In the quarterfinals, held in Cole Harbour, the 2nd-seeded Halifax Citadel Phoenix rolled the 7th-seeded Truro Cobequid Educational Centre Cougars 99-59 as Derico Tynes scored 27. T.J. Jordan led the Cougars with 18. The Cougars (coached by Marc Roberts) also included Andrew Myette, Brandon MacKay, Eman Khalek, Shane Stonehouse, Ryan Pedersen.
The 4th-seeded Dartmouth Cole Harbour Cavaliers defeated the 5th-seeded Wolfville Horton Griffins 88-71 as Roberto Beals scored 26 and Corey Hollett 22. Josh Thomas paced the Griffins with 21. Lorenzo Parker added 14 and Stephen Traynor 13. “The score doesn’t show how close the game really was,” Cole Harbour coach Colter Simmonds told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. “Horton played hard right down to the final minute and I never felt comfortable.” The Griffins also included Jake Kendrick.
The 3rd-seeded Upper Tantalon Sir John A. McDonald Flames clocked the 6th-seeded Dartmouth Spartans 95-77 as Derek Norris scored 35 and Geoff Doane 24. Dorelle Parsons paced the Spartans with 22.
In the last quarterfinal, top-seeded host Cole Harbour Auburn Drive Eagles stomped the 8th-seeded Riverview Royals 100-59 as Terry Thomas scored 21. Justin Maclellan led the Royals with 13.
In the semis, the 3rd-seeded Upper Tantalon Sir John A. McDonald Flames dumped the 2nd-seeded Halifax Citadel Phoenix 81-76. Geoff Doane paced the Flames with 34. Derek Norris added 17 and Nick Marsh 15. D.J. Smith scored 30, Marquis Clayton 26 and Chris Brown 12 for the Phoenix, who had beaten the Flames 82-81 in the Capital region semifinals two weeks earlier. “That was a real heartbreaker,” Flames coach Colin Brien told the Halifax Daily News. “We had to go up to Cape Breton and qualify last week and we didn’t forget about that.” The Phoenix were up 40-37 on the Flames at halftime. “It was a great game,” Brien said. “It was close the whole way, a lot of lead changes throughout the game and it was very tight and we were just fortunate enough to pull it out in the end.”
In the other semi, the 4th-seeded Dartmouth Cole Harbour Cavaliers defeated the top-seeded Cole Harbour Auburn Drive Eagles 106-95 as Mandrez Downey scored 41 and Julian Smith 31. The Cavaliers finished sixth in the metro league with a 6-5 record but upset the third-seeded C.P. Allen Cheetahs in the regional playdowns and then advanced from a qualifier tournament to provincials. Terry Thomas scored 29 to lead the Eagles, who beat the Cavaliers 89-84 in the Capital region semis. Jeremy McAvoy added 19 while Ian McShane had 15, Maguel Buchan 11 and Shaquille Smith 10. “It’s a lot more than just a basketball game for them tonight,” Cavaliers coach Colter Simmonds told the Halifax Daily News. “They (spend) all summer talking about who’s gonna win next year. Auburn had our number all year so it’s a big win for them. … This one’s sweet but we’ve still got another one to go.” The Eagles (coached by Colin Bush) also included Rickyle Beals, Fergus Duke.
In the bronze medal match,
In the final, 3rd-seeded Upper Tantalon Sir John A. McDonald Flames defeated the 4th-seeded Dartmouth Cole Harbour Cavaliers 90-86 to capture a provincial crown one year after qualifying for the tournament for the first time. With his team trailing by 13 points at halftime, senior Geoff Doane lifted the Flames onto his shoulders and carried them to their first Division 1 title. The post scored 21 of his 29 points in the second half. “It feels amazing — I can’t believe it,” Doane said. The Grade 12 student pointed out the Upper Tantallon school had only recently moved up to Division 1 play and finished with only two wins in the metro league two years ago when he was a rookie. “We came so far from Grade 10, coming from Division 2 down to Division 1, just working our way, working the hardest, I think, and making it come true.” The same formula proved successful though the athletic Cavaliers didn’t make it easy for them. Star guards Mandrez Downey and Julian Smith combined for 15 points to stake Cole Harbour to a 29-15 advantage. But the Flames slowly chipped away at the lead, outscoring the Cavaliers by one in the second quarter and by seven in the third period to reduce the deficit to 70-64. After Doane drained Sir John A.’s first nine points of the fourth quarter, teammate Nick Marsh counted six in a row to draw the Flames even at 79-79 with 3:25 left and Derek Norris hit a free throw 40 seconds later to give them a long-awaited lead they wouldn’t relinquish. They outscored the Cavaliers 26-16 over the final 10 minutes. “I can’t believe that we won,” Flames coach Colin Brien said. “We were down all game . . . and I didn’t know if it was ever gonna happen and then the last couple minutes we pulled ahead and we were able to do it.” The Flames finished fourth in the metro league with a 9-2 record and like the 6-5 Cavaliers had to play in a qualifier tournament to make it to provincials. “I think that we peaked at the right time,” Brien said. “We’ve got guys who work their butts off so I knew our guys could do it if they put their hearts into it and they did and that’s why we came out on top.” Marsh topped the Flames with 31 points while Grayson Blades had 12 and Norris 10. Downey poured in 37 points, including 12 in the final quarter, to pace the Cavaliers. Samdres Beals added 16, Julian Smith got 14 before fouling out and Corey Hollett had 10. Cole Harbour coach Colter Simmonds was proud of his players and had never lost faith in them even during a regular-season slump. “I saw us here even when we went through the rough time. I saw us here if we would get our act together. We got our act together, we got here, but the team that worked it just as hard as we worked, played 40 minutes like we played, they deserve it. … We got it here, we just didn’t get it done. It came down to executing our offence that we worked on for the last two weeks to get us to the last five, 10 minutes of the game — we just went away from it.”
The bronze medalist:
The silver medalist Dartmouth Cole Harbour Cavaliers: Mandrez Downey; Julian Smith; Randez Simmons; Samdres Beals; Roberto Beals; Corey Hollett; coach Colter Simmonds
The gold medalist Upper Tantalon Sir John A. McDonald Flames: Geoff Doane; Nick Auger-March; Taylor Hicks; Derek Norris; Matt Shannon; Mike Soley; Greg Daniels; Jackson Dahn; Grayson Blades; Alex Carey; Mohammed Ibrahim; Kyle McCullock; coach Colin Brien