Lucas Punkari
After having to wait around all day long at the Fort High gym last Wednesday, the Muskie senior boys’ basketball team was determined to save the best for last at the NorWOSSA playoffs.
However, even though they achieved their goal of winning the league crown, it wasn’t quite the dominating, statement-making showing they were hoping for.
The black-and-gold found themselves in a tightly-contested affair with the Dryden Eagles in the NorWOSSA final, but were able to come from behind in the fourth quarter to earn a 43-37 victory and their sixth-straight league title in the process.
“I think it’s safe to say out of all the titles that we have won, this was easily the most dramatic and the most memorable,” said Tim Metke, who is co-captain along with Will Anderson.
“I’m not sure if the home crowd here made things a little bit tougher for us or what, but it was really tough out there until the very end,” he admitted.
Early on, it looked as if the Muskies would cruise to an easy victory as they jumped out to a 10-2 lead.
But the black-and-gold’s offence hit a roadblock during the second and third quarters, allowing the Eagles to grab a 28-24 lead.
“I have to give Dryden a lot of credit, first of all, as they really stepped up their game today,” Muskie head coach Bryce Coyle said of the Eagles, who defeated the Kenora Broncos 61-40 in the semi-final earlier Wednesday.
“However, we weren’t making that second effort on our chances to get baskets, and that was a big issue,” he noted.
“[And] at the other end of the court, we weren’t getting the rebounds on their shots and they were able to get those baskets.”
In the fourth quarter, however, things quickly switched in the other direction for the Muskies.
Unlike the previous 16
minutes, Fort High was able to shut down the Eagles’ chances while the offence—namely sharp shooters Anderson and Caleb McIntosh—came to life as they went on a 19-9 run to take the title.
“We had started to get pretty frustrated out there prior to the fourth quarter,” admitted Anderson, who led the team in scoring with 15 points.
“But as the fourth quarter started, we were finally able to get things going, and I was lucky enough to nail a couple of three-pointers and the other guys were able to make some big rebounds and sink some key free-throws to help us get the win,” he added.
Even though Anderson’s scoring, along with a 10-point outburst from McIntosh, were a huge part of the fourth-quarter comeback, Coyle was quick to laud the play of Gavin Moorhouse as another key contribution to their championship win.
“Despite the fact that he fouled out at the end, Gavin’s play was a huge part of us getting the win,” Coyle stressed.
“He was working hard out there on defence, and his pressure on the other team that created a lot of turnovers was a huge factor for us, especially with the steals he made out there.
“In all honesty, if it wasn’t for him, I’m not sure we would be able to come back and win,” Coyle noted.
The Muskies now are preparing to host the best-of-three NWOSSAA playoffs this Friday and Saturday morning against the Thunder Bay champs.
Despite not knowing if they will face the Hammarskjold Vikings or Winston Churchill Trojans as of press time, Coyle is looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity to advance to the all-Ontarios.
“Even though we didn’t win against Hammarskjold in a tournament there earlier this year, and even though we haven’t faced Churchill yet, I’m very confident that we can match up well with them,” he remarked.
“We’ve played very well this year, especially with our defensive play which has been just outstanding, and I really think we have a shot of making it to OFSAA,” he added.
The NWOSSAA championship series will get underway on Friday afternoon at Fort High with a 1:45 p.m. tipoff time, with Game 2 slated for Saturday morning at 10 a.m.
Game 3, if necessary, will be played at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
