In the quarterfinals, held in Antigonish, the 6th-seeded Sydney Academy Wildcats stunned the 3rd-seeded Glace Bay Panthers 73-71 as Ashley Drohan scored 14 and Angela Fifield 20. Erin MacLean led Glace Bay with 20. Danielle Snow added 15.
The 5th-seeded Halifax West Warriors defeated the 4th-seeded Halifax Dr. John Hugh Gillis Royals 64-58. Co-Captain Tasia McKenna said the Warriors were feeding off the energy of an exuberant home crowd, complete with painted faces and noisemakers. The Warriors built an 18-point lead early in the second half by pounding the ball inside to Grade 10 post Cailin Ulrich. “She had the game of her life,” said coach Dave Gritten. “She was all over the boards rebounding, making outside shots and taking it hard to the hoop. She was everywhere.” Gillis guard Sheryl Chisholm hit a series of treys to rally the Royals to within two down the stretch but Jacquelyne Richardson hit a critical trey to give Halifax West some breathing space and they held on for the win. Jacquelyne Richardson paced Halifax West with 17. Caitlin Ulrich added 14. Chisholm paced Gillis with 24. Maria Konchalski added 18. The Royals also included Janine MacDonald.
The 2nd-seeded Halifax Queen Elizabeth Lions dumped the 7th-seeded Bridgewater Park View Education Centre Panthers 45-39 as Hayley Fox scored 14 and Jen Bray 13. Laura Himmelman paced the Panthers with 16. Alex Legge added 12. The Panthers also included Jessica Burgoyne, Natasha Baker.
In the last quarterfinal, the top-seeded Greenwich Horton Griffins crushed the 8th-seeded Truro Cobequid Education Cougars 57-47 as Emma Duinker scored 14 and Eugenia Renderos 13. Rhonda Kennedy led the Cougars with 13. Nicole Works added 11. The Cougars (coached by Darren Gerrior, assistants Carla Shaw and Kirk Saint, trainer Laura Caldwell) also included Jennifer Kanaski, Lindsay MacLeod, Jenna Hazelton, Heidi Janes, Sarah Cox, Kelsey Harpman, Catherine Cox, Pam Tiller, Danielle Carrier, Erica Johnson and Angela Ward.
In the semis, top-seeded Greenwich Horton Griffins clipped the 5th-seeded Halifax West Warriors 71-58 as Jana Spindler scored 25, Laura Harris 21 and Eugenia Renderos 11. Jacquelyn Richardson led the Warriors with 24.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Halifax Queen Elizabeth Lions dumped the 6th-seeded Sydney Academy Wildcats 60-52 as Hayley Fox scored 13 and Jen Bray 10. Angela Fifield led the Wildcats with 13. Jenna Chisholm added 12 and Ashley Drohan 10.
In the bronze medal match, the 5th-seeded Halifax West Warriors defeated the 6th-seeded Sydney Academy Wildcats 69-66 as Jacquelyn Richardson scored 23, Lisa Gritten 15 and Jacqueline Levangie 12. Angela Fifield led Sydney Academy with 21. Ashley Drohan added 14 and Jenna Chisholm 12.
In the final, the top-seeded Greenwich Horton Griffins defeated the 2nd-seeded Halifax Queen Elizabeth Lions 54-40 as post Jana Spindler scored 18, Emma Duinker 12 and point guard Eugenia Renderos 8. Renderos called the Griffins first title since 1978 “surreal.” She told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald “I’ve been waiting for this for the past four years. I’m glad I got a chance to be a provincial champion. If we played our way, we felt we could win. But we had to play our game and we did. … We played our hearts out and we beat the best team – the most talented team we thought – in the province. I’m glad we all got what we deserved.” It was the Griffin’s fifth win over the Lions during the campaign. “They are a very good team and it’s hard to beat a very good team that many times,” Griffins assistant Ian MacMillan said. “All of our kids contributed. They really played good team basketball and they played terrific defence that held QEH to 14 points in the first half. And they did a terrific job of executing on offence with the lead late in the game.” Horton led by as 18 in the fourth quarter. “They were very well prepared, they knew all our offence,” said Lions guard Hayley Fox, who scored 13, told the Halifax Daily News. Horton got off to quick start and were in control throughout, although Queen Elizabeth made a run early in the second half before Horton’s zone defence shut down the Lions momentum. “We couldn’t drive with Jana Spindler in the middle. You can’t get by her,” said Fox. Jen Bray notched 9 for the Lions, while Teresa Morrison added 7.
The bronze medalist Halifax West Warriors: Tasia McKenna; Jacquelyn Richardson; Jacqueline Levangie; Caitlyn Ulrich; Lisa Gritten; Nicole Poole; coach Dave Gritten
The silver medalist Halifax Queen Elizabeth Lions: Teresa Morrison; Hayley Fox; Jennifer Bray; Sarah Gordon; Jenna Clark; Samantha Sanford; Laura Thibault; Katie Reardon; Emma Morrison; Joey Gallipeau; Zara Huntley; coach Kim Fralick
The gold medalist Greenwich Horton Griffins: Jana Spindler; Emma Duinker; Eugenia Renderos; Jessica Hutchinson; Laura Harris; coach Bev Greenlaw; assistant Ian MacMillan