four sets to dispose of the Broncos in the other gym. After winning the first set 25-20, the Muskies fell 25-14 in the second one.
But they roared back in the next two sets—winning 25-23 and 25-21—to ice the best-of-five affair.
“We’ve been working on stuff all year, some stuff we’re still working on,” noted coach Char Bliss. One of their weakest points, she admitted, is their communication on the court.
“As far as skill goes, we’re probably one of the best teams,” Bliss added.
The coach has added some morning practices for the team to get a handle on the mental part of the game before they head to the NorWOSSA playoffs next Friday (Feb. 27) in Dryden.
In the later games yesterday, the Muskie senior boys’ basketball team went ahead early and stayed there—cruising to a 60-43 win over the visiting Broncos.
“It started a lot quicker than we thought it would,” said coach Paul Noonan. “They didn’t really force us to have to play too hard.”
But he was a little disappointed in the Broncos’ ability to break up the Muskies’ zone defence. “We have to work a little harder to try and protect in the paint,” he stressed.
The final match of the day saw the Muskie junior girls’ volleyball team beat Kenora 3-1 in their best-of-five showdown by scores of 25-17, 19-25, 25-15, and 25-17.
“We played well,” said coach Duane Roen. “At home games, we try to get everybody some court time. We started a bit slow [but] once they woke up, they played well.”
All four court teams are scheduled to resume NorWOSSA action here tomorrow before wrapping up the eight-game regular season on home court Monday (Feb. 23).