Both the Muskie senior boys’ basketball team and senior girls’ volleyball squad beat Hillcrest (Thunder Bay) in the NWOSSAA finals there over the weekend to earn berths at the all-Ontarios later this week.
The girls got the weekend off to a rocky start after losing the opening best-of-five match to the Spartans on Friday afternoon.
“I didn’t feel great [when we lost]. I was trying to figure out what went wrong,” noted head coach, Adrian Chapman. “We missed our serves and we just weren’t on our toes.”
But they turned things around Saturday, sweeping the morning match 25-13, 25-22, and 25-19 to force the third-and-deciding match that afternoon.
It proved to be another tight match, with the black-and-gold sweeping to victory–and NWOSSAA gold– by scores of 25-20, 25-20, and 25-22.
“It was really impressive to come from behind like that,” enthused Chapman. “We played an almost perfect game.”
After their emotional win Saturday morning, Chapman said he felt really good. He also said he wasn’t surprised when the girls won because he knew they could do it.
What surprised him most was when the team dumped water all over him in celebration.
“I sat down and just wanted to relax and then they came in and dumped the water on me. I had no idea they were going to do that,” he related this morning.
Meanwhile, the senior hoopsters had an equally exciting weekend in Thunder Bay, sweeping Hillcrest 2-0 in their best-of-three NWOSSAA final
After winning the first match 56-52 at St. Patrick’s on Friday night, the black-and-gold finished off the Spartans with a 60-31 rout Saturday morning.
“It was an excellent weekend–it couldn’t have been any better,” enthused head coach Paul Noonan.
Noonan noted the score never should have been that close Friday night but added the guys were missing foul shots and lay-ups.
“We should have won by 20 points,” he said. “We were never behind and in the last minute and a half, I called a time out and told them I didn’t want to sit on a one-point lead.”
John Sivonen led the way Friday night with 21 points. Evan Woodland was next with 14, followed by Gary Wager (eight), Jamie Algie (seven), and Jock Gemmell (six).
It was a different story Saturday morning as the Muskies clinched the all-Ontario berth with ease. Sivonen again led the attack with 16 points, followed by Woodland (15), Algie (10), Wager (seven), Gemmell (six), Mark Mercure (four), and Travis Derkson (two).
“They are still excited about the victory–this is the first time since 1978 they had a berth [at NWOSSAA],” said Noonan. “It was pretty sweet.”
Both teams left this afternoon for the long bus rides to the all-Ontarios–the boys to Timmins and the girls to Sault Ste. Marie.
They are scheduled to play their first game Wednesday, with the 11th-ranked boys’ going up against the top seed of the 16-team showdown.
The seeding for the girls’ competition was not known at press time Monday.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
