Muskies fail in all-Ontario bid

The Muskie senior girls’ basketball team failed to become the first NorWOSSA squad to advance to the all-Ontarios after being swept by Fort William Collegiate Institute in the best-of-three NWOSSAA final here on the weekend.
The Muskies went toe-to-toe with the Blue Bears in the early going of Friday afternoon’s opener before a packed gym at Fort High, but a second-quarter run gave the Blue Bears a 24-14 lead at halftime.
The black-and-gold then began chipping away at the Blue Bears’ lead in the third quarter and were down by only two points with five minutes left in the game.
But misses on their second chances to score late in the game prevented the Muskies from overtaking the Blue Bears, who hung on for the 37-32 victory.
Carley McCormick led the Muskies with 11 points while Rebecca Cornell netted nine and Laura Busch seven.
In the second game Saturday morning, the Muskies came out strong to lead 8-5 after the first quarter. Then strong play underneath the basket help them to stretch the margin to 21-17 at the half.
Ashley Whalen was the key factor for the Muskies in the first half, draining eight points. Her presence had been sorely missed the previous afternoon as she didn’t play much of the game due to foul trouble.
But the Blue Bears tied things up early in the third quarter with their best player, Shannon Vellinga, making her presence felt from the post.
Busch countered Vellinga’s play as she stepped up her game to score four points in the quarter, which were the only ones by the Muskies, who led 25-23 heading into the fourth.
The fourth quarter went back and forth as neither team was able to gain an advantage. But with less than 10 seconds left to play and the score 31-28 for the Blue Bears, things looked bleak for the Muskies.
But McCormick, who usually sets up either on the wing or in the post, stepped outside to drain a three-point shot with just 0.4 seconds on the clock to send the game into overtime.
With Vellinga, who had scored 16 points, out of the game due to fouls, the Muskies’ chances of forcing a third-and-deciding game Saturday afternoon looked good.
At first, neither team was outplaying the other, but Amy Aldriell stepped up for the Blue Bears as she started impacting the game from the free throw line.
Aldriell went seven for eight from the stripe and finished the game with 20 points. That left the Muskies searching for answers on the defensive end, but not enough time to solve the Blue Bears, who pulled ahead late to secure a 42-35 win.
Cornell was the high scorer in the game with 10 points while Busch dropped nine. Whalen and McCormick both added eight.
The Blue Bears now advance to the all-Ontarios in Belleville.