en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Wed, 22 May 2013 01:51:13 GMT 15 By Greg Gallant

The John Glenn Muskies entered one of the toughest sectional brackets around in this postseason, but they weren't prepared to go home without a fight. The first challenge that the Muskies faced was fifth-seeded River View. Although the Black Bears had a lower win total, the Muskies knew they couldn't take the night off because of the Black Bears' midseason upset of John Glenn. River View seized a 17-11 lead after the first quarter and cruised to a 29-26 halftime advantage. The Muskies' offense finally got going in the third quarter as they stole the lead and never gave it back. Senior Matt Warehime scored eight of his 10 points in the frame, while junior Seth Dodson added six off the bench and Matt Heagen put up five. All in all, the Muskies outscored the Black Bears 23-9 in the third quarter to take a 49-38 lead. It was smooth sailing through the fourth as the Muskies earned a 65-55 victory. Senior Matt Heagen led the Muskies in scoring, departing from his usual status as an inside player to hit a trio of 3-pointers on his way to 21 points. Fellow senior Troy McCulley was also hot from beyond the arc that night, and four long balls accounted for 12 of his 14 points. Muskie coach Greg Woodard said after the win, "The monkey is off our back from losing the first game of the sectional last year." There was no time to rest for the Muskies, though, as they faced another opponent that had bested them earlier in the year. The Dover Tornadoes were the number one seed in the sectional, but the Muskies weren't intimidated. John Glenn played a great first half and trailed just 25-27 at the break (compared to the 45-13 halftime deficit they faced in their first contest with Dover). The Muskies were successful in shutting down the stars of the Dover offense, but it was the players they never expected that stepped up for the Tornadoes. "We wanted their role players to have to beat us, and they did," said senior Colin Bass. It was Dover senior Adam Grove who delivered the big blow to the Muskies, dropping in three consecutive deep balls to expand the Dover lead to eight at the end of the third. The Muskies couldn't muster up a comeback, and the game ended in a 64-50 win. Bass went 9 of 13 from the field in a 21-point performance, and Warehime added 12 to spark the John Glenn offense. The Muskies finished the season with a strong record of 16-6, including a 13-3 record in the MVL. ]]> Fri, 03 Mar 2006 18:49:00 GMT