In pool A round-robin play, held in Wesleyville: …………………………………………………… The Wesleyville Pearson Academy Astros nipped the Glenwood Lakewood Academy Astras 61-59. …………………………………………………… The Glenwood Lakewood Academy Astras dusted the Milltown Bay d’Espoir Predators 64-50. The Predators (coached by Wendy Woodman and teacher/sponsor Melissa Wiseman) included Chantel Caines, Whitney Willcott-Benoit, Caisie Watkins, Katherine Stoodley, Christian Murphy, Caitlyn Crant, Taylor Collier, Emily Willcott, Rebecca Wheaton, Kendra Willcott-Benoit and Jessica Williams. …………………………………………………… The Glenwood Lakewood Academy Astras clocked the Benoit’s Cove St. Peter’s Academy Saints 68-35. …………………………………………………… The Milltown Bay d’Espoir Predators stomped the Benoit’s Cove St. Peter’s Academy Saints 76-50. …………………………………………………… The Wesleyville Pearson Academy Astros clipped the Milltown Bay D’Espoir Predators 77-64. …………………………………………………… Final standings: Pearson Academy (3-0); Lakewood Academy (2-1); Bay d’Espoir (1-2); St. Peter’s Academy (0-3)
In pool B round-robin play: …………………………………………………… The Fogo Island Central Academy Hawks crushed the English Harbour West Fitzgerald Academy Falcons 67-28. …………………………………………………… The English Harbour West Fitzgerald Academy Falcons dumped the Lawn Holy Name of Mary Mustangs 45-29. …………………………………………………… The English Harbour West Fitzgerald Academy Falcons clipped the Plum Point Viking Trail Academy Trailblazers 41-29. …………………………………………………… Final standings: Fogo Island Central Academy (3-0); Fitzgerald Academy (2-1); Holy Name of Mary (x-x); Viking Trail Academy (x-x)
In the semis, the Wesleyville Pearson Academy Astros thrashed the English Harbour West Fitzgerald Academy Falcons 48-33.
In the other semi, the Fogo Island Central Academy Hawks dispatched the Glenwood Lakewood Academy Astras 55-46.
In the final, the Fogo Island Central Academy Hawks defeated the Wesleyville Pearson Academy Astros 56-42. Astros forward Victoria Boland blew a knee, joining starting forward Laura Burton, who’d blown a knee in the semis, on the sidelines. “We only lost by 14 points with two starters gone, and I’m just so proud of how well the girls came together and tried to fill in for Victoria and Laura,” Jodi Burton told the Gander Beacon. “They had a tall team, and we have a shorter team, but our girls still battled on the inside and tried the best they could.” Megan Blackwood said “when we lost Laura in the semifinal game against Fitzgerald Academy, we still hung in there as a team and nobody gave up, and we managed to win it. When Victoria left with her injury, nobody gave up then either, and we only lost by 14 points, and we had two of our starters on the bench. It was pretty amazing that we could keep it that close.” Burton said coach Craig Loder “told us at our last practice, whether we walked out of the gym with gold or silver medals, or whether we walked out without a medal at all, as long as we left everything on the floor, tried our hardest, and never had any regrets, we’d have nothing to be upset about.” Blackwood said “this will be the last high school team the four of us will ever play for, so we went out there and tried as hard as we could. Nobody should focus on the loss, but remember the effort we put in – especially when we lost Laura and Victoria.”
With their high school careers over, Blackwood said she’ll never forget the fun practices she was involved in, the laughs she had during games, and “the jokes Mr. Loder would make.” Burton said “I’ll always remember how nobody gave up. Even late in the gold-medal game, when we knew on the inside that it was over, we still played our hardest until the very last second was up. The ball went out of bounds with 0.9 seconds left on the clock, but the Fogo players and fans thought the game was over, so they started to celebrate. They didn’t realize the clock was stopped…and our girls were on the floor ready to play out the last second. There was no way we were going to stop playing until the horn sounded to end the game.”
The co-bronze medalist English Harbour West Fitzgerald Academy Falcons: Kerri Williams; Keisha Rose; Amber Caines; Kristen Poole; Kristen Piercey; Felicity Royle; Lisa Cox; Sarah Strickland; Stacey Fudge; coach Nancy Blagdon; coach Shelia Keeping
The co-bronze medalist Glenwood Lakewood Academy Astras: Brittany Bath; Shannon Sartor; Nitika Calder; Stephanie Shea; Kristen Jones; Samantha Shea; Bethany Burge; Holly Wheaton; Rebecca Simms; Bethany Thompson; Chelsea Bath; coach Christina Timmons; coach Dean Johnson; coach Tonica Vivian
The silver medalist Wesleyville Pearson Academy Astros: Jodi Burton; Megan Blackwood; Sommer Pike; Amy Stokes; Katie Janes; Laura Burton; Samantha Hiller; Victoria Boland; Marsha Wheeler; coach Craig Loder; trainer Terry Gill
The gold medalist Fogo Island Central Academy Hawks: Allison Best; Jessica Letemplier; Sarah Greene; Monica Payne; Colleen Best; Carly Oake; Haley Nichol; Shara Decker; Katelynn Caines; Paige Rowe; Katie Nichol; coach Greg Flynn; coach Janet Facey; trainer Brent Gill