Joey Payeur
The two Muskie girls’ basketball teams received their first real doses of adversity yesterday.
The juniors responded with a fantastic fourth quarter; the seniors would rather just forget the final frame altogether.
Ashley Croswell had a game-high 10 points as the juniors outlasted the Rainy River Owls 25-20 in an exhibition game at Fort High.
The ‘A’-level Owls led 10-9 at the half and were tied 14-14 after three quarters with their ‘AA’ counterparts.
Cue the Muskies’ defence, which cranked up the heat and forced Rainy River into a rash of turnovers to go on an 11-2 run that gave them enough of a lead to hold off a late Owls’ surge.
Croswell hit two jumpers and a foul shot during the run while Claire Hyatt made three steals against the Owls, who have gone unbeaten in NorWOSSA ‘A’ play this season under the tutelage of former Fort resident Tiffany Rittau.
Hyatt chipped in with six points while Amber Williams added five for the black-and-gold.
Sarah Whetzel and Mariah Carradice each had four to lead Rainy River in a losing cause.
The Muskie seniors, however, were unable to mirror their junior colleagues’ effort—falling 26-21 to the visiting Owls.
Fort High, which was missing starting point guard Celia Berry, defensive stopper Sarah Strain, and versatile forward Jenny Hammond, seemed to have things in control midway through the third quarter as they completed an 8-0 run to go up 19-10.
But the Muskie shooters went ice cold from there—draining only one more field goal the rest of the way.
That allowed the Owls to crawl back into the game and eventually take the lead on a lay-up midway through the fourth quarter by Meghan Vogan, who scored all nine of her points in the second half.
Rainy River ended the game on a 10-0 run, with Skyler Arpin tying Vogan with nine points to lead the visitors while Myan Miller added six.
Sarah Bagacki paced the Muskies with nine, but only two after halftime.
Cassandra Moffitt chipped in with six while Hanna McLeod netted four.
The games served as a final tune-up for all four teams in advance of their respective NorWOSSA playoffs later this week.
Rainy River hosts the NorWOSSA ‘A’ showdown beginning Thursday while the Muskie hoopsters travel to Dryden on Friday for the ‘AA’ championships.
