Muskie hoopsters finally snap local tourney drought

For the first time since 2000, the La Place Rendez-Vous senior boys’ basketball tournament trophy is staying in Fort Frances.
The Muskies won all three of their games on home court handily over the weekend to capture their own tournament title for just the second time this decade.
“It feels really good to win finally,” said Garnett Cornell, who had 10 points for the Muskies on the weekend. “This is our first time winning in seven years, so it’s great to break a curse.”
The Muskies opened play with a 67-22 romp against Queen Elizabeth (Sioux Lookout) on Friday afternoon, followed by a 69-31 blowout over St. Thomas Aquinas.
Fort High’s only real challenge was against the Kenora Broncos, who still trailed by a handful of possessions throughout their 55-42 loss.
“I thought the guys played well this weekend,” Muskie head coach Paul Noonan said, crediting improved patience and ball control to cutting turnovers and maximizing scoring on possessions.
“It’s starting to come together,” he added.
Morgan Anderson’s outside shooting, which led to him winning the three-point shooting contest, was key over a weekend where opposing teams clogged the paint to cut down on slashers like Cornell and Jeremy Strain, who lit up St. Thomas Aquinas with a game-high 21 points.
Anderson thrived behind the line—coming away from the weekend with a team-leading 43 points.
“That’s just usually what I do,” Anderson said, nodding towards Strain. “Leave it to this guy to get all the inside points.”
Cornell said while their opponents clogged the paint to keep their big men away from the post, transitioning from inside shooting to outside shooting was part of the game plan—and not done out of desperation.
“That’s probably one of our strengths. We have a lot of good outside shooters,” Cornell remarked. “We use that to our advantage.”
With their only loss of the season coming against a tough Hillcrest Colts squad at the annual “Tiger Tip-Off” tournament late last month in Thunder Bay, and the team retaining much of their core (including all five starters) from last year, Noonan said winning their home tournament should be the first step in a triumphant season.
“I’m still hoping that we’re gonna come out on the winning end. I’m expecting that,” he remarked.
Strain, who rang up 39 points on the weekend, agreed. He said the team hasn’t yet tapped its potential—still able to play a cleaner defence and more organized, deliberate offence than what they showed at the tournament.
“It can get a lot better than this,” he pledged.
Anderson added the Muskies need to play smarter, saying the team, as a whole, made poor on-court decisions “at points, at times.”
“We have our ups and downs . . . no reaching, just make smart passes, play smart ball,” he stressed.
The black-and-gold (2-0) will look to keep their perfect league record intact tomorrow (Dec. 13) when all four court teams head to Dryden.