Red Devils continue to put up tough front

NOXON – The Red Devils played two strong games this week and continue to work on their goal of putting a full game together.

Noxon played in St. Regis on Tuesday, January 28 against the Tigers. The team came out with a 56-26 District 14C victory.

Head Coach Mike Tessier said the team finished strong and the fourth quarter was especially strong for the team.

“In the fourth quarter we shot the ball well and scored quite a few points,” Coach Tessier.

During the quarter Noxon put up 20 points with the help of Oliver Grupenhoff who was the only player who scored in the double digits.

Grupenhoff pulled in an impressive 35 points throughout the game.

“That’s a lot of points in a 32 minute game and I pulled him out with 3 or 4 minutes left in the game,” Coach Tessier said.

On average, Grupenhoff has put up approximately 25 points a game but against St. Regis he blew that total out of the water.

Corey Tessier brought in the second highest point total with 7 points in all.

On Saturday the team went on to compete against Charlo and although they were unable to come out with a win, Coach Tessier said they played a strong game.

“It really was closer than the score appeared,” Coach Tessier said.

The Red Devils rallied together and played a great first half. In the back and forth game, the boys put up 50 points to Charlo’s 75.

Charlo surprised the team by putting up 10 three-pointers throughout the game.

“The first time we played them, they beat us by 11. They didn’t score from the outside, they never hit one three,” Coach Tessier said.

As the boys focused on shutting out the inside, Charlo surprised them from the outside.

Grupenhoff again led the team with 20 points and C. Tessier followed behind with 11.

The team has two big games coming up with one against a county rival. The Red Devils will heat up the court with the Savage Heat from Hot Springs on February 6. Coach Tessier said he doesn’t have to motivate the kids too much because the Red Devils are already gunning to beat Hot Springs.

“Hot Springs and Noxon has been a rivalry for a long time. It’s always painful to lose to them. The kids definitely want to beat them,” Coach Tessier said.

In their first game against Hot Springs, Noxon beat the team by one point and the second time the Red Devils beat the team by three points in overtime. The close games indicate the next showdown will be a fight to the end.

The guys will then go on to compete against Arlee in another home game. Arlee is one of the top three teams in the league and Coach Tessier said the game will be a fight.

Last time Arlee beat Noxon but the plan is to flip that around on Friday, February 7.

“We know we can play with them and beat them if we can play a full game with a full defense,” Coach Tessier said.