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Superior snares wins over Alberton, Noxon

by CHUCK BANDEL
Valley Press | January 9, 2023 12:00 AM

It was a double-double in basketball this weekend for the Superior Bobcats and Lady Bobcats.

Both teams won both of their games this past week as the resurgent boys beat Noxon 64-44 Saturday night after dispatching Alberton 70-25 the night before.

And the Lady Bobcats, who are now 6-1 on the season, also racked up a pair of big wins, besting Alberton 64-4 Friday night at home, then running over the Noxon Lady Devils 58-37 Saturday in Noxon.

After starting the season 0-3, the boys have now won three of their last four to improve their season record to 3-4 and their Western 14C Conference mark to 2-1, good for third place in the highly competitive league.

Saturday against the Red Devils, Superior blasted out to a 23-6 lead at the end of the opening quarter, largely on the scoring of senior forward Orion Plakke, who finished the game with a season-high 40 points.

By halftime the score had grown to 41-14. That lead proved too much for the Red Devils, who outscored Superior 30-23 in the second half but could not overcome the early deficit.

The win over Noxon came on the heels of a rout Friday night at home over winless Alberton.

Plakke was once again instrumental in the offensive carnage over the young Alberton team, which is playing its first year of varsity high school sports.

Superior bolted to a 22-1 first quarter lead and never looked back against the out-manned and outgunned Panthers. By halftime Plakke and company had increased their lead to 36-10 and the rout was on.

It was more of the same in the second half.

Plakke led the Bobcats with 19 points and got double-figure scoring help from Gannon Quinlan, 14 points, and Tucker Donaldson who added 11.

Jason Renaud paced the Panthers with 13 points.

The Lady Bobcats, meanwhile, continued their winning ways under coach Jeff Schultz with their pair of weekend wins.

They opened the week Friday night with a 64-4 win over Alberton’s Lady Panthers, who lost starting guard/forward Georgia Fredette to a leg injury in the first half.

Superior outscored Alberton 20-2 in the first quarter, then more than doubled their lead to 45-2 at the half as they held the Lady Panthers scoreless in the second quarter.

The Lady Bobcats, whose swarming defense gives most teams fits, was more than Alberton could handle as they were also held scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Isabella Pereria and Payton Milender scored 14 apiece to lead the Lady Cats, while senior Darby Haskins chipped in 12 points for the winners.

Superior capped off its weekend sweep Saturday night with a 21-point victory over host Noxon.

The Lady Cats got off to a 19-12 first quarter lead and never looked back as they cruised to the win. By halftime Superior was up 32-21. They then outscored Noxon 20-6 in quarter number three to go up 52-27 with eight minutes left in the game.

A bright spot for the Lady Red Devils was the play of senior forward Emily Brown, who led all scorers with a game-best 20 points.

Superior once again had three players score in double figures, with Haskins and Milender both scoring 16 points. Pereira added 15 for Superior, which moved to 6-1 overall with the win.

Noxon fell to 3-4 on the season and 1-2 in 14C play with the loss.

Both Superior teams journey to Charlo this Friday for games with the Vikings and Lady Vikings, then return home Saturday for two games with Hot Springs.

Noxon entertains Two Eagle River Thursday night, then travels to Alberton for two games with the Panthers and Lady Panthers.

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