In the quarterfinals, held in Greenwich, the 4th-seeded Dartmouth Spartans defeated the 5th-seed Dartmouth Cole Harbour District Cavaliers 95-60 after leading 42-29 at the half. Jefflin Beals led the Spartans with 19. Peter Gilfoy added 17, Dean Merineau 15, John Good 10, John Penney 8, Ben Russell 4, Devon Morrison 4, Jermaine Penney 4, Jermaine Colley 2 and Ben MacKenzie 2. Nathan Cain paced the Cavaliers with 17. Gareth Martin added 16, Derico Beals 11, Narico Downey 10, Mike MacDonald 4 and Brandon Walker 2. “Our defence shut them down and got them tired,” said Beals. “That was one of the main things that we talked about, to step up our defence. It turned out good for us.” Cavalier guard Nathan Cain said “we tried our hardest but then we just gave up and got down on our ourselves.”
The 7th-seeded Middle Sackville Millwood Knights dumped the 2nd-seeded Truro Cobequid Educational Centre Cougars 78-68. The Knights were division 2 champs a year ago and quickly proved they could play with the big boys. Stephen Nicks led the Knights with 19. Corey Ross added 17, Kyle Hickey 12, Neil Stanley 11, Matt Parker 10, Jarret Head 6 and Aaron Brown 3. Adam Jewkes paced the Cougars, coached by Brent Baker (in his 16th year at the helm), with 21. Ryan LeBans added 18, Mark Scotland 8, Kyle Brooks 8, Jason Davis 7, Sean Davidson 4 and Erik Scott 1, while Adam Barnhill, Tyler Matheson, Tyler Maxwell, Scott Lycan, Alex Macleod, Corty Pothier and Zhi Hao Yue were scoreless.
The 3rd-seeded Greenwich Horton Griffins crushed the 6th-seeded Sydney Mines Memorial Composite Marauders 95-69 after leading 63-43 at the half. Andrew Rogers paced the Griffins with 41. Adam Harris added 12, Dan Sequeira 10, Pat Sutton 8, James Prest 7, Ian Maxwell 4, Josh Soucy 4, Andrew Harris 3, J.P. Thompson 2, Martin Bacon 2 and Mike Metzger 2. Ryan Cordy led the Mavericks with 28. Kenneth MacDuncan added 9, Jack MacNeil 7, Matthew Anderson 6, Thomas Silver 6, Chris Spooney 5, Bob Lomond 3, Josh Spooney 3 and Steven Cordy 2.
The top-seeded Halifax St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish defeated the 8th-seeded Halifax Grammar Gryphons 86-68. Tyler Richards led St. Patrick’s with 21. Christian Upshaw added 17, Tremaine Mensah 13, Jumar Carvery 12, Mandell Upshaw 7, Tyrell Bundy 4, Terrell Carvery 4, Peter Leighton 2, Bannon Morrisey 2, Andrew Howlett 2 and Bubby Farmer 2. The Gryphons included Mark McLaughlin, John Mitton.
In the semis, the 7th-seeded Middle Sackville Millwood Knights dumped the 3rd-seeded Greenwich Horton Griffins 74-68. The division 2 champs from a year ago “have gone from boys to men,” said coach Jerome Sparks. “We’re big winners no matter what happens (in the final). We’ve made a big name for ourselves.” Matt Parker led the Knights with 18. Kyle Hickey added 15, Corey Ross 12 and Jarret Head 12. Adam Harris paced the Griffins with 17. Andrew Rogers added 13.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Halifax St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish dumped the 4th-seeded Dartmouth Spartans 67-50. Dartmouth’s Jefflin Beals and Eddie Colley hit back to back treys as the Spartans took a 24-12 lead in the first half but the Irish rallied to within 34-31 at the break as they got their transition game humming and began to dominate the boards. Tyrell Bundy hit a bucket to give the Irish and 37-36 lead and they held the Spartans to just 14 points down the stretch. “It took a while for us to get going but we just kept working hard,” said Bundy, who scored 10. Peter Gilfoy led the Spartans with 20. “Our goal was to hold to under 70 points, so I’m very proud of my guys,” said Dartmouth coach David McCrae. “We held them off as long as we could but they’re just such an explosive team. They’ve got talent all over the place.” The Spartans (coached by McCrae) also included Dean Mereneau.
In the bronze medal match,
In the final, the top-seeded Halifax St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish withstood a late rally to defeat the 7th-seeded Middle Sackville Millwood Knights 85-78 as both the boys and girl’s Irish captured provincial crowns. It was the second straight title for the Irish. Star guard Tyler Richards paced the Irish with 31 points and fought back tears after the win. “It’s my last game with all these great guys and I’m really going to miss them,” he told the Halifax Daily News. “I won’t be able to hand out with them as much. These tears are happy tears though.” Forward Tremayne Mensah, the team’s top rebounder, led a chant of ‘yeah, yeah, we got spirit’ from the bench as the clock ticked down. Irish guard Christian Upshaw said “all these guys are my best friends, so there’s no way to describe what I’m feeling right now. I felt like crying, even though this is the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life. The Irish led by as many as 19 but the Knights fought back to pull within four with 24 seconds to play on a 13-4 run. Stephen Nicks gave the Irish fits, scoring 29 points and ripping down 23 rebounds. “It’s unheard of from where we’ve come from to where we are now,” said Nicks. “I’m really glad to be part of this team. Everyone fights hard. You can’t ask for any more than that. Millwood coach Jerome Sparks said his troops “believed in themselves all year, through rain, sleet and snow, they worked their butts off. They’re true champions, in my heart.” Irish coach Irvine Carvery said “I give Millwood a lot of credit for coming from division 2 provincials, because they pushed us hard right to the end. But my team knows how to take care of business and they took care of it today. I’m feeling ecstatic for our guys.” Upshaw added 14 points for the Irish, while Jumar Carvery scored 12, Tremayne Mensah 11, Peter Leighton 10, Tyrell Bundy 6 and Bannon Morrisey 1. Corey Ross scored 21 for the Knights, while Kyle Hickey added 13, Matt Parker 8, Neil Stanley 4 and Jarret Head 3.
The bronze medalist x:
The silver medalist Middle Sackville Millwood Knights: Stephen Nicks; Corey Ross; Kyle Hickey; Matt Parker; Neil Stanley; Jarret Head; Aaron Brown; coach Jerome Sparks; assistant Chris Griffin
The gold medalist Halifax St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish: Tyrell Bundy; Jamar Carvery; Mandell Carvery; Terrell Carvery; Bubby Farmer; Andrew Howlett; Peter Leighton; Tremayne Mensah; Bannon Morrissey; Connor Murphy; Duncan Raymond; Tyler Richards; James Ritcey; Will Silver; Christian Upshaw; Mandell Upshaw; coach Irvine Carvery