A team-based victory, focused on fundamentals, pushed the Munising Mustangs past the Marine City Cardinal Mooney Cardinals 54-44 at the MHSAA Division 4 Semifinals on Thursday, March 23.
Munising wasted no time getting on the board as Trevor Nolan popped a three pointer just 18 seconds into the contest. Cully Trzeciak hit a pair of free throws and Jack Dusseault took a runner to go up 7-0. The Cardinals came back to 7-6 but Munising stretched the lead out to 15-11 at the end of the first.
Post defense was key in the second quarter, with Munising forcing turnover after turnover in the paint. Every Mustang starter had at least one steal or block, usually with multiple rebounds in the frame as Cardinal Mooney struggled to find the bottom of the basket. With rotational help on the outside, Munising outscored the Cardinals 12-2 in the second quarter to take a 14-point lead into the half.
If the Cardinals left their offensive attack in the locker room for the second quarter, they brought it back out in the second half. Quentin Hillaker started the third quarter strong for the Cardinals with a three pointer from the corner to get momentum back in Cardinal Mooney’s direction. Trent Rice and Hillaker both added runners to go on a 7-0 run to start the third before Kienitz drove the lane to stop the bleeding. The Cardinals seemed considerably more comfortable in the half court offense in the third quarter, forcing fouls, hitting from range and spreading out its scoring.
A buzzer beater tip in made it not so bad for the Mustangs, but they saw their lead evaporate to just 35-31 after the third.
The Mustangs returned with their starters for the fourth and ran their play to Kane Nebel for two. He hit back-to-back threes on the next two possessions and brought the lead back up to 12 with 5:58 remaining in regulation.
“He hit a three just kind of on his own, on a transition,” Munising Head Coach Terry Kienitz said. “I ran a play to get it back to him, and especially when they started fouling, he’s the guy that we were going to get the ball to.”
Munising never looked back, milking each possession for the most amount of time as possible. An aggressive defense tried to keep the Cardinals close, but it just resulted in more trips to the foul line for Munising. Nolan and Nebel continued to shoot well from the line and put the game away late for the Mustangs.
“You get a couple baskets in and that’s all you need to get things back on track,” Nebel said.
Inside, Dominic Cattivera was a bright spot for the Cardinals. With a six-foot-five frame, the senior is one of the rare taller players on the floor compared to Munising’s group of six footers. Snagging seven rebounds in the first half, even he was struggling with scoring, as Dusseault and Hayden Rockhill stood tall to force a double pump, while Nolan, Nebel and Trzeciak was there on help defense to force the ball loose.
“When the ball gets down to the big guys, coaches tell us to dig on them,” Carson Kienitz said. “The big guys, maybe they can’t handle the ball well or they’re looking to score and not seeing someone, so it helps our big guys to stay out of foul trouble with that help.”
Trent Rice, the Cardinals’s leading scorer for the season, fouled out with 1:37 to go. He scored 32 points in the quarterfinal victory against Taylor Trillium, but was held to 19 against Munising. The Cardinals put their seniors in with 1:08 to go.
“I’m certainly proud of our guys, but apparently Cinderella hit midnight this afternoon,” Cardinal Mooney Head Coach Mike McAndrews said. “We made a run, cut it to two, made some plays and we were digging in defensively. (Munising) made some really tough baskets. We could never get back to that two-, three-, four-point mark again.”
Nebel led all scorers with 21 points. Kienitz added 12 and Nolan 11, as Munising’s top three scorers performed at the semifinal level. All but one point was scored by the Munising starters, a free throw by Ashton Wymer at the end of the game.
