Joey Payeur
The Muskie senior and junior girls’ basketball squads both earned byes to their respective NorWOSSA finals next month after improving their league records to 6-0 on Tuesday in Kenora.
The seniors downed the Broncos (2-4) by a 29-20 margin, which Muskie co-coach Dan Bird said wasn’t as close as the score indicated.
“We did a very good job on defence,” noted Bird, whose team led 15-3 at halftime.
“We tried some different things in the fourth quarter and [the Broncos] scored 12,” he added.
“If we had stayed with what we were doing, they maybe would have got four or five.”
A balanced scoring attack was the order of the day for the black-and-gold.
Hanna McLeod led the way with six points while Sarah Bagaki, Keira Lindgren, and Cassandra Moffitt each netted five.
In junior girls’ action, Lindsay Dixon’s continued strong play powered Fort High to a 38-16 romp over the winless Broncos (0-6).
The Muskie forward, who earned tournament MVP honours during the squad’s gold-medal showing at the Westgate Miss Basketball tournament over weekend in Thunder Bay, led the way with 13 points.
“The difference after the half was in our rebounding,” noted co-coach Alyssa Holliday.
“The focus was on following their shots and going straight back up with the shot after the rebound in order to score or draw fouls,” she explained.
Amber Williams and Ashley Croswell each netted six points for the Muskies while first-year junior Sarah Vandermeer had her most productive outing of the season with five.
On the volleyball court, the Muskie junior boys (3-3) emerged from a titanic struggle against their hosts with a 3-2 victory over the winless Broncos (0-6).
The set scores were 25-22, 18-25, 28-26, 20-25, and 16-14.
The junior boys next head to Dryden for a tournament running tomorrow and Saturday.
The senior boys, meanwhile, still are searching for their first win of the season after being swept 25-17, 25-14, 25-12 by host Kenora (3-3) on Tuesday.
“Our captain and starting setter [Derek Kaemingh] had his appendix out several weeks ago and we’re struggling without him,” admitted coach Jason Jones.
All four squads resume NorWOSSA play on Tuesday in Dryden against the Eagles.
The Muskies then will close out the regular season next Thursday Hallowe’en showdown with the Broncos beginning at noon.
The NorWOSSA playoffs are slated for Nov. 8 in Dryden.
