Joey Payeur
Joey Angus was misidentified in photos as teammate Liam Metke in Saturday’s Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal and as “Joey Ang” in Sunday’s edition.
If only that was the worst fate to have befallen him and the rest of the Muskie senior boys’ basketball team.
The undefeated St. Ignatius Falcons showcased the dominance they’ve held all season on teams throughout Northwestern Ontario by sweeping the best-of-three NWOSSAA final over the Muskies in Thunder Bay on the weekend.
St. Ignatius routed Fort High 75-25 in Game 1 on Friday, then finished the job Saturday morning with an 81-33 wipeout to advance to the OFSAA ‘AA’ boys’ championship that begins Monday in Sault Ste. Marie.
“They’re big and very skilled,” noted Muskie co-coach Bryce Coyle after his two-time defending NorWOSSA champs were eliminated at NWOSSAA by the Falcons for the second-straight year.
“For most teams in this part of Ontario, it is hard to compete with that much size and skill,” he added.
“Their athleticism and length allows them to really get after an opponent on defence with good ball pressure, and it also definitely gives them an advantage, against us anyway, in terms of rebounding.”
While 6’11” centre Austin Burchat was the tallest Falcon, it was 6’7″ forward Jared Kreiner who provided the biggest headache for the Muskies, netting 23 points in both games to lead all scorers.
“Because of how much bigger they were than us, we decided to try our best to keep the ball on the perimeter and make them make jumpers,” Coyle explained.
“They did a good job of moving the ball around and getting some good looks, and Kreiner was able to make a few shots,” he noted.
“It’s a pick-your-poison scenario and we were hoping they maybe would have a rough shooting day, and he was one of their players that responded for them and took advantage of his opportunities.”
Aaron Bujold had 10 points to lead the Muskies in Friday’s game, which saw St. Ignatius lead 23-3 after the first quarter, 39-5 after the second, and 66-8 following the third before Fort High outscored its host 17-9 in the fourth.
Bujold then had nine to lead the black-and-gold in Saturday’s loss.
“Our guys always play hard and some shots didn’t fall that they might normally get, especially in the first game, but we were happy in their overall effort level,” Coyle said.
“They played until the end, no matter what the score was, and that’s one thing that we wanted them to do.”
Coyle won’t let a difficult ending tarnish what went from a up-and-down season to a memorable one with a 54-51 upset win over the first-place Dryden Eagles in the NorWOSSA final here two weeks ago.
“We had a lot of fun this year based on the personalities on the squad,” he remarked.
“Every day was enjoyable and the guys did a good job of understanding when it was time to work and time to joke around, and I credit our veterans for teaching the young guys that mentality.
“This year was a grind, especially at the end of the season,” Coyle admitted.
“We went from 14 bodies to start the year down to eight for the final weekend, so it was hard for us coaches at times to try and balance minutes and keep everyone as healthy as we could, especially over the last month.”
The Muskies are losing graduating seniors Metke, Angus, and Andrew Hanson while Cole Kowalski and Dougie deBernardeaux have the option of returning for a “victory lap.”
That leaves nine Grade 11s who started the season on the roster as eligible returnees to try and push the Muskies to a “three-peat.”
“We have some promising Grade 11s right now, so hopefully they take it upon themselves to keep developing their game and we will see them all back next year ready to work,” said Coyle.
