Wolves boys basketball team suffers a pair of defeats last week

North Star’s Nolan Sleigh puts up a shot during first half action against L’Essor last week.

The North Star Wolves senior boys basketball team hit the court twice last week but didn’t get the results they wanted.

The first game of the week was last Tuesday night in Amherstburg against the L’Essor Aigles. It was a close game for the first quarter-and-a-half but the visitors pulled away and won the game going away 92-52.

L’Essor had a 14-7 lead after the first quarter but the Wolves came within four points midway through the second quarter. The visitors then got rolling and piled up the points, expanding their lead to 30 points at the half 51-21.

L’Essor maintained their advantage in the third quarter and led 83-34 after that quarter of basketball. North Star managed to cut into their deficit in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t nearly enough.

“That was a bad one tonight,” said North Star coach Griffin Muzzin. “They were just more prepared. We were sloppy.”

Muzzin said the Wolves’ youth may have played a role in the loss to L’Essor. He said L’Essor is a good team, but sloppy passing and dribbling on the Wolves’ part didn’t do them any favours.

“I think that’s what happens when you have a team full of Grade 11 players,” said Muzzin. “(L’Essor) is one of the top teams in the league. We knew they were going to be good, but we were unprepared for them.”

North Star’s bench players played well, Muzzin added, so that ended up being a highlight of the L’Essor game. 

Ashton Fevreau led the Wolves in scoring against L’Essor with 20 points.

Muzzin indicated the Essex Red Raiders would be “a good test” for the Wolves, and those two teams tipped off against each other last Thursday night in Essex.

The Essex game turned out to be a loss for North Star, with the Red Raiders winning 68-41. Fevreau again led his team in scoring, as he ended up with 17 points that evening.

The Wolves entered this week with an 0-3 record. They travelled to Windsor to play Lamothe-Cadillac Tuesday night (Dec. 16), after this issue of the River Town Times went to press. They have one more game this week, also on the road. North Star plays at Sandwich tonight (Dec. 17) and that is the last game before the Christmas break.

The Wolves have two more road games coming out of the break, as they play in Kingsville versus Erie Migration Jan. 6 at 5:30 p.m. before going to Leamington to play Cardinal Carter Jan. 8 at 4 p.m. Their next home game is not until Jan. 15 when Belle River comes to North Star for a 5:30 p.m. game.

The junior boys have been having a better season, starting off 3-0. They knocked off UMEI 59-20 Dec. 2 and won twice last week, beating L’Essor 44-28 last Tuesday (Dec. 9) at home and winning 55-25 in Essex.

Wolves boys basketball team suffers a pair of defeats last week

By Ron Giofu