Admittedly, Munising’s Division 4 district championship win over host Big Bay on Friday wasn’t all that dramatic; a 62-21 victory tends to take the stress out of things. However, that is just how the defending state champion Mustang want things at this point as they go after another lengthy playoff run.
“The district game wasn’t a tough match for us, but it was good for us to play good and not play down to the competition,” head coach Terry Kienitz said of the team’s third straight district title. “I thought that was the big thing. You get hyped for a district game and it is at their place and things can happen like foul trouble or bad shooting, so we just avoided all of that and played our game and played well enough to win.”
They certainly did that; as they torched the Black Bears from the get-go. Four first quarter points by Tyler Nelson and a three by Nolan Connaughton helped Munising to an 11-2 lead after one. Things only got better in the second, as Jack Dusseault did damage to the tune of 10 points. Carson Kienitz and Nolan Connaughton both hit threes in the quarter, and the Mustangs rolled into the half with a 31-4 lead.
In the third, Trevor Nolan buried three shots from behind the arc, and had 11 points in the frame. Kienitz put in five points in the quarter and Nelson put in four more and it was officially a rout entering the fourth, with Munising holding a 53-9 lead entering the fourth.
The Mustangs had T. Nolan finish with 17 points, Dusseault netted 14 points, Nelson added 12, Kienitz was able to score eight, Nolan Connaughton put in six, Hudson Rockhill chipped in with three and adding two points was Caiden Curtis.
“I think it (what stood out) was the contributions that the entire team made,” Kienitz said. “We weren’t just dependent on Trevor and Jack scoring. That is something that we are going to need to do from here on out to be successful, to have all five starters and the whole team playing good and contributing.”
Kienitz also liked the fact that his defense gave up just 21 points; their second fewest allowed in a game all season.
“We played great defense, holding them to just four points in the first half,” he said. “We had great steal to turnover ratio and we did a great job on the boards.”
The Black Bears were led by Parker Pederson with eight points and Nick DesJarden added five.
On Thursday, Feb. 29 Munising won their district semi-final contest over host Newberry, 63-41.
“We played them earlier in the year over there and we came out with a win, but it was a much closer game than we wanted,” Kienitz said. “They have tall, big athletic kids and regardless if their basketball skills aren’t the greatest, they still get rebounds and play defense and get stops. It was good that we were successful against their zone, because sometime we struggle against the zone. They have to play hard and physical and we had to match that. Their fans were getting into it and Newberry was playing hard but we held them off.”
Dusseault helped Munising get off to a good start, scoring nine points in the first quarter as they took a 13-8 lead after one. Dusseault added 10 more in the third and Kienitz hit three treys and had 11 points total in the quarter, and it was a 34-15 Mustang lead at the half. After three quarters of play, Munising carried a 47-26 advantage.
“Carson hit three threes in a row in the second quarter and I think that opened things up for us,” Kienitz said. “We were up by 20 at halftime and we only won by 24. It was good to see them hold off a Newberry run in the second half.”
Dusseault finished with 33 points in the win. Kienitz netted 19, T. Nolan scored five, Connaughton netted four and adding two was Tyler Nelson.
The Indians were led by Craig Whalen who had 13 points and Matthew Rahilly scored 12.
Munising (19-4 overall) took on Rudyard (18-6) on Tuesday at Manistique in a regional semi-final contest. Onaway (19-5) and St. Ignace (18-6) played in the other semi-final, and the regional title game was scheduled for Thursday at Sault Ste. Marie. The regional champion moves on to a quarterfinal game on Tuesday, held at Gladstone.
