After dropping a close game to Marquette a few days earlier, the Munising girls basketball team bounced back in a big way on Thursday. The Lady Mustangs were playing at Superior Central, and dominated the game in all facets, claiming a 66-6 victory.
“Playing Superior Central on their home court can always present issues, but they’ve been devastated by injuries to their two best players,” Munising head coach Matt Mattson said. “We got out to a nice lead after the first quarter and then got plenty of playing time for everyone.”
15 first quarter points by Emmy Crisp ensured that the Lady Mustangs got off to a good start. Bailey Corcoran also had five and Tessa Salo netted four in the opening frame, and it was a daunting 26-2 lead after one.
Julia Prunick hit a three and had seven points in the second, helping pad the margin to 43-2 at the break. Munising also led 57-4 entering the fourth.
The Mustangs had Crisp finish with 19 points, Prunick added 17, Corcoran put in 13, Salo added 10, Dayne Behning scored four, Kate Mattson had two and adding one point was Elizabeth Wing.
The Lady Cougars had four points from Peyton Adams and two by Alina Kolpack.
S-C (6-11 overall) hosted Carney-Nadeau on Monday, traveled to Norway on Tuesday, had a home contest with Stephenson on Thursday and heads to Stephenson on Tuesday for their regular season finale.
On Monday, Feb. 12, Munising hosted Division 1 foe Marquette. The Mustangs lost the contest 50-47, but Mattson felt the benefits of playing the larger school had many benefits.
“Marquette was a late addition to our schedule after Rudyard dropped us, we knew picking up a Division 1 school would be an uphill battle but we’re trying to get ready for tournament play,” he said. “Marquette also presents some issues we haven’t seen because of their height. Three of their starters were over 5’10”. The game was intense and close throughout. Marquette did go up by 12 in the third quarter but we didn’t fold and fought back. Lost by three and we had our chances and the effort was there so we’ll learn and move on.”
Marquette led the game just 14-13 after the first quarter, though that did grow to 27-22. Munising fought to stay in the game in the third though, and were only behind 40-37 entering the fourth.
Corcoran, who scored a team-high 22 points in the game, scored six points in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough for the Mustangs to get over the top. Crisp also hit double figures with 18 points, Prunick scored five points and adding two points was Behning.
Marquette was led by Kyley Elmblad with 17 points.
Munising (14-3 overall) played over at Brimley on Monday, hosted Rapid River on Thursday and plays in a crucial Skyline Central Conference-Large Division game at home with Bark River-Harris today (Friday). They also host Newberry on Tuesday.
