Senior hoopsters finish fifth

A schedule switch put the Muskies senior girls’ basketball team in a foul mood—and the Kenora Broncos felt the full brunt of their frustration.
Tournament all-star Carley McCormick had 12 points, and Stephanie “Mouse” Mattson added 10, as Fort High crushed their NorWOSSA rivals 42-8 to clinch fifth place at the Lakehead Thunderwolves Pizza Hut Senior Girls’ Hoop Classic last weekend in Thunder Bay.
Originally prepared to play twice on Saturday, the Muskies found out just before their Saturday game with the Broncos that it would, in fact, be their only game—leaving them out of the medal round of the nine-team tournament on the basis of points for and against.
“I thought Kenora would have come out stronger after winning in double overtime the night before,” said Muskie head coach Mike Busch, who watched his team run up a 20-4 halftime lead and then hold the Broncos to just two points per quarter the rest of the way.
McCormick’s efforts at the tourney, which included a three-game average of 14.7 points per game, did not go unnoticed by the Lakehead U. scouts, who use the tournament to scour for future talent they possibly can lure to the Thunderwolves program down the road.
“Carley turned the heads of the coaches and scouts down there,” noted Busch. “She really impressed them with her attitude and scoring touch, as well as how hard she worked.”
The second-year forward fuelled the Muskies’ engine right from the get-go, connecting for 22 points in a 42-32 victory over St. Ignatius (Thunder Bay).
“I had some harsh words for the girls in the huddle,” Busch said of his halftime tirade with his team trailing by two points. “I told them physically, we’re just as good as they are, but mentally, we need to toughen up.”
Fort Frances then went toe-to-toe with the Fort William Collegiate Institute Blue Bears, a team which matches the impressive height of the Muskies’ roster—and then some.
But after staying within seven points most of the way, Busch decided to switch to a man-to-man defence in the fourth quarter to try and produce some much-needed points in an attempt to overtake the Dryden Eagles, who had registered a 17-point victory in an earlier preliminary-round game against Port Arthur Collegiate Institute.
But the strategy backfired as the Blue Bears rung up 16 points in the frame to take a 40-24 win—leaving the Muskies out of the medal round by two points.
“We really missed Jodi in that one,” Busch said about first-year forward Jodi Caul, who missed the tournament due to illness. “We let them intimidate us, but we know we’re at their calibre.”
McCormick had 10 points in the loss while first-year guard Rebecca Cornell added six.
Despite the fifth-place finish as compared to Dryden’s fourth-place result, Busch said he was told by organizers that the Muskies would be the only NorWOSSA team invited to next year’s tournament at the Lakehead.
The event reportedly will include only the top four schools in Thunder Bay, plus entrants from Toronto, Timmins, North Bay, as well as Fort Frances.
The Muskies will host their home tournament Oct. 24-25.