Joey Payeur
The Muskies’ fall court teams set the bar high with undefeated regular-season records and winning three of four NorWOSSA gold medals.
It’s seems, at least early on, that the winter-season squads are up to the challenge of following suit.
The black-and-gold resumed their winning ways Tuesday afternoon by sweeping their respective NorWOSSA openers against the visiting Kenora Broncos.
Head coach Shelly Kabatay was victorious in her sideline debut as the Muskie senior girls’ volleyball team steamrolled the Broncos 3-0 (25-6, 25-21, and 25-4).
“The girls are doing good and it was their hard work on court that deserves all the attention,” she noted.
“I expect no less of them. It’s all up to them,” Kabatay added.
“They did very well for their first win in the league.”
For Shana Windigo, it was same old, same old as the coach of the Muskie senior boys’ volleyball team this past fall posted her initial win at the helm of the junior girls’ squad team as Fort High prevailed 3-1 (25-7, 22-25, 25-18, and 25-17).
Windigo liked what she saw from her new team in its first outing.
“The girls played well [Tuesday],” she lauded.
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into the game because I haven’t seen any of them play in an actual game,” she noted.
On the basketball court, the Muskie junior boys went to work erasing the painful memory of last season’s winless NorWOSSA campaign by nabbing a 62-44 win over Kenora.
Point guard Aaron Bujold led the way with a game-high 30 points, including 12 in the first quarter alone.
Kobi Ward added 10 points to make a winner of Darryl Galusha in his first game as Muskie coach.
“I didn’t want to get too in-depth with the plays for the first game,” noted Galusha, whose squad showed a propensity for finishing strong by outscoring the Broncos 19-11 in the fourth quarter.
“The guys are still learning their skill sets and getting to the point where they feel comfortable out there,” he added.
The senior Muskies, meanwhile, blistered the Broncos at both ends of the floor in an 87-29 rout.
Jacob Empey netted a game-high 21 points, including 15 in the first half.
Cole Kowalski, the lone Grade 11 player on the Muskies’ roster, sparkled in his senior debut with 16 points while Henry Geyshick chipped in with 10.
“Honestly, I think it all came down to hustle,” said Muskie co-coach Bryce Coyle.
“We ran the floor hard in transition and our guards looked to play at a fast pace,” he noted.
All four Muskie teams next head to Dryden this Tuesday (Dec. 15) to face the Eagles.
Then they’ll resume NorWOSSA action Jan. 5 when they host Dryden.
In related news, the junior girls were slated to go to Dryden tomorrow for a two-day tournament, but it was cancelled due to a lack of teams.
