Muskie senior hoopsters on tear of late

Two weeks ago, the Muskie senior boys’ basketball team won their first-ever Kenora Invitational Tournament crown.
They followed that up last weekend by winning the tournament title in Winkler, Man., then proceeded to upset the International Falls split squad of junior and senior varsity players 71-61 here Monday night.
Not a bad stretch of games in February.
The Muskies’ latest victim from the Falls played even with the black-and-gold for much of the game, leading 31-29 at the half, but then could only watch as the black-and-gold slowly took over midway through the third quarter and then dominated the Broncos in the fourth.
The Muskies led just 45-43 heading into the final frame but they caught fire down the stretch, showcasing their run-and-gun style that causes opponent’s defences headaches.
The key basket came with 5:48 to play when John Sivonen cut underneath the baseline for a lay-up and was fouled. He converted the three-point play and the Muskies went on a 16-9 run in the next three minutes to increase their lead to 66-56.
The Broncos could not get any closer after that.
Everyone on the Muskies had a hand in the scoring. Jeff Morrison netted a couple of key baskets from inside in the fourth while Evan Woodland had another strong offensive game to complement the scoring savvy of Sivonen.
Bryce Coyle was solid in dishing the ball off to his teammates and Doug LaBelle was a force underneath the basket, hauling in rebound after rebound.
Muskie co-coach Paul Noonan said his team is fun to watch when they start to open things up on offence.
“They pretty much have a free hand to set things up and create openings,” he said. “But what really helps this team is that they have a lot of good ball carriers–guys like Bryce, Chad Avis, and John.
“They’re all excellent ball handlers.”
Leading the way is Sivonen, sensational in recent weeks while being named MVP at both the Kenora and Winkler tournaments. He poured in a game-high 34 points last Saturday in the final against the host Garden Valley Collegiate in an 87-69 victory.
“He was all over [the court]. He drove to the hoop and hit everything,” co-coach Al McManaman said of Sivonen’s stellar performance.
Tied at the half, the Muskies again began to pull ahead in the second half, forcing Garden Valley to foul them during the latter stages of the game.
And the black-and-gold made no mistake at the line, draining nine of 10 free throws to seal the win.
Woodland had another strong game with 18 points while the brother tandem of Terry and Doug LaBelle also were impressive, said McManaman.
Avis netted 11 in the victory while Gary Wager added eight.
The black-and-gold reached the final with a high-scoring 108-91 win over Windsor Park Collegiate (Winnipeg) in a game which saw six different Muskies reach double figures.
Coyle led the way with 20 points, followed by Sivonen (18), Avis (16), Woodland (14), Doug LaBelle (10), and Morrison (10).
The Muskies opened the tournament with a relatively easy 83-40 win against Morden. Terry LaBelle paced the team with 18 points, followed by Woodland (15), Avis (12), and Coyle (11).
In other basketball news, the Muskies junior boys’ squad was dumped 66-46 by the International Falls Broncos ‘C’ team in exhibition play here Monday afternoon.
Leading 27-23 at the break, the Broncos pulled away in the third quarter by outscoring the black-and-gold 26-10. The Broncos pressure-style defence also handcuffed the Muskie ballhandlers, forcing several key turnovers and rushed shots.
The Fort used a press of its own to open the fourth and pulled to within 55-41 with about five minutes to go but the Broncos pulled away once again with an 8-0 run late in the game.
Jamie Algie led the Muskies with 16 points against the Falls, including 12 in the first half, while Roy Tighe added nine.