Staff
The basketball defensive strategy of taking away the easy shots and making teams beat you from long distance has a proven track record.
But there are exceptions to every rule.
The Kenora Broncos dialed up six three-pointers, and outscored the Muskies 19-9 in the fourth quarter, to pull out a 37-32 win in the NorWOSSA junior boys’ basketball semi-final Friday at Fort High.
Riding the momentum from the morning, the Broncos went on to upset the first-place Dryden Eagles 58-43 in the final for the school’s first-ever junior boys’ basketball title.
“We switched to man-to-man defence in the fourth, hoping to shut down their shooters,” noted Muskie coach Angela Petsnick, whose team beat Kenora in its last three meetings.
“We just couldn’t finish at the basket, either our lay-ups or powering up and putting our rebounds back in.”
Brayden Martin had three of those three-pointers for the Broncos in putting up a game-high 15 points.
Meanwhile, Muskie killer Kolbi White-Loon again created fourth-quarter angst for the black-and-gold by swishing two “treys” in the final stanza–the first giving the Broncos a 25-23 lead and the second putting them up 31-27 with two minutes to go.
Fort High, which led 18-13 at the half and 23-20 after three quarters, never got closer than four points the rest of the way.
Garrett Hyatt and Jordon Bazylewski were the only Muskies to hit shots from the floor in the fourth quarter.
Hyatt, Sean Huziak, and Mike Vanderaa all had eight points to lead the team in scoring in the game that ended a season where Petsnick saw significant growth from a group that only returned Hyatt and Jarvis Esselink.
“From where we started to where we ended up, it was a big improvement,” lauded Petsnick, whose squad finished third during the regular season with a 2-6 record.
“We came together as a team.
“They attended every practice and practised hard, and really wanted to win,” she noted.
“It just wasn’t in the cards for us.”
Petsnick said the future is unlimited for what should be a very veteran core eligible to return next season.
“We will be a force to be reckoned with,” she predicted.
