Joey Payeur
When a team’s ‘D’ is operating at an A-plus level, reason dictates it will be hard-pressed to fail.
The Muskie senior boys’ basketball team smothered the offensive game of the defending champion Dryden Eagles to cruise to a 64-32 victory in the NorWOSSA final Friday in Kenora.
“The whole point of the season was to win the championship,” noted Muskie co-coach Bryce Coyle.
“It was a goal of ours at the beginning of the year, and I’m glad to see how the kids played really well and responded and earned the gold medal,” he added.
Cole Kowalski, the lone Grade 11 player on the Muskies, made the most of his significant minutes in the second half to net a game-high 17 points.
Kevin Metke and Jacob Empey each added eight points.
With their first NorWOSSA title since 2012, the Muskies next will host the best-of-three NWOSSAA final against the Thunder Bay champion St. Ignatius Falcons this weekend at Fort High.
Game 1 goes Friday at 1:45 p.m., with Game 2 set for Saturday at 10 a.m.
Game 3 (if necessary) will go Saturday at 2 p.m., with the winner advancing to the OFSAA ‘AA’ championship March 7-9 in Timmins.
The Falcons will be the Goliath to Fort High’s David.
St. Ignatius went undefeated in SSSAA play at 13-0 and advanced to NWOSSAA after clobbering the St. Patrick Pats 95-57 in Monday’s final.
“It’s no secret that it’s going to be the toughest test we’ve faced all year and that they are overwhelming favourites . . . lol,” Coyle wrote in an e-mail.
“They are a very well-coached team and look really polished in the way they play,” he added.
“In my opinion, they are the best team in Northwestern Ontario,” Coyle said.
“But if you want to represent your area at OFSAA, you are going to face the best teams, so we are looking forward to the challenge—even though we know they will challenge us like no team has this year.”
Any chance the Muskies have of ending the Falcons’ OFSAA ambitions will lie first and foremost on how well they can defend St. Ignatius.
Fort High suffocated the Eagles after leading 9-4 after one quarter—outscoring Dryden 41-11 over the next two quarters to avenge a loss to the Eagles in the final regular-season game to spoil the Muskies’ bid for an undefeated NorWOSSA record.
“We wanted to get back to defensive fundamentals because it’s like we’ve been running in quicksand a lot the last few games,” admitted Coyle.
“The guys always play hard but we want them to play smarter,” he noted.
“They have been a step slow in reading the ball and the execution is not what it should have been.”
Liam Metke was another standout player for the Muskies in the NorWOSSA final, showing infinite hustle on defence and finishing with six points.
“He was just phenomenal,” lauded Coyle.
“At the Sturgeon Heights tournament in Winnipeg, he was one of the best on both ends of the floor,” he recounted.
“He brought all that confidence today [Friday]. I was expecting that.”
As for the NWOSSAA final, Coyle is counting on a loud and proud show of support from the Muskie faithful to give his team the spark he believes it will need to win the series.
“It’s always huge,” he stressed about getting to play the role of host.
“Home court is super important. I don’t care what the sport is.”
