Jamie Mountain
A great start to the NorWOSSA season has the Muskie junior girls’ basketball team soaring high.
The Muskies won both of their games last week as they improved to a league best 3-0.
Fort High rolled to a 53-33 romp over the Sioux Lookout Warriors in their home-opener last Tuesday and followed that up by downing the host Dryden Eagles 36-32 on Thursday.
“I was pretty enthusiastic about the win over Dryden as I think we may have found our team identity,” enthused Muskie coach Gord McCabe.
“If we just go up and down the floor with a team like Dryden, with their size, we really don’t have a chance and that was what was happening in the first half. “Then we started to force the tempo on defence and everything turned around,” he recalled.
“We created turnovers and threw them off their game.”
Tatum Glowasky again led all Muskie scorers with 11 points in the win over the Eagles (2-1) on Thursday, as the black-and-gold have now beaten all three opponents in league play.
Emma Yerxa chipped in with seven points and Serena Teeple potted six.
Heaven States, Joyce Wu, and Ayiana Gagne each netted four points while Grace Smith and Monika Ruppenstein added a basket each to round out the offence.
“I think we were down about 10 points early but we just kept chipping away and chipping away and our defensive pressure gave us a lot of easy baskets,” McCabe noted.
“Sometimes playing this way will cause you to give up some easy points, too, but if we concentrate on doing everything at high speed it is going to make all of the girls better,” he reasoned.
“Without a true post player, I think this will give us the biggest chance for success and makes for a fun and entertaining brand of basketball. It is ideally suited for players like Tatum Glowasky, Ayiana Gagne, Heaven States, and Joyce Wu and the other girls will be able to follow their lead.”
Glowasky was also a star for the Muskies in their convincing win at home over the Warriors last Tuesday–on both ends of the floor.
The game was tight in the fourth quarter, with the Muskies leading just 37-33, but they then went on a 16-0 run to end the game and pull out their second win of the season.
“Up-tempo basketball is perfect for Tatum. I can’t overstate how much she means to this team,” lauded McCabe.
“She is a natural scorer and releases on the fast break as well as any girl I have ever coached. She is tenacious, lightning quick with her hands on defence, and anticipates passes extremely well.
“She is without doubt our leader on the floor and she, and Heaven States–who is an excellent passer–have started to make some very pretty plays together,” he enthused.
Glowasky again led the way offensively with an 18-point performance while Grace Smith chipped in 10 points against Sioux Lookout (0-3).
Ayiana Gagne netted eight points, with Wu and States each potting six points and Teeple and Emma Yerxa each adding a basket.
“I thought we were very composed in the game against Sioux Lookout, especially in the late going,” McCabe said.
“Although we ended up winning by 20, it was actually 37-33 and we went on a 16-0 run to end the game.
“Sioux Lookout is a scrappy team and they have a few girls who are very good shooters,” he lauded of the Warriors.
“Again, I thought our conditioning helped us as the game wore on and we also played a lot more players than they did and I think they tired a bit.”
The black-and-gold were slated to resume NorWOSSA action this afternoon when they welcomed the Kenora Broncos (1-2) to Fort High for the lone time this season, with the score unknown as of press time.
The Muskies dumped the Broncos 26-14 in the NorWOSSA season-opener back on Sept. 17 in Kenora and will likely fare well again if they stick to their game plan.
“We will be doing a lot of drills this week that will focus on individual skill development,” said McCabe.
“We want to try and improve in every aspect of the game . . . doing things better and doing them faster.”
Fort High then will cap the week by heading to Thunder Bay to compete in the annual Tiger Fall Classic tournament on Friday and Saturday.
