In the northeast sectional and provincial quarterfinals, held in Sackville, the 2nd-seeded Saint John Rothesay Regional Red Hawks whipped the 3rd-seeded Salisbury JMA Armstrong Cougars 66-42.
The 4th-seeded St. George Fundy High Mariners stunned the top-seeded host Sackville Tantramar Regional Titans 58-49. Erin Ingalls paced the Mariners with 16. Emma Willard added 13, Bella Jones 13 and Sara Fudge 11.
In the southwest sectional, held in Saint John, the 3rd-seeded Woodstock Thunder nipped the 2nd-seeded Miramichi James M. Hill Tommies 60-58.
In the last quarterfinal, the top-seeded St. Stephen Spartans blasted the 4th-seeded Moncton Ecole L’Odyssee Olympiennes 76-27.
In the semis, the Saint John Rothesay Regional Red Hawks dispatched the St. George Fundy High Mariners 53-43. Sara Fudge led the Mariners with 24. Erin Ingalls added 12 and Bella Jones 6.
In the other semi, the Woodstock Thunder edged the St. Stephen Spartans 71-66. “I thought this game would come down to a bounce here or a bounce there,” Spartans coach Dave Taylor told the St. Croix Courier. “A couple balls that hang on the rim and don’t fall in, couple balls that hang on the rim and do go in, right? And that’s kind of what it was. I think if we played them six times, I think we’d go three and three.” The Thunder hit 4-6 from the line in the final 32 seconds to ice the win. Megan Haley led the Spartans with 15. Courtney Taylor added 13 and Ally Caldwell 12. The Thunder hit 28-40 from the line, while the Spartans hit 25-40. Woodstock broke to a 17-2 lead. “They came out, they made shots early and we didn’t, and I didn’t think we could get anything to drop,” Taylor said. “I thought we were getting good looks, we just could not get shots to drop. I knew we’d start making shots. I kept telling the girls, defend, defend, defend, don’t look at the scoreboard, we can come back in this game.” Spartan Courtney Taylor said “we were all talking about keeping our heads up and my dad (coach Taylor) said to us, ‘don’t watch the scoreboard, we’ll find a way out of this’. … We knew we had it in us, we just had to focus on getting stops and slowing it down on offence which is exactly what we did.” Woodstock led 21-13 after one quarter but Mallory Davis and Teagan Barry nailed treys to rally the Spartans. “We started to drive more and do all the things that we do really well,” Courtney Taylor said. “And we didn’t get all caught up in the hands on. (The Thunder) go 90 miles an hour, and we slowed it down and ended up turning the game around.” The Thunder led 35-28 at the half and 51-47 after three quarters. The Spartans rallied to within 68-66 down the stretch but were undone by fouls, as several started fouled out. “It’s a tough pill to swallow,” said coach Taylor. “But you control what you can control, and we were very proud to host sectionals and we were willing to take our chances on our floor.”
In the final, the Woodstock Thunder captured their second consecutive provincial crown by dusting the Saint John Rothesay Regional Red Hawks 62-48. Despite playing without injured star Sandy Saunders, the Thunder were in control form the start. The Thunder led 18-8, 36-16 and 54-35 at the quarters. Madeline Orlando paced the Thunder with 17 on 8-10 from the floor, 1-6 from the line, 11 boards and 4 assists. Lauren Cook added 17 on 7-18 from the floor, 2-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 8 boards. Hannah Hawkes notched 10 on 3-15 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 9 boards and 5 assists. Tori Ketch scored 8 on 4-15 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 21 boards. Jillian Liston added 3 on 1-6 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 1-4 from the line and 2 boards. Bree Hallett added 3 on 1-5 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 6 boards and 3 assists. Elle Culberson scored 2 on 1-4 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc and 3 boards. Kaytlin Godin added 2 on 1-7 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 2 boards and 2 assists, while Lily Orlando, Gabby Anderson and Sarah Burpee were scoreless. Lily Orlando dished 2 assists. The Thunder hit 26-83 (.313) from the floor, 5-19 (.263) from the arc and 5-16 (.312) from the line, while garnering 82 boards, including 22 on the offensive glass, 18 turnovers, 12 steals and 13 fouls. Laura Connolly paced the Red Hawks with 19 on 8-20 from the floor, 1-8 from the arc, 2-5 from the line, 11 boards and 6 assists. Riley Meahan added 12 on 4-13 from the floor, 3-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 10 boards. Keenlan Lewis scored 7 on 3-16 from the floor, 1-11 from the arc, 5 boards and 4 assists. Charlotte Nice added 3 on 1-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the line and 8 boards. Emma Shaw notched 3 on 1-5 from the floor and 1-3 from the arc. Allison Doucette scored 3 on 1-7 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 2 boards. Allie Lewis added 1 on 0-11 from the floor, 0-5 from the arc, 1-4 from the line, 4 boards and 4 assists, while Abby Searle, Izzy Long and Kathleen Daley were scoreless. Daley nabbed 2 boards. The Red Hawks hit 18-85 (.211) from the floor, 6-34 (.176) from the arc and 6-16 (.375) from the line, while garnering 55 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 12 turnovers, 16 steals and 11 fouls.
The co-bronze medalist St. George Fundy High Mariners: Sara Fudge; Erin Ingalls; Bella Jones; Emma Willard; Julianne Weaire; Abby Kernighan; Brenna Kelson; coach Ryan Daye
The co-bronze medalist St. Stephen Spartans: Megan Haley; Courtney Taylor; Ally Caldwell; Mallory Davis; Teagan Barry; Elizabeth Scott; Johanna Von Bresinsky; coach Dave Taylor
The silver medalist Saint John Rothesay Regional Red Hawks: Laura Connolly; Riley Meahan; Keenlan Lewis; Charlotte Nice; Emma Shaw; Allison Doucette; Allie Lewis; Abby Searle; Izzy Long; Kathleen Daley; coach Shannon Fraser
The gold medalist Woodstock Thunder: Sandy Saunders; Lauren Cook; Madeline Orlando; Hannah Hawkes; Tori Ketch; Jillian Liston; Bree Hallett; Elle Culberson; Kaytlin Godin; Lily Orlando; Gabby Anderson; Sarah Burpee; coach Dana Lawrence