In the quarterfinals, held in Riverview, the 3rd-seeded Dartmouth Spartans defeated the 6th-seeded Halifax West Warriors x-x.
The 5th-seeded Truro Cobequid Educational Centre Cougars defeated the 4th-seeded Halifax Queen Elizabeth Lions 61-59. The Lions included Nelson Carvery, Shaun Carvery, Ian MacRae, Jordan Croucher, Geoff Williams.
The 2nd-seeded Greenwich Horton Griffins dumped the 7th-seeded Glace Bay Panthers x-x.
In the last quarterfinal, the top-seeded Coxheath Riverview Rural Royals dumped the 8th-seeded Halifax St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish x-x.
In the semis, the Truro Cobequid Educational Centre Cougars defeated the previously undefeated (39-0) top-seeded host Coxheath Riverview Rural Royals 84-60 (also reported as 80-62) as David Piers scored 16, Matt O’Toole 22 and Matthew Langille 20. Mike Wadden led Riverview with 22. Shane Hussey added 14. Cobequid led 36-34 at the half.
In the other semi, the Dartmouth Spartans edged the Greenwich Horton Griffins 81-78 as L.J. Evans scored 29, 6-7 center Colin Crawford 15 and Doug Borden 11. Chad Clothier led Horton with 38. Shaun Johnson added 16. Horton led 50-34 at the half.
In the bronze medal match, the Coxheath Riverview Rural Royals defeated the Greenwich Horton Griffins 93-86 as Dougal Hickey scored 23. Chad Clothier led Horton with 22. The Griffins (coached by Tim Kendrick, assisted by Jay Robichaud, manager Marvin Rhyno) also included Shaun Johnson, Brent Pierce, Ronnie Zwicker, Aaron MacNeil, Shane Oickle, Pat Murphy, Andrew Schurman, Nick Veniot, Brian Raine, Jett Jodrey, Adam Smith and Evan Fletcher.
In the final, the 3rd-seeded Dartmouth Spartans whipped the Truro Cobequid Educational Centre Cougars 90-76 to earn their first title in 20 years after leading from start to finish. “It’s been a while,” said coach Darryl Johnson. “But it’s been our goal since the first of the year in training camp. We have eight seniors and they’ve all played with me the last three years. They knew the goals and the expectations.” Johnson had assumed the helm two years earlier, moving from J.L. Isley and telling administrators he “wanted to put Dartmouth High back on the map. I told the administrators: ‘if you give me this coaching job, I guarantee we’ll win a provincial championship. The kids have responded.” Point guard J.L. Evans, gunner Dave Langille and post Colin Crawford dominated. Only they scored for the Spartans in the first 17 minutes of the second half as Dartmouth extended sits 42-34 halftime lead. L.J. Evans finished with 30 points, includes six treys. Dave Langille added 17, including three treys, and Crawford powered for 15. David Piers led Cobequid with 24. Matt O’Toole added 18, including 12 in the second half, and David Parker 11. All 12 Spartans scored, while only the five starters hit the scoresheet for the Cougars. “When we played them each time this year, I’ve had a good game,” said Evans. “Cobequid Education Centre’s got a good team. They were in the finals last year and we didn’t expect them to roller over. But they just seem to bring out the best in me.” Down 5-4 early, Dartmouth went on an 18-8 run before Piers rallied Cobequid to within 31-27 at the half. But Evans drilled a trey to re-ignite the Spartans offence at the start of the second half as Dalhousie opened with an 11-3 run. Although Cobequid closed to within 44-38, Evans pilfered the ball and flashed for a dunk. “L.J. Evans is the best point guard in the province,” said Cobequid coach Brent Baker. “He’s the key to what they do. But the size advantage was a big factor. The matchups definitely favored them.” Langille agreed that the Spartans size was their asset. “That’s easily our strength. We have three big men over 6-5, so we’re one of the biggest teams in the province, if not the biggest.” Piers said it was more than just size. “it’s their all-around play. Inside, outside, they were sinking everything.” Crawford said the inside-outside attack made the Spartans difficult to defence. “We definitely have the best shooters I’ve seen in a long time and we can pound it inside.” Piers said the Cougars shots just weren’t falling. “It seemed like were at 13 for about five or six minutes. We just couldn’t seem to get off it. We kept battling back but we just couldn’t seem to get over the hump.”
The bronze medalist Coxheath Riverview Rural Royals: Dougal Hickey; Mike Wadden; Shane Hussey;
The silver medalist Truro Cobequid Educational Centre Cougars: David Piers; Matt O’Toole; Matthew Langille; David Parker; Phil Vreugdenhil; Matt O’Toole; Scott MacKinnon; John Shillington; Patrick Ryan; Tim Burley; Lloyd Taggert; Andrew Barnhill; Trevor Clooney; Mike Macdonald; coach Brent Baker; assistant Kevin Farrell
The gold medalist Dartmouth Spartans: L.J. Evans; Colin Crawford; Dave Langille; Doug Borden; Scottie MacPhee; coach Darryl Johnson; assistant Lou Gannon