In the quarterfinals, the Moncton Bernice MacNaughton Highlanders defeated the Fredericton Leo Hayes Lions 70-37 as Lia St. Pierre scored 15, Samantha Kaminsky 15 and Laura Fowler 13. Ashley Phillips led the Lions with 12. Rhiainn Coulombe added 7 and Maki Kubota 5. The Highlanders led 37-12 at the half. The Lions also included Brittany Francis, Maggie McTavish.
The Fredericton Black Kats stomped the Miramichi Valley Pulamoo 68-40 as Robbi Daley scored 17, Rebecca Sheehan 14 and Brittany Gillis 13. Megan Stymiest led Miramichi Valley with 26. Liz Dubee added 5. The Black Kats led 32-17 at the half. The Pulamoo also included Sarah Seaborn, Allison Turcotte, Lincoln Menzies.
The Kennebecasis Valley Crusaders defeated the Moncton Harrison Trimble Trojans 75-53 as Louise Chiasson scored 14, Ashley Bawn 13, Rachael Jefferson 13 and Ann Conrod 10. Melissa Foster led the Trojans with 18. Kelly Vass added 15. The Crusaders led 37-21 at the half. The Trojans also included Danielle LeBlanc, Renee LeBlanc, Jill Smith.
In the last quarterfinal, the Riverview Royals edged the Sussex Regional Sonics 53-38 after breaking it open in the second half. Vanessa Pickard led the Royals with 18. Stephanie Clarke added 12 and Rebecca Nuttall 11. Madeline Belding led the Sonics with 9. Carla Norrad added 6. Riverview led 21-18 at the half. The Sonics (coached by Mike Maxwell and Peter McAleenan) also included Samantha Dixon, Larissa Verhoeven, Jenna Strang, Justine Dearman, Karen Creighton, Brittany Mallory, Laisa Howe-Hayes.
In the semis, the Moncton Bernice MacNaughton Highlanders whipped the host and top-seeded Fredericton Black Kats 76-49 as Lia St. Pierre scored 34, Samantha Kaminsky 17 and Laura Chapman 13. Brittany Gillis led the Black Kats with 15. Robbi Daley added 9. “We never ever, ever, ever talked about repeating or defending a provincial championship,” said coach Steve Chapman after the semi. “The only time we talked about that was recently when you’re down a one game shot. We’re a young team with only three grade 12s and that was last year’s team. This is this years. We didn’t put pressure on our kids or say they had to defend or repeat anything.” St. Pierre had double figures in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Chapman said it was “perhaps the finest performance that I’ve ever seen from a female high school basketball player. She just elevated her play to a play that was just phenomenal to watch. She was certainly the difference in the game and she just made everyone around her better. It was a heck of a performance. The Highlanders outscored the Kats 44-18 in the second half.
In the other semi, the Quispamsis Kennebecasis Valley Crusaders defeated the Riverview Royals 62-59 as Ashley Bawn drained a trey with six seconds remaining on the clock. “We had the attitude that we had nothing to lose,” Ann Conrod told the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. “We were very focused.” The Crusaders led by 15 at the half but the Royals rallied back and knotted the score with 16 seconds to play. “We knew they weren’t going to quit,” said Crusaders coach Bill Mayberry. “They just kept eating away and eating away at our lead but our girls worked hard. They played together and they played for each other.” Louise Chiasson and Rachael Jefferson each scored 12 for Kennebecasis Valley. Ann Conrod added 11 and Ashley Bawn 11. Vanessa Pickard paced the Royals with 18. Julie Hatcher added 9. “It’s a pretty disappointed group obviously. They worked hard all season,” said Royals coach Greg Gould. “When you put that much effort and energy and it’s something you really enjoy and like to do, you want to finish it on a winning note.” The Royals fell behind 37-22 at the half but rallied to knot the score on a Pickard bucket. Rebecca Nuttall said the Royals were devastated by Bawn’s trey. “It was just shocking, because it’s not a high percentage shot.” Graduating senior Stephanie Clarke added that “we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game. But it was just a really tough loss. We weren’t really expecting it. But I am so proud of them. We tried our hardest and we battled back and that showed how much we wanted it.”
