Joey Payeur
There still might be a gap between the Muskie senior girls’ basketball squad and the best Thunder Bay has to offer.
But it’s not nearly as big as the last time they squared off—and that could mean a much different story should Fort High return to the NWOSSAA final this season.
The Muskies went 2-2 en route to a fourth-place finish at the Lakehead University senior girls’ tournament, losing the bronze-medal game 44-28 to the St. Ignatius Falcons (Thunder Bay).
“I’m happy with the way the girls played for it being the opening tournament,” said Muskie head coach Dan Bird.
“We beat the teams that we should have beat and we realize we can play a whole lot better against the teams that are better than us,” he noted.
The top scorers for the Muskies were unavailable at press time.
Fort High won its pool with a 2-0 record after a 32-21 win over the Westgate Tigers and then a 26-19 defeat of the Superior Gryphons (both from Thunder Bay).
“We were tied 6-6 at the half against Westgate and then got it going in the second half,” Bird recalled.
“By the end of Friday’s two games, nine out of 10 of our player had hit the scoresheet, so I was really happy with the balanced scoring that we had,” he added.
Finishing atop their pool earned Fort High a semi-final showdown with the Hammarskjold Vikings, their NWOSSAA conquerors of a year ago, who were unkind visitors in sweeping the best-of-three series here last fall by scores of 45-10 and 57-15.
This time around, the Vikings prevailed 41-19 but Bird is certain the game was not as lopsided as the score indicated.
“Their better offensive players scored and we were unable to be consistent in shutting them out,” he explained.
“Hammarskjold and St. Ignatius looked more polished than we are at this point, and that’s to be expected since they both play in a spring/summer league in Thunder Bay,” Bird added.
“But defensively, we know what we have to do in order to get to their level,” he remarked.
“Our potential to improve is there and the girls realize it.”
Bird rotated an all-Grade 12 unit with an all-Grade 11 unit in Thunder Bay to see what both groups were capable of.
“It worked pretty good and what surprised me was how well the Grade 11s played on both ends of the court,” he lauded.
“We have to eliminate our unforced errors on offence,” Bird stressed.
“But our forwards did a good job on the boards, put on a pretty good press at this point of the season, and broke the press pretty good.
“[Still] there’s room for improvement,” conceded Bird, whose team is back on the road this weekend for a two-day tournament hosted by the Dryden Eagles.
“I expect us to have a good regular season and I can see us as being the team to beat in our three-horse league,” he remarked.
The Muskies kick off the NorWOSSA campaign next Tuesday (Sept. 23) at home against Dryden.
