In the quarterfinals, the Moncton Harrison Trimble Trojans dumped the Saint John Greyhounds 65-41 as Hayley Porter scored 18 and Erika Hopper 16. Kaila MacAlpine led the Greyhounds with 17. The Greyhounds also included Allison Cumming, Stephanie Valcour, Pam Deletorre, Julia Bailey, Erika Nelson, Elspeth Lemon, Shanlyn Finley, Robin Mackie, Amanda LeBlanc, Julie Hines, Ivana Jankovic and Pauline Waggott.
The Moncton Purple Knights defeated the Quispamsis Kennebecasis Valley Crusaders 89-75 as Natalie Ryan scored 25, Melanie LeBlanc 18 and player of the game Ashley Gould 16. Jenn Estey led the Crusaders with 14. Steph Crawford added 13. The Crusaders (coached by Marcie Shipley) also included Jocelyn McIntyre, Tanya Ferner, Ashley Wood, Jenny Stuart, Erin Williams.
The Saint John St. Malachy’s Saints dumped the Dieppe Mathieu Martin Vedettes 92-69 as Stephanie Wood scored 24 and Aynsley Marr 20. The Vedettes included Heidi Gregoire.
In the last quarterfinal, the Fredericton Black Kats dumped the Riverview Royals 74-45 as Carolyn Plummer scored 23 and Emily MacPhee 11. Jessica Forbes led Riverview with 14. The Royals (coached by Bill Davis) also included Amy Underhill, Sarah Reid, Erin Murray.
In the semis, the host Moncton Harrison Trimble Trojans earned their fourth trip to the final in six years by dusting the Saint John St. Malachy’s Memorial Saints 91-66. The Trojans broke to a 49-35 lead at the half and romped. Hayley Porter led Trimble with 19. Kristine LeBlanc added 16, Allison Hubley 15, Janiva Willis 14, Erika Hopper 14 and Lauren Devereux 12. Lori Hossack led the Saints with 20. Colleen Ryan added 15 and Erin Reid 10.
In the other semi, the Fredericton Black Kats dumped the Moncton Purple Knights 59-46. The Black Kats led 33-22 at the half. Carolyn Plummer paced Fredericton with 22. Melanie Walker added 9. Natalie Ryan led the Purple Knights with 12. Ashley Gould added 10. Plummer, who developed into one of the province’s best, attributed her game to “coaching. I started when I was little and just having the opportunity to play with bigger players my whole life was important. I have worked hard on my own, worked hard in the gym every day.” “I have been a gym rat and my goal my whole life is to play university basketball. Finally, it is happening,” she told the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. “My coaches in grade 10 and 11 [Steve O’Rourke and Rick Cotter] pushed me hard. They knew I had great expectations and they pushed me to achieve that.” Rookie coach Brandon Langille said Plummer is “a natural five position, but if she finds herself in one of the other spots, she is skilled enough to play anywhere on the floor. All the girls listen to what she has to say and she is the one who gets the girls intensified, even during a regular Tuesday afternoon practice. All the girls respond to her and listen.”
In the final, the Fredericton Black Kats nipped the Moncton Harrison Trimble Trojans 63-62 as Melanie Walker collected a loose ball, tossed it toward the hoop and watching it bounce off the rim into the air and then back through the net with three seconds remaining on the clock. The Trojans had erased a nine-point second-half deficit with clutch defence and taken a 62-60 lead on Erica Hopper’s long-range jumper with 28 seconds remaining. “I was open and I said ‘I am going to shoot it,”’ Walker told the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. “I had no idea how much time was left on the clock. I just shot it.” Hopper said “this was probably my best shooting game ever. I shoot, but I don’t shoot like that. I don’t know what I ate, or what, but I felt good.” on the ball and fired. It capped a campaign that saw coaches Steve O’Rourke and Rick Cotter getting axed by the school’s administration in a highly publicized decision. They were replaced by Brandon Langille. “It feels great,” said Walker, who scored 10. “A lot of us were upset at the start of the year but we looked past that and realized we have a good coach now as well. We wanted to win.” In the first half, Carolyn Plummer scored 12 of her 17 points to give the Black Kats a 39-30 advantage. But after Fredericton opened a 43-34 lead with 15:15 remaining, the Trojans, paced by Hopper’s six treys and 22 points, began to chip away, closing to within three with 6:05 on the clock. “We are a team that never gives up,” explained Hopper. “When we are down, we just work a little bit harder and it just came for us. We started putting a little more press on in the full court and it helped us slow the game down.” The Kats pushed their advantage to 58-53 when their player of the game Kristen Petruska connected with 4:10 remaining, setting the stage for the final heroics. Hopper hit a three with 2:38 left to close to within one point and after Plummer made it 60-57, Lauren Devereux and Hopper, with another three, gave the Trojans their first lead since the 1:37 mark of the first half, this time with 28 seconds left. Walker’s prayer followed. “I was open on the baseline and I saw Melanie take the shot,” said Petruska, who scored 13, nabbed 10 rebounds and dished seven assists. “I thought it was a two-pointer, and I thought we were going into overtime. Everyone was jumping, I looked at the scoreboard and saw 63. I couldn’t believe it.” Coach Brandon Langille said “my heart skipped a beat when we almost turned it over there but we finally swung it around and got it to Melanie.” Hooper said “it’s something we have to deal with. We have four really great girls on this team, four grads who are leaving and we had it in us. It’s a tough break, but we have to deal with it.” Langille said “it’s been very tough on me personally and there were a few times when I didn’t know if this was what I wanted to keep doing. The whole reason I took over this team and kept with it is for the girls. They really wanted to win, they were behind me and it is nice personally to win this.” Trojans coach Bob Wallace, who stepped aside after decades at the Trimble helm, later told the Moncton Times & Transcript that he was taught a harsh lesson by former Black Kats coach Steve O’Rourke when he started coaching. The Trojans were losing “about 100-something-to-30” in a game and yet, the Black Kats kept on their full court press. He asked O’Rourke why, and O’Rourke snapped “Either learn how to play or get out.” Wallace soon made the Trojans a perennial contender. “It’s not all about wins and losses, but the lessons we learn along the way,” he said.
The co-bronze medalist Saint John St. Malachy’s Saints: Loris Hossack; Stephanie Wood; Tammy Mudge; Kerry Hayes; Kristen Coombs; Aynsley Marr; Colleen Ryan; Elizabeth Zed; Brandy Jones; Sarah Melanson; Erin Reid;
The co-bronze medalist Moncton Purple Knights: Natalie Ryan; Ashley Gould; Melanie LeBlanc; Emily Smith; Jennifer Kensington; Natalie Perry, Meaghan Stockall; Jenny Miller;
The silver medalist Moncton Harrison Trimble Trojans: Hayley Porter; Erika Hopper; Lauren Devereux; Kristine LeBlanc; Allison Hubley; Janiva Willis; coach Bob Wallace; assistant Rick Dunphy
The gold medalist Fredericton Black Kats: Melanie Walker; Carolyn Plummer; Kristen Petrushka; Kristen O’Rourke; Carolyn Peppen; Emily McPhee; coach Brandon Langille