Joey Payeur
A comfortable lead for the Muskie senior boys’ basketball team suddenly got decidedly uncomfortable—and almost erased entirely.
The Dryden Eagles missed a three-pointer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime, giving the Muskies a 55-52 win here Tuesday in their first NorWOSSA game after the holiday break.
“I was happy with giving up shots from where they took them,” noted Fort High head coach Bryce Coyle, whose team was up eight points with less than five minutes to play.
They hung on to improve to 3-0 and cement their hold on first place over the Eagles (1-2).
“Our defence was the key since we weren’t sharp offensively,” Coyle said.
Derek Kaemingh led the Muskies with a season-high 15 points while Jacob Empey netted nine.
Kevin Metke and Kirk Johnson added eight points apiece.
The Muskie junior girls’ volleyball team also remain unbeaten in NorWOSSA play after sweeping the Eagles 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, and 25-18) on Tuesday.
They sit atop the standings at 3-0 while Dryden is in second place (1-2).
“I was very happy with how they performed considering they hadn’t touched a volleyball since before Christmas,” said Muskie coach Kirsten Talsma.
“I didn’t know how it was going to go as the girls were very nervous at the start,” she admitted.
Meanwhile, the Muskie senior girls’ volleyball team once again came close to exorcising their Dryden demons, but couldn’t get the key points when they needed them in falling 3-1 (26-24, 19-25, 25-22, and 25-23).
“The gap is closing,” said co-coach Jason Cain of the Muskies (1-2), who have yet to beat the Eagles (3-0) this season despite two close league battles and one tight tournament showdown.
“We’re definitely fixing some things . . . but the fourth set, we didn’t serve very well [seven missed serves],” he noted.
As for the Muskie junior boys’ basketball team, a rough second quarter and trouble from the free-throw line were the difference as Dryden (3-0) kept Fort High (0-3) out of the win column with a 62-51 triumph Tuesday.
“We weren’t moving our feet on defence,” said Muskie co-coach Jamie Holliday.
“There was so much reaching on our part . . . it was like their feet were in cement.”
Cole Kowalski drained a game-high and season-best 26 points in a losing cause while Aaron Bujold added nine.
All four Muskie court teams headed to Kenora today to face the Broncos.
Their next home games are slated for Thursday, Jan. 15 against Kenora, with action getting underway at noon.
