The Atikokan Voyageurs used clutch shooting instead of canoes to successfully navigate dangerous waters.
Using an offensive attack that surpassed the 20-point plateau in four-straight games, the Voyageurs went undefeated en route to capturing the six-team Crossroads Tornadoes boys’ invitational basketball tournament Saturday in Devlin.
Atikokan completed its race to the top with a 20-10 victory over the St. Francis Sentinels (Fort Frances) in the gold-medal game after having dumped those same Sentinels 26-6 to close out the round-robin.
The champs finished first in the round-robin standings with 15 points after victories over host Crossroads (18-3), the Sturgeon Creek Sturgeons (17-0), the Mine Centre Thunderbirds (31-12), the Whitefish Bay Winter Hawks (23-0), and the Sentinels.
(Teams were awarded three points per win and one point per loss).
Before losing to the Voyageurs, St. Francis had polished off their other four round-robin opponents to finish in second place with 13 points, downing Crossroads 12-2, Sturgeon Creek 24-8, Mine Centre 5-2, and Whitefish Bay 26-5.
In the bronze-medal game, the host Tornadoes watched a huge lead evaporate, then regained their composure to pull out a 20-15 win over Mine Centre.
Crossroads had finished the round-robin with 11 points after beating the Sturgeons (16-6), Thunderbirds (21-13), and Winter Hawks (20-12) to go along with losses to Atikokan and St. Francis.
Mine Centre wound up fourth with nine points, beating the Sturgeons 14-6 and the Winter Hawks 18-3 to accompany their three losses.
Sturgeon Creek was fifth with seven points, with their lone win coming over Whitefish Bay (18-14). The Winter Hawks went winless in the event, recording a total of five points.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
