In the quarterfinals, the Riverview Royals dumped the Saint John St. Malachy’s Memorial Saints 82-61 as Amy Underhill scored 23 and Trisha Cormier 22. Monique Wood led the Saints with 15. Stephanie Wood added 11. Riverview led 50-25 at the half.
In the semis, the Riverview Royals edged the Fredericton Black Kats 65-64. “It was a big accomplishment for us to beat Fredericton High … I am very happy. This is the first time we have gotten here in five years and I think we have had a great season,” 5-10 forward Kathryn Joudrey told the New Brunswick Telegraph Journal. Trisha Cormier led the Royals 22. Amy Underhill added 13. Lindsay Myers led the Black Kats with 12. Riverview led 35-34 at the half.
In the other semi, the Bathurst Phantoms beat the Quispamsis Kennebecasis Valley Crusaders 70-53 as Heidi McLellan scored 19, Katie Gammon 14, Jill Boucher 10 and Jane Card 10. Pam Ellis led the Crusaders with 18. Sarah Aucoin added 13. Bathurst led 36-30 between frames.
In the final, the Bathurst Phantoms defeated the Riverview Royals 79-63. The Phantoms dictated the tempo as they raced to the school’s first title since 1987. “We wanted to run all of the time,” Jill Boucher told the New Brunswick Telegraph Journal. “Our coach wanted us to run and run. If they scored, it didn’t matter. We’d just go back up there and push the ball all of the time to try and make things happen.” It paid off despite a short bench and the fact just four players hit the scoresheet. Katie Gammon led the Phantoms with 30, including 22 in the first half, while Boucher dictated the tempo and forced a host of turnovers with her pressure defence. Jane Card added 17, Boucher 16 and Heidi McLellan 16. Kathryn Joudrey led the Royals with 16 points and 18 rebounds while Trisha Cormier scored 14 despite missing 7:17 in the first half with a right ankle injury. Amy Underhill added 13. “They are big, you have to box them out for sure,” said Gammon. “We had to run them and press them hard up top on the point guard.” Riverview netted the first two buckets but then it was off to the races, thanks to a 23-8 run and 9 points from Gammon. Riverview collected itself and closed to within 10 with five minutes remaining before a 13-4 Phantoms run sealed the outcome. “The game plan was to run as fast as we can, as hard as we can for as long as we can,” said Bathurst coach Cindy Fortune. “They did it, they did well. They ran and they beat them.” Joudrey felt the intense press was the difference. “Our defence just wasn’t there today. We weren’t there and we didn’t come out to play. They were the better team and they deserved it. They played really well.” Boucher said “we hardly had any banners in our school so we wanted to put another one up there.”
The silver medalist Riverview Royals: Kathryn Joudrey; Trisha Cormier; Amy Underhill; coach Bill Davis
The gold medalist Bathurst Phantoms: Jill Boucher; Katie Gammon; Heidi McLellan; Jane Card; Erin Wood; Melissa Daigle; Shelley Lagacy; Libby McDonald; Allison Smith; Jilliane Ross; coach Cindy Fortune