With the Muskie senior girls’ basketball team uncharacteristically off to a slow start against the host Kenora Broncos last Thursday, head coach Gord McCabe elected to call a time-out.
Looking sluggish and uninspired, he felt they needed a break. And it wound up being their most important time-out of the season.
Down 11-2 and playing what McCabe called less than stellar basketball, the Muskies used the quick refresher to regroup and put the first few minutes of the game behind them.
“We weren’t ready to play. We weren’t moving our feet and we weren’t running down the floor,” said McCabe. “We called a time-out and had a chat.
“We we’re lucky to get the win. We could have lost the game,” he admitted.
The strategy worked as the Muskies went on a 9-0 run late in the first quarter and into the early stages of the second to pull within 17-15 by halftime.
Then in the second half, the black-and-gold regained their usual form to earn a 44-40 victory–improving to 6-0 in NorWOSSA action and clinching top spot with two games to go.
“We played a lot better in the second half,” said McCabe. “We were in a little bit of control but we never felt comfortable.”
Kenora’s speedy guards put pressure on the Muskie ball carriers all afternoon. And McCabe admitted he wasn’t surprised that quickness gave them problems.
“They drove to the hoop and we weren’t ready for their speed when they ran the floor,” he recalled. “We gave them far too many easy baskets.
“We told the kids all along that they had to be ready to play Kenora,” he stressed.
The Muskies once again were led offensively by guard Sarah Noonan, who netted a game-high 18 points. Defensively, McCabe said they got big efforts from Noonan’s older sister, Christine, and Kelly Crawford.
Clinching first place gives the Muskies a bye into the league final next month against either Kenora or Dryden. McCabe said he likes where his team sits with the playoffs just over two weeks away.
Meanwhile, the first-place Muskie junior girls also are rolling along, beating the Broncos 39-32 to improve to 5-1 in NorWOSSA.
The black-and-gold once again jumped out to an early lead, opening up a comfortable 24-10 halftime advantage, while allowing several of their bench players to get playing time.
Danielle McGee led the way with 10 points while ninth-grader Tricia Smith added six. Erin Devlin, another grade nine student, added four points and also had a strong game defensively.
McCabe said jumping out to rather large leads enables him to give all his players significant minutes on the floor. And that goes a long way in developing the players–and the program–for future years.
“Absolutely. You can practice, practice, practice but you learn five times as much in a game,” he remarked.
Both basketball teams resume league action tomorrow in Dryden, then wrap up their regular-season schedule next Wednesday (Nov. 3) here against Kenora.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
