Muskies leery about holiday blues

Now that the stockings have been stashed and the Christmas tree tossed, the Muskie court teams are ready to start the New Year with a bang.
After a three-week break from action, the four teams in the midst of their NorWOSSA seasons have different concerns about being ready for battle tomorrow when they travel to Kenora to face the Broncos.
“It’s a matter of getting their heads back into the game,” said Laureen Hill, assistant coach of the junior girls’ volleyball team which is 1-1 in NorWOSSA play so far this season.
“This season is tough, with the Christmas break and then having the team off again for final exams, and then right back into tournaments,” she noted. “It’s tough to stay focused.
“We want them to do well on their exams,” Hill added. “But looking ahead, we head right to Kenora on Jan. 31 for a tournament. We’ll be lucky to squeeze in one practice between finals and the tourney.”
One would think conditioning might be a hurdle to overcome after a team has taken so much time away from its regular practice routine. But Hill said the cure for that is having veteran leaders who know how to inspire their teammates.
“Our captains, Kate Basaraba and Jamie Beadow, are really good at getting the girls to get going and get them hyped up to play,” Hill remarked.
Char Ellwood, head coach of the Muskie senior girls’ volleyball team that sports a similar 1-1 mark, wants her team to concentrate on regaining its mobility and on-court instincts.
“I want to get them back to moving quickly,” she said. “They know the plays. Now it’s about re-familiarization. We had some girls in for practice over the holidays, but others were away during that time.
“This is a good team, though. The girls should bounce back quickly,” Ellwood added.
For senior boys’ hoopster Kevin Gemmell, who leads NorWOSSA in scoring with a 16.0 points per game average for the 0-2 Muskies, it’s time for his team to put their collective nose to the grindstone.
“We’ve got to practice hard and get back to having a strong work ethic,” said Gemmell. “We want to have a good outing on Thursday.”
The senior boys will travel from Kenora straight to Winnipeg to participate in the John Taylor Piper Classic tourney this weekend while the senior girls’ volleyball crew will head back to Kenora for the St. Thomas Aquinas invitational this weekend.
The Muskie junior boys’ basketball squad (1-1) are scheduled to go to Kenora on Jan. 17-18 to compete in a tournament hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas.