Muskie junior girls clinch bye to final

Staff

The Muskie junior girls’ basketball team now knows they can put their feet up and let their challenger come to them.
Fort High dumped the host Kenora Broncos 36-19 in NorWOSSA action yesterday to clinch first place and an automatic bye to the league final Nov. 8 in Dryden.
Adyson Wilson-Hands had 13 points to lead the Muskies (6-1), who will await the winner of the semi-final showdown earlier that day between the host Eagles (3-3) and Kenora (1-6).
“The fact that we clinched first place with this win is huge,” coach Gord McCabe said about his defending league champs.
“It means we don’t have to play the semi-final where anything can happen.”
Grace Petsnick added 10 points yesterday against the Broncos while Janissa Judson and Angie Redford each had four.
The Muskie senior girls also took care of business yesterday, dumping the host Broncos 54-30 despite having only seven players on hand.
Abby Sanders led the way for the Muskies (6-1), netting a season-high 26 points, including 18 in the first half as Fort High built a 35-10 lead on winless Kenora (0-7).
Ellie Petsnick also surpassed her previous best this season with 12 points while Carmen Godin added seven.
The senior Muskies can clinch first place with a win this Tuesday here against Dryden (4-2).
On the volleyball court, the Muskie senior boys (5-2) got a tougher-than-expected test from winless Kenora (0-7), but rallied from one set down for a 3-2 triumph.
Set scores were 25-15, 21-25, 14-25, 25-15, and 15-9.
The win kept Fort High in the running to catch Dryden (5-1) for first place and a bye to the final, although they likely would need to beat the host Eagles here this Tuesday and also have them lose to Kenora in the regular-season finale Nov. 3.
The reason is Dryden has a stranglehold on the tie-breaker with a +13 ratio (17-4) of sets won and lost during the regular season, compared to just +2 (15-13) for the Muskies.
Meanwhile, the Bronco junior volleyball squad prevented a sweep by the visitors thanks to a 3-1 win over the Muskies (25-22, 25-13, 20-25, 25-19).
Kenora (6-1) already has clinched top spot while the Muskies fell to 2-5.
All four Muskie teams close out their regular-season play Tuesday against Dryden, with action beginning at noon.