Gryphons top Muskies

It took a spirited second-half comeback, but the Superior Collegiate Gryphons senior boys are NWOSSA basketball champions.

Alex Robichaud scored 17 points on Saturday morning, including 15 after the break to lead the host Gryphons to a 38-35 squeaker over the Fort Frances Muskies to complete a two-game sweep and earn a berth at next week’s provincial championship.

It extended Thunder Bay's streak of NWOSSA titles to 10, the city's last loss coming at the hands of Fort Frances in 2001.

It was a contest that came down to the final buzzer, when time ran out on the Muskies, who just missed getting off a last-second three-pointer that could have sent the game to overtime.

Robichaud said Friday night’s buzzer-beater, 38-36 Game 1 win was an eye-opener, but it didn’t really affect their game plan in Game 2.

“You always play with a little scare,” he said. “One team’s gotta win, one team’s gotta lose. You just have to come out and play hard.”

Had Robichaud and his teammates followed that advice, the outcome of the game might not have been in doubt for so long.

A turnover-plagued first half saw the Gryphons struggle mightily against an inspired Muskies squad.

Devan Drew staked the host squad to a 1-0 lead at the foul line, but Fort Frances stormed back, reeling off seven in a row, keyed by a pair of buckets underneath by Justin Anderson, the only baskets he managed in the matinee affair.

Superior Collegiate fought back though and tied the game, only to see the Muskies open up a nine-point lead in the second quarter, an advantage they appeared to be taking into the dressing room until Jordan Abraham buried a desperation three at the buzzer to make it 20-14 at the half.

Robichaud said they knew they had to turn things around in a hurry or they were headed for a decisive Game 3 on Saturday afternoon.

“We realized that we couldn’t play any worse. We had a bunch of turnovers in the first half, so we just wanted to come out, clean up that stuff, clean up the rebounds and we knew we were going to do well if we did those things.”

Robichaud, committed to play at Lakehead University next fall, laid the blame at his own feet.

“I just turned the ball over in the first half. I just thought in the second I should be a little bit more aggressive, think a little bit more about myself and it was just there, I guess.”

Coach John Cloutier said the Gryphons fate rested in their star player’s hands, and he came through when it mattered most.

“We had a very stagnant game. We were sort of lifeless. But fortunately in the second half our leader really stepped up and ultimately he made the difference in the game,” Cloutier said. “Our team really follows his lead. And when he plays a game where he’s removed himself from a scoring a leadership role, our team seems to follow that.

“In the second half he really took them on his shoulders.”

Robichaud drained a three that drew the Gryphons to within three, but even then the Muskies controlled the tempo and quickly pushed the lead to seven.

Robichaud responded, dropping a two-pointer than sinking a pair of free-throws to pull Superior to within three.

Fouled on a three pointer, he hit all three foul shots to deadlock the score 24-24, then Superior took the lead for the first time since early in the first on a Dylan Coultis lay-in.

The Muskies never-say-die attitude was evident in their response, a quick hoop by Tim Metke to tie the game again. Metke did it again after Robichaud scored two more from the line. Tied 30-30, Caleb McIntosh nailed a huge three that put Fort Frances back on top again, but the Gryphons put together a 6-0 run, competed with a beautiful back hand dish from Robichaud to Drew.

Abraham had a chance to put it away for the Gryphons, but hit one of two from the line with 4.5 seconds left to play.

Fort Frances caught one break, being granted a quick timeout off the miss, when it appeared Robichaud had grabbed the rebound. But they didn’t get the next call at the buzzer, as Anderson was fouled as he started a desperation toss to the net, only to have the officials wave it off.

“Unfortunately we kind of took our focus off in the second half and let them get back into it,” said Fort Frances coach Paul Noonan. “But it’s one of those things where the guys knew what they had to do and it came down to a few missed lay-ins. The score could have been a lot different.”

The Ontario Federation of Secondary School Athletics ‘AA’ provincial championship runs March 7-9 in North Bay.