Staff
Two different missions by two different teams ended in positive fashion Tuesday afternoon at Fort High.
The Muskie junior girls’ volleyball squad capped a perfect 8-0 regular season with a 3-0 sweep of the visiting Dryden Eagles (26-24, 25-21, and 25-22).
Coach Kirsten Talsma and her crew now will await the winner of the NorWOSSA semi-final between Dryden (3-4) and the Kenora Broncos on Feb. 20 in Dryden, with Fort High playing the survivor later that day.
Meanwhile, the senior Muskies (5-3) fired a warning shot across the bow of the first-place Eagles (6-1) by beating Dryden for the first time this season 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-19, and 25-15).
The second-place Muskies need only to beat the winless Broncos in the NorWOSSA semi-final next Friday to clinch a spot in the NWOSSAA championship that will be held here against the Thunder Bay champs.
Win or lose against the Eagles in the NorWOSSA final, Fort High automatically qualifies for NWOSSAA due to the fact Dryden already has a berth in the OFSAA ‘AA’ championships as host team.
As far as the Muskies basketball teams go, however, Tuesday was a tough day all around.
The senior squad lost 68-61 to the Eagles to finish with a 6-2 mark.
If Dryden beats Kenora in the NorWOSSA regular-season finale today, the Eagles will get the tie-breaker nod based on a better plus-minus in points scores in their four league games against Fort High.
That means the Muskies will have to beat Kenora in the NorWOSSA semi-final next Friday in Dryden to get another shot at knocking off the defending champion Eagles.
Kevin Metke led the Muskies with 14 points while Jacob Empey and Braeden Caul each had 10.
In junior boys’ action, Fort High (0-8) is hoping the playoffs bring a change in fortune after getting blasted 59-33 by the Eagles (7-0) on Tuesday.
Cole Kowalski had a team-high 13 points for the Muskies.
Teruo Skead and Sekina Scheibler added five each.
The Muskies will face second-place Kenora in the NorWOSSA semi-final, with the winner advancing to meet Dryden.
