Dan Falloon
There was absolutely no letdown.
The Muskie junior boys’ basketball team was the clear-cut favourite heading into the NorWOSSA final on Friday in Dryden, but they still came out as though they had something to prove.
The black-and-gold gave the host Eagles no chance of seeing daylight—jetting out to a 24-4 lead after the first quarter en route to a 71-34 rout in the championship game.
Caleb McIntosh hit a wide-open three-pointer early in the game to give Fort High a 5-2 lead. The shot broke the only tie the Muskies saw after tip-off, and head coach Greg Ste. Croix felt the “trey” set his team on the right track for the rest of the game.
“It showed them [Dryden] that if you’re going to leave them open, then they’re going to make shots, and they did that,” Ste. Croix noted.
Muskie sharpshooters drained a number of shots from behind the arc on the day, including Avery Adrian, Joe Ball, and Brandon McGinnis, who weren’t on the floor as much as some of their teammates but hit big shots when called upon to keep Fort High’s momentum chugging.
It didn’t exactly take tonnes of coal to stoke the fire, though.
The black-and-gold had entered the game undefeated in NorWOSSA play, having finished 8-0 during the regular season and winning those games by an average of nearly 30 points.
Their tightest win was 30-18 over Kenora in the second game of the season back on Dec. 15.
But Ste. Croix felt his squad had kicked things up another level—culminating in some memorable performances in the squad’s final action of the season.
“Every single person played their best game,” he lauded. “When you do that, you’re going to be successful.
“If we played the way we did today [Friday], with everyone firing on all cylinders, then we were going to be successful.”
Will Anderson netted a team-high 20 points while McIntosh chipped in 14 and Harley Mainville had 10.
One stat that caught Ste. Croix’s eye, though, was Brandon Sinclair’s 10 steals—a number that generally was more of a team total during the season.
“We had Brandon playing defence on their most athletic players, and he pressured them,” Ste. Croix explained. “We didn’t want to foul them, but we wanted to make them work to get up the court.”
The pressure quickly got to the Eagles, who coughed up the ball and brought Fort High right back up the floor to mount another attack.
“They were turning the ball over, and when you turn the ball over and when there are guys that can score, well—” he trailed off, implying the blowout outcome his team dished out.
Ste. Croix maintained Sinclair, who put up eight points and four rebounds in addition to his steals, was the major factor in the victory.
“His leadership ability is just through the roof,” he enthused. “He was the best player all year, and he was the best player today.
“It didn’t show up with the points scored, but it showed up with his defence,” Ste. Croix noted. “He controlled the game from start to finish anytime he was on the floor.”
Sinclair’s ability to gain possession in turn gave offensive dynamo Anderson a chance to shine. The 20 points were Anderson’s second-highest output of the season as he was able to finish plays after being sprung by Sinclair.
“Will Anderson had a brilliant game,” Ste. Croix remarked. “He was really the beneficiary of all the work Brandon did getting him the ball.
“Brandon would steal the ball and push that ball up the floor. [But] Will still had to make the play after—and he made them.”
The Eagles had all sorts of trouble just gaining the Muskie zone as Fort High’s defence effectively kept Dryden to the outside. And when the Eagles did penetrate the black-and-gold barrier, their shots clanked off the rim, especially early on.
Ste. Croix also was encouraged by his team’s preparation and willingness to commit to a strategy, which they were able to execute effectively on Friday.
“They come out focused, they have a plan,” he remarked. “You have to plan to work and you have to work to plan, and today they really did work the plan pretty close to perfection.”
Although the juniors’ season is over, Ste. Croix would be curious to see how his team would have done in an NWOSSAA match-up against the top team from Thunder Bay, like the senior boys are preparing for thanks to their win Friday in Dryden.
He noted his charges beat two of the three Lakehead teams it faced in tournament play this season, finishing second in a tournament there in January.
“It would definitely be nice to see them in a NWOSSAA setting,” admitted Ste. Croix. “They’ve got some good ball teams there.
“With the game we played today, we’d be able to hang with any ball team,” he praised.