In the final, the Moncton Bernie McNaughton Highlanders repeated as champs by dumping the Quispamsis Kennebecasis Valley Crusaders 71-54. Lia St. Pierre scored 23 on 16 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals to pace the Highlanders. “It feels amazing to come back to the Aitken Centre and do what you set out to do,” said St. Pierre. “We had such an amazing season, so to finish it off with a win is the perfect ending.” Forward Laura Fowler added that “last year everybody said we were going to win, so it was still nice to win, but this year, we had eight new girls and we had to work really hard for it. It’s awesome, I would hate to have to go out on a losing note. I think in the first half everyone was really nervous, but the second half everybody stepped up and we went on a run and sealed the deal.” KVHS netted the first basket but MacNaughton went on a 9-2 sprint to take an early lead as the Crusaders were plagued by fouls, caused mainly by a driving Highlanders’ attack. Samantha Kaminksy upped the edge to 10 points when she completed a three-point play from the foul line with 1:04 remaining in the first quarter. Jefferson started a KVHS run with a pair of buckets and Ann Conrad scored three times in the next five minutes as the Crusaders closed to 28-25 late in the second quarter. But a late Highlanders run, fueled by St. Pierre and Laura Fowler, pushed MacNaughton ahead 34-28 at the intermission. Samantha Kaminsky hit a pair of lay-ins and two free throws in the first two minutes of the second half to put MacNaughton ahead 40-28 thanks in large part to full court pressure that paid off with turnovers. KVHS head coach Bill Mayberry called a time out to settle his players but more pressure led directly to another Kaminsky bucket and a 42-28 edge. The Crusaders hit a pair of shots to close the deficit to 10 but two more free throws and a couple of easy lay-ins by St. Pierre made it 50-34 with 4:46 left in the third period. By the time the third quarter was over, MacNaughton led 57-37. “Every game we seem to have a lull, then we realize, ‘Hey, we’ve got to pick it up here, St. Pierre said. “Samantha jump-started us in the second half down low, so we were able to get a pretty comfortable lead. … We are a second-half team. All year, we have really pushed it in the second half. At halftime, we sat down and thought about what we were doing and what we needed to improve on. That gave us time to come together and focus on what we had to work on. … Obviously it was a new season and a new team so we couldn’t have the expectations coming into the season saying we were going to win. We just did it step by step this year trying to improve our game. We put a lot of effort into this season and just finishing it off with a win at the Aitken Centre is unbelievable. We’re really excited — we’ll always remember this day.” McNaughton coach Steve Chapman told the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal that “it’s so hard to get back here — once we’re here we obviously want to finish it off with a win. We’re really excited, we’re happy for our Grade 12s who worked so hard. I think last year we just had so many Grade 12s and I think a lot of people thought we were going to win it, this year there were more question marks.” Crusader Ann Conrod said “if we could have stopped (St. Pierre) it would have been a whole lot closer game, that’s for sure. … In a game like this, you can’t afford to dig a hole. It wasn’t them beating us. We beat ourselves that quarter. We had a game plan but we didn’t stick to it and they’re a good team. … This season has been unbelievable. I’ve played on the team since Grade 9. This is my fourth year and I’ve been waiting for this chance forever. If it’s going to end, it’s better that it ends here. … We let a few things slip and that obviously cost us the game. Against a team like this, if they get going and they get a run, it is hard to come back.” Jefferson said “no one expected us to get this far. I am pretty happy we did get this far but I am still sad we lost.” Mayberry said his troops had an exceptional season. “Yeah, I wish we could have played a little better but I am so proud of the girls for getting here. I could not have asked another thing of them – they gave me everything they had.” Samantha Kaminsky finished with 18 points, six boards and two blocks while Laura Chapman chipped in with 13 assists, six points and three steals. Laura Fowler and Brittany Foreman added nine and eight points, respectively. Ann Conrod led Kennebecasis Valley with 14 points but committed 10 turnovers against the fierce McNaughton full-court pressure. Hannah Davies scored 15, Lindsay Whittaker 12, Rachel Jefferson 12 and Lyndsay Roy 9. Louise Chiasson grabbed eight rebounds and had four points. MacNaughton went 14-for-22 on the foul line, while KV was 6-for-10. The Highlanders finished the season with a 35-6 record. The Crusaders were 35-7. Conrad said “we let a few things slip and that obviously cost us the game. Against a team like this, if they get going and they get a run, it is hard to come back.” Crusaders coach Bill Mayberry said “I wish we could have played a little better but I am so proud of the girls for getting here, “I could not have asked another thing of them – they gave me everything they had.” Steve Chapman was chosen New Brunswick girls’ basketball coach of the year.
The co-bronze medalist Fredericton Black Kats: Brittany Gillis; Robbi Daley; Rebecca Sheehan; Shannon McCarthy; Emily Corey; Olivia Dobblesteyn; coach Steve O’Rourke
The co-bronze medalist Riverview Royals: Vanessa Pickard; Stephanie Clark; Rebecca Nuttall; Julie Hatcher; Jenna Jones; Alyssia Olsen; Cheyanne Brown; Jenica Burbar; Rebecca Canning; Katie Donahoe; Gabriella Johnson-Edfast; Julie Hatcher; Holly Jones; Katie Lund; Courtney Manning; Michelle Plante; Gabrielle Robin; Katie Sheridan; coach Bill Davis
The silver medalist Quispamsis Kennebecasis Valley Crusaders: Ann Conrod; Louise Chiasson; Laura McCaffrey; Rachael Jefferson; Ashley Bawn; Cara Savoie; Alex MacKenzie; Lindsay Roy; Hannah Davies; Lindsay Whittaker; Melanie MacGillvray; Laura McCaffrey; coach Bill Mayberry; assistant Roberta Crilley
The gold medalist Moncton Bernice MacNaughton Highlanders: Laura Chapman; Laura Fowler; Lia St. Pierre; Samantha Kaminsky; Brittany Foreman; Andrea Price; Lindsay Whittaker; coach Steve Chapman