It’s back to the drawing board for MSU-Northern Skylights basketball. New Media Broadcasters talked with head coach Chris Mouat ahead of the team’s journey into the postseason and he said that they’ve just been overwhelmed and a much-needed break leading into the intensity was in store.
“We’re giving them a little time right now,” Mouat said. “The big thing for us is we’ve missed a lot of school. Getting them back on track in the classroom and just having a couple days to mentally get ready for what’s ahead.”
“Right now, I think just for our kids, let them step away for a moment (and) get their heads right for what I believe could be a great run in the conference tournament,” Mouat continued.
“If we play like we can for 40 minutes, (we can) regroup (and) get ready,” Mouat said. “Then, put our best foot forward and play our best in the end. That’s been the goal from day one.”
Northern will get Montana Tech in the first round of the single-elimination Frontier Conference tournament. Mouat stressed the same keys that his team has been trying to follow all season against the Lady Orediggers, but wrapped it up with not wanting the season to end one game in.
“Tech is a very, very athletic team,” Mouat said. “Where they’ve hurt us the most is on the boards. They are, from guards all the way through post, they crash like nobody else in our league.”
“Rebounding is going to be a primary focus,” Mouat continued “But then, obviously we want to score more points. We’ve got to do some things to get easier shots up. We’ve got to take better care of the ball.”
“Hopefully keep this third season, the postseason, going on as long as we can,” Mouat said. “We want to go out and do the best we can and I think if we do that, we’re all going to be happy.”
It’ll be No. 5 Northern (12-16, 3-12) taking on No. 4 Montana Tech (18-10, 9-6) on Sunday afternoon in Great Falls. Coverage from the Four Seasons Arena begins at 1pm and Noah Friedman will have the call on KPQX-92.5FM and HiLineToday.com.
