Munising's Marissa Immel (right) puts pressure on Superior Central's Taylor Silta (left) at center court in the third quarter Wednesday in Eben Junction. (Journal photo by Ray Bressette)

By RAY BRESSETTE

Journal Sports Writer

EBEN JUNCTION — The Munising girls basketball team showed just how important experience can be Wednesday night with its trouncing 56-13 win over Superior Central.

The Mustangs carry four seniors and six juniors, most of whom have conference and district championships under their belt, compared to the Cougars’ roster made up of six upperclassmen and four lowerclassmen, who hope to someday find themselves competing for similar titles of their own.

Munising’s senior leadership paid off big in the win, as senior Frankie Mattson continued her offensive dominance, scoring a game-high 16 points in just three quarters of play.

Despite the offensive outburst from his leading scorer, Munising head coach Matt Mattson credited his team’s play on the other side of the ball for the win.

“I thought our defensive pressure was good all night,” coach Mattson said.

“We didn’t shoot the ball real well to be honest, but defensively we were great for four quarters.

“We made it hard for Superior Central to get into their sets all night long. We have a few more upperclassmen than what Superior Central relies on, and our pressure got to them a bit.”

The Mustangs jumped out to a commanding 18-0 lead before junior Emma Rondeau scored the Cougars’ first basket late in the first quarter.

Munising held a 20-2 lead at the end of the opening quarter, with eight of their points coming from Frankie Mattson alone.

Rondeau’s layup failed to gain her Cougars much offensive production, as their next basket came nearly eight minutes later from another layup by Rondeau. Junior Tori Tyner added a pair of free throws to add to Superior Central’s score, but the Mustangs continued their defensive pressure and kept the Cougars outside of the paint for much of the game. Munising’s Marissa Ackerman tacked on six points in the second quarter, and her team held a 36-6 lead at the half.

Mattson scored another six points in the third quarter, and with two minutes remaining in the frame, the Mustangs reached a40 point lead at 49-9 to force the running clock for the remainder of the game and allow coach Mattson to pull his starters.

By the time the clock ran out in the fourth, eight of Munising’s 10 players had sank at least one basket in the game.

Superior Central had four girls score in the match, as sophomore Jada Johnson and junior Elizabeth Gauthier each earned a basket in the fourth quarter.

Superior Central head coach Greg Trowbridge said his team was simply outmatched.

“We ran into a storm,” Trowbridge said. “Munising’s a good ball team, and I was sort of expecting it. I didn’t have my players ready for what we were up against.

Ray Bressette can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rbressette@miningjournal.net.