Munising faced a double-digit deficit in the first quarter of its Division 4 girls basketball regional semifinal game on March 10 in Kingsford.
The Mustangs fought back admirably, but they weren’t able to claw all the way out of the early hole. They lost to Norway 45-41 and saw their season come to an end as a result.
“Norway had a great first quarter,” Munising head coach Matt Mattson said. “We called two timeouts during the quarter to try to slow things down, but after a quarter it was 20-9. We were even or outscored them in each of the following quarters, but in the end, they beat us.”
The Mustangs fought back in the second, getting five points from Addie Bowerman and four each from Dayne Behning and Bailey Corcoran, and they pulled within 27-22 at the half.
Corcoran had the hot hand in the third, as she hit four field goals to get her to eight points. Behning also drained a triple, but the Knights still led 39-34 entering the fourth. The Mustangs managed just seven points in the final stanza.
“Our defense did enough to win. We should be able to score 50 points,” Mattson said. “But too many turnovers, too many empty possessions and too many missed shots did us in. It certainly wasn’t because of lack of effort, and that’s the most important thing from my viewpoint. So I’m very proud of the season these girls had, and I’m very appreciative of being associated with these fantastic student athletes.”
The Mustangs were led by Corcoran, who had 14 points. Behning and Bowerman netted 11 points apiece.
Lauren Adams led the Knights with 29 points, and Jessa Rossler scored seven.
In a 20-5 season, the Mustangs claimed the Skyline Central Conference Large Division title and also added another district championship to their trophy collection. The team will graduate five seniors from the 2024-25 roster, many of whom were featured in major roles.
“Next year, we’ll have to replace a lot of minutes that these seniors played,” Mattson said. “So we may be down a couple games in the win-loss column, but we’ll see what kind of offseason our underclassmen are willing to put in.”
