Muskie hoopsters third in Winnipeg

The Muskie senior boys’ basketball team began the second half of its season with a third-place finish at the Westwood Collegiate tournament over the weekend in Winnipeg.
The six-team competition—also featuring the host Warriors, Murdoch McKay, Louis Riel, Kelvin, and Sturgeon Creek—marked the first game action the Muskies had seen in more than a month.
“Overall, I think we could have played a little better but we matched up well against the teams we were playing against,” Muskie head coach Paul Noonan said.
“I think we could have conceivably won the tournament without a lot of difficulty because the team that ended up beating us, Murdoch McKay, played a very close match with Kelvin for the championship,” he added.
“We only lost to Murdoch by three points, so it was easily a winnable game for us.”
Fort High had opened the tournament Friday night with a thrilling 67-63 overtime victory against the host Warriors.
Morgan Anderson led the charge offensively with 20 points.
Then Muskies then wrapped up round-robin play in their three-team pool with a 75-72 loss to Murdoch McKay on Saturday morning.
Jeremy Strain led the way with 21 points in a losing cause while Joey Theriault chipped in 17.
The defeat relegated the Muskies to the ‘B’ playoffs, where they squared off against Louis Riel on Saturday night.
In that one, Anderson netted a team-high 23 points while Garnet Cornell added 17 as the black-and-gold cruised to an easy 90-72 victory.
Given last Thursday’s game here against the Dryden Eagles was postponed due to inclement weather, the black-and-gold won’t see NorWOSSA action until Jan. 30 when they visit the Kenora Broncos.