Staff
The Muskie junior girls’ basketball team has had little trouble beating its NorWOSSA opponents so far this season.
The black-and-gold now have shown they can hold their own against the best Thunder Bay has to offer after returning from the annual Tiger Classic tournament last week with a 2-1 record.
“We had a great weekend,” head coach Gord McCabe enthused via e-mail to the Times.
“We had really competitive games and you could see the improvement in the girls as the weekend went on.
“As it turned out, we had a very tough draw as we ended up playing the top three teams in Thunder Bay,” he noted.
“But I think that really helped us as you want to use these tournaments to get better.”
The Muskies opened play Friday with a 42-28 win over Hammarskjold, which currently is tied with Westgate for second place in the Thunder Bay league.
“We knew we would be in for a tough game,” said McCabe. “They had some big physical girls and pushed us around a bit underneath at the start.
“But our inside players really adjusted well and by the end of the first half, we were being more physical than they were.”
The Muskies led 11-10 after the first quarter and 19-15 at halftime.
“Again, I felt our depth played a big role as we seemed to wear them down in the second half, outscoring them 27-13 and playing really strong man-to-man defence,” noted McCabe.
Ingrid Ellis, named player of the game, and Grace Petsnick each had 10 points while Jamie Spencer added six.
Then facing host Westgate, the Muskies rolled to a 42-24 victory.
“We managed to overcome our usual slow start, opening up a 12-4 lead after the first quarter and never looked back,” McCabe recalled.
“It was an extremely strong team game as everyone played really well.”
Spencer led the way offensively with 16 points but Joanna Empey was fabulous on defence while also scoring eight points to be named player of the game.
Ellis chipped in with six points.
But it was a different story in the Muskies’ final game against St. Ignatius, falling 40-31 to the Thunder Bay league leaders.
Ellis led the way in that one with 10 points while Petsnick added seven.
“They were easily the best team we had played all year,” said McCabe. “[But] their coach also said that we were the best team they had faced all year, which was nice to hear.
“But at this point, while the game was very competitive, St. Ignatius is just a little better than we are,” he conceded.
“We pride ourselves on our quickness but they were quicker than we were.”
McCabe said St. Ignatius had one guard who was absolute lightning on the floor and while the Muskies did their best to contain her, she still scored 12 points.
“We were able to use our size to establish an inside game and that really helped us,” he added.
“However, we came off the floor feeling we had done the best we could do and the better team on that day won.
“I would love to see how our team would improve if we could play against that level of competition all the time,” said McCabe.
“It was a fun game to be involved in and maybe the most faced-paced junior girls’ game I have seen in Northwestern Ontario.”
Both Ellis and Petsnick were named to the tournament all-star team.
The Muskies went into the tournament on the heels of a 49-28 win over the Dryden Eagles in NorWOSSA action here Thursday afternoon to improve to 6-0 in league play.
“We played our most sluggish half of basketball this season as almost the entire team came out flat-footed and Dryden was really fired up,” McCabe noted.
The game was tied 16-16 at halftime before the Muskies turned the tide with a very strong second half.
“It was a bit of a wake-up call and hopefully the girls learned that if we are not ready to play, both Dryden and Beaver Brae [Kenora] are capable of beating us,” he stressed.
Spencer led the way in scoring with 14 points while Petsnick had 10 and Empey added eight.
The Muskies also were a little beat up heading into the Tiger Classic as Rachel Anderson and Becca Jourdain had collided in practice last Wednesday and sat out Thursday’s game against Dryden.
McCabe said Anderson played her regular minutes in Thunder Bay.
He added Jourdain still was a little sore and played sparingly on Friday, but was a lot better Saturday.
Keisha Debungie had suffered a non-basketball injury and was not really able to move while Angie Redford got hurt against Westgate and could not play in the final.
Fortunately, McCabe thinks they all should be back when the Muskies resumed NorWOSSA action today (Oct. 25) against the Kenora Broncos.
The squad then will close out the next regular next Tuesday in Dryden before heading to Kenora for the NorWOSSA playoffs on Nov. 7.
As for the Muskie senior girls’ squad, they were beaten 46-33 by Dryden here Thursday to fall to 0-6 in league play.
The team also attended a tournament in Thunder Bay over the weekend, coming home with a 1-2 record.
The Muskies opened with a loss to Superior, downed Marathon, and then fell to Churchill (scores unavailable at press time).
Head coach Dan Bird said his players seem to run out of gas with two minutes left in the third quarter.
But of the problem is lack of depth due to injuries to Janissa Judson and Madison Morrison.
As such, Bailey Jones, a former Muskie junior player, has joined the roster to finish out the season.
She practised with the team Monday night and will be in the lineup tomorrow against Kenora here.
Bird said she has the right skills and attitude, and is a welcome addition.
