After muddling through the opening quarter, the Munising girls basketball team got back on track. Playing at Newberry on Jan. 30, the Mustangs overcame an early hole to pick up a 61-38 non-conference win.
“Newberry is not the easiest place to play,” said Munising head coach Matt Mattson, whose team is 13-0 and ranked eighth in the state in Division 4. “Newberry came out strong and led after the first quarter. I thought we were playing OK but missing some shots and maybe playing a little slow. So, in the second quarter, we picked up the pace and defensive pressure and led by double digits at halftime. In the second half, we extended our lead to 20, but Newberry played hard and made it tough on us.”
Bailey Corcoran and Dayne Behning both scored four points in the first quarter for the Mustangs, who trailed 11-10 after one.
Corcoran hit a 3-pointer in the second as part of her seven points in that quarter, and Addie Bowerman got going as well, scoring six points. Munising was back in front at the half, 26-16.
Two more 3s from Corcoran in the third — part of her seven points in the quarter — helped the Mustangs roll to a 43-28 advantage entering the fourth.
Bowerman scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, and she finished with 27 on the night. Corcoran recorded 21, Behning put in eight, Tessa Salo and Elizabeth Wing had two points apiece and Kate Mattson added one point.
Munising also picked up a key Skyline Central Large Division win over Norway on Jan. 27. The Mustangs won this home game 58-47.
“A very important conference game for us,” Mattson said. “They also have one of the better guards in the conference in Lauren Adams. I thought this was a high-intensity game in which we played pretty well. Dayne Behning had to guard Adams most of the night. We switched Kate Mattson on her at times, and I thought both girls did a great job.
“Offensively, we had three girls combine for 57 points: Addie Bowerman with 21, Behning with 19 and Bailey Corcoran with 17. We won’t lose many games with offensive numbers like that.”
The Knights led the game 12-9 after the first quarter, but Munising rebounded with a huge second quarter to lead 33-23 at the half. Entering the fourth, the Mustangs’ advantage was 43-33.
Behning scored 10 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter to help ensure the Mustangs left with the win.
Mattson was the only other Mustang to score in the game, contributing one point.
Adams led Norway with 19 points.
Munising (13-0 overall) hosted Crystal Falls Forest Park on Monday, played at Felch North Dickinson on Thursday, heads to Marquette on Monday and will host Superior Central on Thursday, Feb. 13.
