Senior hoopsters bring home bronze

The Muskie senior boys’ basketball team earned bronze at the John Piper Classic tournament in Winnipeg this past weekend.
“We didn’t stay for the final game because we weren’t in it,” head coach Paul Noonan joked Monday morning. “The team that beat us in the semi-finals went on to win the tournament.”
In that semi-final showdown against LeBoldus (one of the top-ranked teams in Regina, Sask.) last Friday night, the black-and-gold suffered a heart-breaking 63-62 loss to drop them down to the bronze-medal game.
The Muskies went on to rout Vincent Massey (Winnipeg) 84-42 to settle for third place.
Noonan noted LeBoldus had built up a 19-16 lead by the end of the first quarter but the Muskies stormed back to lead 34-30 at halftime. At the end of the third quarter, the teams were tied at 49.
“It was one of those games where we had possession of the ball with 10 seconds left on the clock and we missed the shot,” recalled Noonan. “It was, by far, the best game of the tournament for us.”
Noonan stressed his squad played a very defensive game. “Both teams played well but they just came out on top,” he added.
John Sivonen, who was named MVP for the semi-final game, led the Muskie attack with 19 points. Jamie Algie was next with 13, followed by Evan Woodland (12) and Gary Wager (nine).
“It was good [balanced] scoring, which was good because then the other team couldn’t key in on any one player,” Noonan explained.
In the bronze-medal contest against Vincent Massey, Wager, named the game’s MVP, poured in 26 points to pace the Muskies. Woodland added 16 while Faical Cheblaoui netted nine.
Sivonen, Dan Poperechny, and Jock Gemmell followed with seven points apiece.
“Everyone got a chance to play–there was a lot of scoring,” Noonan said.
Woodland also was named to the tournament all-star team.
The Muskies had opened the tournament with an easy 73-50 win over Oak Park– one of the top four teams in Manitoba–last Thursday afternoon.
Gemmell lead the way with 18 points, followed by Woodland (16), Sivonen (15), and Algie (nine).
The team next will travel to Thunder Bay for an all-star game Jan. 26-27.
Their next NorWOSSA action will be here Feb. 1 against Dryden, then they’re off to Littlefork for an exhibition game Feb. 2.