In the quarterfinals, the Woodstock Wildcats rallied from a four-point halftime deficit to defeat the St. Stephen Spartans 59-51 as Mandy Polchies scored 18 and Allyson Patterson 11. The Spartans included Emily DiPaolo, Maria Seman, Charlotte Gilmour.
The Saint John Rothesay Regional Red Hawks tripped the Dalhousie Regional Tigers 79-70 as Becky Melvin scored 26 and Heather Owens 17. Andrea McCurdy led the Tigers with 31. Jenny Gauthier added 12. The Tigers also included Crystal Savoie, Tiffany Doucet.
The host Sussex Regional Sonics trounced the Nackawic Nighthawks 69-32 as Katheryn Walters scored 16, Andrea Ross 12, Nikki Leask 12 and Erin Morris 12. The Nighthawks included Laura Ireland, Mindy Goodine, Bailey Davis.
In the last quarterfinal, the Bristol Carleton North Stars defeated the Hampton Huskies x-x. The Huskies included Jacquelyn Kennedy.
In the semis, the Sussex Sonics defeated the Saint John Rothesay Regional Red Hawks 74-39 as Nikki Leask scored 27 and Michelle Northrup 17. Becky Melvin led Rothesay with 10.
In the other semi, the Bristol Carleton North Stars whipped the Woodstock Wildcats 68-45 as Heidi Fisher scored 17 and Kathryn Lockhart scored 16. Megan Denny led the Warriors with 15. Mary Jo Andow added 13.
In the final, the Bristol Carleton North Stars defeated the Sussex Sonics 53-50 as guard Sara Smith hit several critical buckets down the stretch. Smith tied the score 48-48 with a steal and court-length dash for a layup with 2:42 left and then connected on a trey 40 seconds later to put Carleton North ahead for good. “Everyone was saying that this was our year and I really believed it was,” Smith told the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. The Stars jumped into a quick lead and carried a 33-23 advantage into the lockers. But during the intermission, the team learned of a death in their community and came out rattled, hitting 1-13 from the floor and committed a raft of turnovers. The Sonics, behind the efforts of guard Nikki Leask, clawed back to a 36-35 lead with 12:49 to play. “We went into the dressing room happy but we got some bad news that one of the girl’s cousins died in car accident,” said Smith. “It got us down but we pulled together.” After Leask inched Sussex ahead 48-46 on a long-range jumper with 3:30 left, Smith went to work. On the decisive bucket, she picked up a pass, faked toward the basket and collided with a Sussex defender before stepping back and hitting nothing but net. “I didn’t even know it was a three until the timeout we had after,” said Smith. Forward Heidi Fisher added that “I can’t place my finger on it but this year was different, just different. Our bench was there for us today. This is wonderful.” Fisher scored 19 and nabbed 8 boards. Smith scored 10 and pilfered 4 balls, while Chalie McGrath scored 8, along with 7 boards, and Krystle Lockhart 8, along with 7 boards. Leask paced the Sonics with 15, along with 10 boards. Michelle Northup added 14, Andrea Ross 11, while Karla Creighton nabbed 8 boards. Sussex had an opportunity to tie it with 11 seconds left but Ross went 1-2 from the line to inch within a point. Then, Smith dribbled through a Sonics’ press and hit an open McGrath for a lay-in at the buzzer. Smith told the Fredericton Daily Gleaner that “everyone was saying the third time’s the charm and I’m so relieved it actually was. … Everything was happening so fast. I didn’t shoot well at all this game, so I just wanted to do something to help us pull this out.” Krystle Lockhart said Smith is “a good pressure player. She’s good at keeping everyone together to help us overcome adversity.” Fischer said “I didn’t think I’d cry but I did. It was scary for a few minutes, but it just felt different this year. Sara is awesome. She’s a good ballplayer and I love her to death. We’ve been playing together since we were in Centreville when she was in Grade 6.” Sonic Nikki Leask said “personally I don’t think we played our game today. They came out strong and we didn’t match up well enough, I guess.” Leask, who hit 6-23 from the floor, said the taller North Stars made it difficult to get good looks. “Usually, you can go through somewhat. But it was pretty plugged up in there. We were still confident we could come back, though. The whole time we thought it was ours.”
The co-bronze medalist Woodstock Warriors: Mandy Polchies; Allyson Patterson; Joanna Fox; Mary Jo Andow; Leslie Boone;
The co-bronze medalist Saint John Rothesay Regional Red Hawks: Becky Melvin; Heather Owens; Buffy Blagrave; Courtney Hurley; Danica Degruyter; Ashley Moore; coach Patti Melvin
The silver medalist Sussex Sonics: Nikki Leask; Michelle Northrup; Andrea Ross; Kathryn Walters; Karla Creighton;
The gold medalist Bristol Carleton North Stars: Sara Smith; Chalie McGrath; Kaitlin McConnell; Lindsay Oakes; Linda Hartley; Megan Burke; Alex Brennan; Pam Carvell; Jamie Savage; Krystle Lockhart; Laura Taylor; Michelle Stephenson; Stephanie Ruff; Heidi Fischer; Sophie Fisher; Amanda White; Megan Kilpatrick; coach Paul DeMarchant; coach Perry McIsaac