Hoopsters prepare for NWOSSAA

The Muskie senior girls’ basketball team is hoping to strike gold again this weekend.
The black-and-gold are squaring off against St. Ignatius here for the NWOSSAA crown this weekend–with a berth to the all-Ontarios in Chatham later this month at stake.
The best-of-three showdown gets underway Friday at 2 p.m., with the second game set for 10 a.m. on Saturday. The third game, if necessary, is slated for 2 p.m. on Saturday.
The Muskies advanced after thumping the Dryden Eagles 56-26 in the NorWOSSA final last Thursday in Kenora.
“We won’t be doing anything different. We will be running the normal plays that we have been doing all along,” noted head coach Paul Noonan.
“In practice we will be working on the stuff we are already doing and trying to perfect it,” he added.
Noonan expected the Muskies would do well this weekend but admitted St. Ignatius will come out aggressive.
“I don’t want to get over confident or anything but I think we have as good of a chance of winning as St. Ignatius does against us,” he reasoned.
Against Dryden last week, Noonan said his team jumped out to an early lead with some quick points on fast breaks.
“They executed the best I had seen them do all season,” he enthused. “They wanted it and they went out and got it.
“Everyone played and they played well. One junior girl [also] moved up to play her first game as a senior,” he noted.
Sarah Noonan led the way with 23 points. Danielle McGee added 10 point and Kelly Crawford netted six.
Meanwhile, the Muskie junior girls’ basketball team overcame a slow start last Thursday to beat the host Kenora Broncos 29-23 to capture the NorWOSSA gold medal.
“We won but we were a long ways behind in this one. We were down and came back to win it,” head coach Mike Busch enthused.
“Beaver Brae had nothing to lose so they were pretty relaxed for this game but our girls were pretty uptight and nervous for [it],” he said. “We were also playing in a small gym and a hard floor, which is tough to play on.”
Trailing 10-2 at the end of the first quarter and then 15-8 at halftime, the Muskies came alive on offence–and tightened up on defence–to pull out the victory.
Carly McCormick led the black-and-gold with eight points while Melanie Hyatt added six.
Rounding out the Muskie scorers were Erin Devlin (five), Sarah Barton (four), and Nicki Baker, Jessica Wilson, and Allison Hyatt (two each).
While Malorie Woolsey and Miranda Miller didn’t net any points, Busch said they both played extremely well and came through hard on defence.
“[Sarah] Barton always plays well but she played extremely well in the second half,” he noted. “[Erin] Devlin also had a good game–probably her biggest game of the season.”
Busch noted the Broncos enjoyed a slight height advantage over the Muskies but Devlin and the other forwards came through.
“[Erin] controlled the boards on defence and came through on offence in the last quarter,” he remarked. “She made a three-pointer that pretty much sealed the game.”
Busch said he’s proud and happy with their season, and noted the girls enjoyed themselves.
“They are a super bunch of kids. They stuck behind it and were determined to win,” he stressed. “We changed some stuff heading into the second half–some grade nines came in and showed their stuff.”
Busch noted only 15 of his 21 players were able to dress for last Thursday’s showdown but everyone who dressed played.
“That has been our theory all season,” he said.