The Muskie boys’ basketball teams struck gold at the NorWOSSA playoffs yesterday in Kenora, with both squads beating the host Broncos in their respective finals.
The seniors’ road to gold was paved with a few bumps and a very unco-operative Bronco team that refused to go down easily.
The Muskies had jumped out of the gates quickly—riding the hot hand of veteran Jeremy Strain to build a 20-6 lead after one quarter. But the Broncos bounced back, outscoring Fort High 17-8 in the second quarter to make it 28-23 at halftime.
The Broncos then lit up the scoreboard in the third quarter, swishing 23 points to the Muskies’ 15 to claim a 46-43 lead heading into the final quarter.
The veteran Muskie squad didn’t flinch in the face of adversity, however, stepping up and scoring 22 points in the fourth quarter to claim a 65-58 victory.
Strain led the black-and-gold offensively with 23 points while defensive standout Talbot Johnson scored 12 and point guard Garnet Cornell added nine.
The Muskie now will host the Thunder Bay champs in the best-of-three NWOSSAA final on Feb. 22-23. That winner advances to the all-Ontarios on March 3-5.
The juniors, meanwhile, dominated every aspect of their gold-medal game against the Broncos—grabbing an amazing 32 rebounds en route to a 49-33 victory.
Jacob McIntosh led the way with 18 points while grabbing five steals.
Tyler Abma and Chris Legg had eight points and seven rebounds apiece, with guards Justin Anderson (seven points/five rebounds) and Josh Strain (six points/seven rebounds) also helping control the game’s tempo.
While their season is officially over (there is no NWOSSAA playoff at the junior level), the boys will take to the court again today as they cross the bridge to play the second half of a home-and-home series with the International Falls Broncos’ Grade 9 squad.
The Muskies dropped the first game back on Feb. 4 at the “Fish Tank.”
On the volleyball court yesterday in Kenora, both Muskie volleyball squads suffered four-set losses in the semi-finals to the host Broncos.
The seniors started slowly, dropping the first set 25-6, before rebounding for a hard-fought 25-19 win in the second set to even the best-of-five showdown.
The third set was a wild affair, with the Muskies clawing back from a big deficit to even the score at 19-19—only to see the Broncos close it out with six-straight points.
The fourth set produced little drama, though, as Kenora pounded out a 25-15 win to advance to the NorWOSSA final, where they were swept by the defending champion Dryden Eagles.
The Muskie juniors faced a similar fate. After dropping the first two sets, Fort High bounced back with a strong third set to tighten up the match.
But a daring comeback was not to be as Kenora won the fourth set to advance to the final against Dryden, which claimed the gold in a four-set victory.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
