The final cuts have been made and the teams have been picked–just in time for the exhibition season to start.
The Muskie junior and senior girls’/boys’ basketball and volleyball teams opened action here today (Wednesday) against St. Thomas Aquinas of Kenora.
“I think they [Kenora] are bringing all four teams down,” noted Paul Noonan, coach of the senior girls’ basketball team.
Due to the dispute between high school teachers and the provincial government, Noonan said the teams won’t participate in NorWOSSA this season.
“Right now, we are just looking to have exhibition games. Maybe we will organize some small tournaments around the region,” he noted. “It is not full blown NorWOSSA–at least not yet.
“We are hoping that will change.”
Noonan also said FFHS athletic director Greg Ste. Croix has been looking for teams to play in Thunder Bay and around the region.
Mike Busch, coach of the Muskie junior girls’ basketball team, said it’s tough to say how they’ll do against St. Thomas Aquinas because he has never seen the competition.
“The attitude [of the girls] is great. They are willing to learn, which is half the battle,” enthused Busch. “Overall, I think they will do fine.”
The final cuts for the junior girls’ squad were made Monday morning and Busch admitted there probably were a lot of disappointed girls.
“There were 52 girls out at practice last week and I had to cut it down to 15,” he said. “Those girls were out all week. They didn’t cut themselves down at all.”
Busch said the team concentrated more on offensive and defensive skills in their last two practices leading up to today’s game.
“Last week it was hard to do any offensive or defensive plays because there were so many people at the tryouts,” he remarked. “We will try some offense and defensive plays and see how they do with them.”
And Busch noted he hasn’t picked a starting five or anything like that.
“We are going to play everyone–they will all see game time,” he enthused. “At this stage, everyone has to get playing time.”