In the quarterfinals, held in Truro, the host and top-seeded Truro Cobequid Education Centre Cougars dumped the 8th-seeded New Waterford Breton Education Centre Bears x-x. The Bears (coached by John Gillis, assisted by Lorell Gillis) included Tara Penney, Laurie Macgibbon, Chantel Reid, Aliesha Peckham, Darlene O’Brien, Nadina Kezel, Shanean Kendall, Joann Durdle, Melissa MacCormick, Sasha McKinnon, Monette Pasher and Lynn MacIntyre.
The 2nd-seeded Coxheath Riverview Rural Royals defeated the 7th-seeded Halifax St. Patrick’s Fighting Irish x-x.
The 4th-seeded Antigonish Dr. John Hugh Gillis Royals defeated the 5th-seeded Sackville Kingfishers x-x. The Kingfishers included Sara Bisson, Kim Brown, Erin McDiarmid.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Bridgewater Park View Education Centre Panthers defeated the 6th-seeded Dartmouth Spartans x-x.
In the semis, the host and top-seeded Truro Cobequid Educational Centre Cougars defeated Antigonish Dr. John Hugh Gillis Royals 68-55 as Deborah Burns scored 20 and Etta Livingston 12. Patty Chisholm led the Royals with 14. Tara Reddick added 9.
In the other semi, the Bridgewater Park View Education Centre Panthers defeated the Coxheath Riverview Rural Royals 56-52 as Lindsay LaMoore scored 16 and Lori Anthony 11. Tara Travis led Riverview with 18. Lindsay Clarke added 11.
In the bronze medal match, the Antigonish Dr. J.H. Gillis Royals edged the Coxheath Riverview Rural Royals 69-64 as Meghan Synishin scored 21. Kristen Morrison led Riverview with 21.
In the final, the Truro Cobequid Educational Centre Cougars captured their second consecutive title by thrashing the Bridgewater Park View Education Centre Panthers 68-41. The win also capped a girls-boys double for the school. With the game well in hand and three minutes to play, coach Mike MacKay pulled his starters, to spontaneous applause from 800 home fans. “Oh, that felt great,” guard Etta Livingston told the Halifax Daily News. “Just to have everyone stand up and clap. It’s really great to know that we did good. That’s our last year, you know.” University of Oregon bound Karen Piers added “that was really nice, actually, because last year in Sackville, a lot of our fans didn’t really have the chance to get down.” Park View coach Eric Dolliver noted that “it was definitely a mission for them. These seniors are outstanding. This is the best Cobequid Education Centre team in the past five years and it may be their best team ever. They hit the outside shots – Etta Livingston. We didn’t do a great job. We got confused on defence and let her open. But there were a couple of times when we had girls right up in her face. I don’t know how far outside the three-point line they were, but they nailed them down.” The Cougars broke to an early 9-0 lead and then held the Panthers without a field goal for over eight minutes. Piers was masterful at controlling the tempo. MacKay wasn’t shocked that his troops showed few signs of nervousness. “I don’t think people understand sometimes how much time and energy and effort these kids have put into the game of basketball. It looks easy out there but that’s because of the time they’ve put in over three years. These kids live in this gym and they just love the game and they play it. That’s what they do. And it shows in a performance like that today.” Kari Scott paced the Cougars with 19. Deborah Burns added 11, Etta Livingston 13. Lindsay LaMoore led Park View with 12. Rosa MacDonald added 10. The Cougars finished (40-0) on the campaign. MacKay also coached the boy’s football team to a 10-0 season and a provincial title.
The bronze medalist Antigonish Dr. John Hugh Gillis Royals: Meghan Synishin; Patty Chisholm;
The silver medalist Bridgewater Park View Education Centre Panthers: Lindsay LaMoore; Lori Anthony; Rosa MacDonald; coach Eric Dolliver
The gold medalist Truro Cobequid Educational Centre Cougars: Karen Piers; Kathy MacNeil; Kari Scott; Etta Livingston; Deborah Burns; Anna Livingston; Jaclyn Smith; Jill MacPhee; Robyn Joe; Carla Shaw; Natasha Denny; Angela Wright; Suzanne LeBlanc; Erin Moore; Nicole McPhee; coach Mike MacKay; assistant Goreham