Senior hoopsters clinch top spot

Leaders are supposed to lead by example, and if that’s the case, then Rebecca Cornell can now be referred to as Rebecca the Great, in honour of the greatest leader of them all, Alexander.
Cornell, captain of the senior girls’ basketball team, once again led her squad to victory yesterday in Dryden, collecting 10 points to help the Muskies to a 37-35 win and a 6-1 record to lock up top spot in NorWOSSA.
That means a bye to the final here Nov. 12—and a win away from advancing to NWOSSAA.
Cornell’s best moment on the season didn’t come yesterday in Dryden, but here last Friday morning when two clutch free throws with no time left on the clock propelled the Muskies to an eventual 38-35 overtime win against the Kenora Broncos.
The game was the opener of a tournament being hosted by Fort High, but the outcome also counted in the NorWOSSA standings to make up for a game postponed earlier in the season.
“Kenora basically came out a little stronger then we had anticipated from the way they played the night before [a 31-20 Muskie win in regular NorWOSSA action],” noted Cornell.
“It was close, back and forth the whole game, and they just made a shot right at the end,” she added. “We were tired, and we were on defence, and they just made a nice shot.
“Laura [Busch] freaked out and threw the ball way down the court without stepping out of bounds, so that gave Coach [Mike] Busch a chance to call a time-out.
“We had about four or five seconds on the clock, and he said, ‘Carley [McCormick] and Rebecca stack up, get the ball to the open one, and all you’re doing is running down the court and you’re going for a lay-up.’
“‘If you get fouled, you get fouled. If make the lay-up, you make it, and we’re tied up and we go into overtime.’
“It was 30-28, so I was the unfortunate one to get the ball and I ran down the court and was fouled right at the last second,” Cornell recounted. “When they blew the whistle, the buzzer went.”
“So I got two foul shots, with no one around, after time, and I had to make them both to go into overtime,” she added. “The gym was packed . . . and I didn’t hear anything. It was complete silence.
“The only thing I heard was the ball hitting the floor and echoing and I just stood there, and all that was going through my head was that in my Grade 10 year we played Kenora, so basically the same girls, and the same thing happened to them, only if they made one, they tied, and if they made both, then they won, and they missed them both and we won the game.
“And I was just thinking, ‘Here is my chance to show them how to win a game like this,’ and that’s all that was going through my mind.
“And I just thought, ‘Bend the legs, use the leg muscles, and just follow through and hopefully they’ll drop.’
“The first one was a swish [but] it didn’t feel right because there was just a million more pounds put on your shoulders because you’re that much closer,” said Cornell.
“The second one—I released it and it went off to the side and I thought, ‘Oh my God, I have just lost the game,’ and somehow it curved back and dropped through.
“It was just one of those moments where you can’t believe it happened.
“I turned to the bench and the whole team is running at me and I just stood there and I couldn’t believe this was happening to me,” Cornell added.
After winning that game, the Muskies beat the Churchill Trojans 38-27, but then they lost 28-27 to the Hammarskjold Vikings and 43-36 to the St. Patrick’s Saints to finish the tournament with a 2-2 mark.
Still, head coach Mike Busch was immensely pleased with his team’s efforts.
“We’re thrilled with this weekend, and we set it up so that we could play against the best teams in Thunder Bay,” Busch noted after their loss to the Saints on Saturday.
“We were in the games with the best teams in Thunder Bay.
“A loss is sometimes good for you and our girls will be focused,” he added. “They know they’re close, and they know they’re with these teams, and we said right from the beginning that we have to play good teams to get better.”
No surprise that the two standout players for the Muskies during the tournament were McCormick and Cornell, who once again came through when it mattered most.
Versus the Saints, one of the better teams in Thunder Bay, the Muskies were trailing 17-2 at one point early in the game, but a 13-point second quarter by McCormick helped to tie things at 26-26 come halftime.
“I just started sinking them and they just kept dropping, which was awesome because my shooting hasn’t been up to par very much this weekend,” said McCormick, who ended up with 18 points in the game.
“This is awesome because honestly in NorWOSSA, we don’t get better by playing them [Kenora and Dryden],” she added.
“So after this weekend, we know what we have to work on, we know what else is out there, and we know what we have to work on for NWOSSAA.”