Senior hoopsters bust Broncos

If you’re wondering how difficult it is to stop a runaway train, just ask the Kenora Broncos.
Their task was to stop the high-flying, fast-breaking Muskie senior boys’ basketball team during NorWOSSA action there yesterday and the end result wasn’t pretty.
The first-place Muskies thrashed the host Broncos 75-27 for their sixth-straight league victory against no losses.
“We kept up a fair bit of intensity, playing a variety of defences, man-to-man [and] zone,” Muskie co-coach Paul Noonan said afterwards. “They couldn’t crack either one.”
The Muskies jumped out to a 20-7 first-quarter lead while playing two sets of lines equally, and then went on a phenomenal 24-2 second-quarter run that put the game well out of reach by halftime.
Most of those baskets came off the fast break.
And as if the Muskie offence wasn’t overwhelming enough, the return of Gary Wager has given it an even bigger boost. He poured in a game-high 24 points yesterday in just his second game after missing the first half of the season.
“The difference was definitely Gary Wager,” said Noonan. “He really helps speed up our transition game.”
Evan Woodland added 14 points while John Sivonen had a dozen.
It was a different story for the Muskies junior boys’ team, who lost 51-25 yesterday in Kenora.
Tied 8-8 after the first-quarter, Kenora began to pull away in the second as they grabbed a 25-15 halftime lead and then took over the game in the third quarter.
“The third quarter really hurt us, we couldn’t handle their press,” said head coach Greg St. Croix. “We turned the ball over way too many times.”
Still, St. Croix agreed they’ve closed the gap between themselves and Kenora, and hope to improve even more at tournament in Thunder Bay this weekend.
Dan Poperechny led the juniors with eight points while Keith McKay added four, all of those coming from the free-throw line.
< *c>Volleyball
In volleyball action Tuesday, the Muskie senior girls’ squad continued their winning ways with a tight 3-2 victory over the Kenora Broncos in their best-of-five match.
The black-and-gold had jumped out to a 2-0 lead after winning the first two games 25-22 and 26-24 but the Broncos fought back with a pair of 25-22 victories to force the fifth and deciding game.
The Muskies won the rubber match 15-11.
“It was tight all the way. Neither team led by more than one or two points,” said Muskie head coach Rick Wiedenhoeft.
“I’m pleased we won a tight one because we lost a tight one here in five games last time we were here,” he noted.
Wiedenhoeft, whose team tops the league standings, said Siobhan Devlin and Chrissie Thomson were standouts in yesterday’s win.
In junior action, the Muskies won their first game of the season, stopping the Broncos 25-19, 25-23, 20-25, and 25-20.
Coach Struchan Gilson said the win, helped in large part by the strong play of Linda Zimmerman, should help them towards their playoff run.
“Now that we’ve gotten this monkey off our back, it looks to be the beginning of something very good.”