Noxon boys clear slate for tournament play
<p>Sophomore Zach Osborne lines up a shot during an away game against Superior.</p>
NOXON – The Red Devils put up a competitive front in last week’s games as they faced off two tough opponents. In their first game of the week, the boys went to Superior were they met the undefeated Bobcats.
Noxon was able to keep up with Superior throughout most of the game until foul trouble took three of the Red Devil players out of the game.
According to Head Coach Mike Tessier, Superior was only ahead by single digits up until that point. After inconsistent calls from the referees, the team was unable to keep up with their numbers down.
“I’m not the coach to blame things on the refs but it was the most inconsistent reffing of the year. It was pretty rough,” Coach Tessier said. “Superior is hard to beat if you are at full strength but we gave them a good run.”
The final score was 35-61.
Zach Osborne led the team with 10 points, Oliver Grupenhoff had eight points, Corey Tessier put up seven points, Grant Fitchett had six points, Trace Tammaro had three points and Riley Fisher put in a free throw.
After a very well fought game, the boys moved on to play at home against Thompson Falls. With the rivalry still strong, the game is always one to remember.
This time, Noxon did not compete well with their opponents. In what Coach Tessier called a “good ole fashioned butt kicking,” Thompson Falls pulled ahead and took the win from the Red Devils.
“We were amped up but we didn’t show up. They outplayed us that night,” Coach Tessier said. “Thompson has a good team and lots of good players.”
The final score was 37-61.
Now that the regular season is over, Coach Tessier said the score is once again even.
“Everybody is 0 and 0. The regular season is over and now it’s tournament season. Anything can happen,” Coach Tessier said.
Noxon will play Hot Springs in Ronan on Thursday at 11 a.m. and the team is ready for redemption.
The first time the teams met up, Noxon took the win, while later on Hot Springs beat them twice.
“They’ve all been good games,” Coach Tessier said.
The team has to bring their all and need to work on their season goal of putting a full game together.
“Whoever can put two or three games together in a weekend will move on to the next level and that’s what we are hoping to do,” Coach Tessier said.