In the quarterfinals, held in Sydney Mines, the top-seeded defending champ Greenwich Horton Griffins dumped 8th-seeded Sydney Mines Memorial Composite Marauders 76-46 as Jana Spindler scored 20 and Jessica Hutchinson 14. Bhreagh Moore led Memorial with 11.
The 4th-seeded Cole Harbour Auburn Drive Eagles clipped the 5th-seeded Bridgewater Park View Education Centre Panthers 58-51 as Stephanie Hiltz scored 27, Rachelle Coward 13 and Sondra Medley 12. “We tried to shut down Alex Legge and once we did that everything else seemed to fall in place,” said Hiltz. “We’re all very excited about this win.” Laura Himmelman led Park View with 27. Legge, averaging 37 ppg in the regional qualifiers, added 17.
The 3rd-seeded Halifax Grammar Gryphons dumped the 6th-seeded Truro Cobequid Education Center Cougars 71-61 as Caitlin Ulrich scored 23, Shylanda Saunders 15 and Katie McGarrigle 12. Ulrich said “we boxed out well and rebounded well and that set up our fast break. We really picked it up.” Rhonda Kennedy led Cobequid with 27. The Cougars also included Lindsey Macleod.
The 2nd-seeded Halifax Queen Elizabeth Lions dumped the 7th-seeded New Waterford Breton Education Centre Bears 74-44 as Sarah Gordon scored 24, Jenna Clark 15, Tasia McKenna 13 and Zara Huntley 12. The Bears (coached by Doug MacKinnon, assisted by Jason Kavanaugh, managers LeeAnn Grechuk and Meghan MacKinnon) included Alyssa Kavanaugh, Chelsea MacKay, Jacalyn White, Katelyn Grechuk, Natalie MacSween, Leslie Morrison, Emily Burke, Raylene MacKay, Samantha MacKinnon and Deb Desveaux.
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Halifax Queen Elizabeth Lions defeated the Halifax Grammar Gryphons 55-47 after rallying from a 36-31 deficit. But the Lions tightened their defence in the second half, holding the Gryphons to a mere 16 points. Tasia McKenna led the Lions with 15. Sarah Gordon added 15. Lions coach Stephen Stewart said guard “Alishia Clayton kept a lot of balls alive for us in the first half when things weren’t going so well. She was tough. She has a ton of heart.” Stewart told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald that “I thought the Grammar School shot incredibly well in the first half and as well as they shot in the first half, they didn’t shoot very well in the second. We were down by 10 early in the second half and the kids didn’t fold, they kept playing hard and fortunately good things happened.” The Gryphons were playing without star guard Hillary Woodside, who injured her ACL in the Halifax playoffs. Justine Colley led Halifax Grammar with 17. Shylanda Saunders added 10.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Greenwich Horton Griffins defeated the Cole Harbour Auburn Drive Eagles 63-47 as guard Laura Harris scored 19. Jana Spindler added 14 and Emma Duinker 14 “They shook us up a bit in the first half by triple-teaming Jana (Spindler) so we had to work the ball around a little bit more than normal,” said Harris. “We seemed to find our way a lot better in the second half.” Spindler added 14, as did Emma Duinker. Rachelle Coward led Auburn Drive with 17. Jasmine Smith added 10. Harris told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald that “we started off a little shaky. It was a fairly close game at half and they were pretty much triple-teaming Jana and we just didn’t react right in the first half. We had a talk at halftime and everyone as an individual stepped up and as a team, we pulled it together.”
In the bronze medal match, the Cole Harbour Auburn Drive Eagles celebrated the school’s first trip to the provincials in history by defeating the Halifax Grammar School Gryphons 58-51 as Rachelle Coward, Sondra Medley and Stephanie Hiltz, a trio of Grade 10 standouts, dominated. “I think our girls have grown tremendously and matured substantially over the year. This is a huge plus for the school,” said Eagles coach Curtis Coward. “I think we’re the team of the future as long as we continue to work extremely hard. We want to be that team in the championship game the next few years.” The Gryphons (coached by Kathy Spurr) included Hillary Woodside, Justine Colley, Shylanda Saunders, Lauren O’Connor, Caitlin Ulrich, Katie McGarrigle, Carly Gurr, Ellen Crosby, Alex McKenna, Shelby Weaver, Talia Orr and Katie Bethune.
In the final, the top-seeded Greenwich Horton Griffins defended their provincial title by dumping the 2nd-seeded Halifax Queen Elizabeth Lions 46-37 as Laura Harris scored 19, including six from beyond the arc. “I’ve had a terrible shooting year so I don’t know where those shots came from. But our entire team played fantastic,” the Griffin point guard said. “We’re all so thrilled.” Jana Spindler added 9 for Horton, which trailed 25-21 at the half. Emma Duinker notched 8. Horton’s zone befuddled Queen Elizabeth in the second half. The Griffins finished (35-4) on the campaign.
The bronze medalist Cole Harbour Auburn Drive Eagles: Rachelle Coward; Sondra Medley; Stephanie Hiltz; Jasmine Smith; coach Curtis Coward
The silver medalist Halifax Queen Elizabeth Lions: Tasia McKenna; Sarah Gordon; Zara Huntley; Alisha Clayton; Jenna Clark; Sarah Conn; April Scott; Leslie Stewart; coach Stephen Stewart
The gold medalist Greenwich Horton Griffins: Laura Harris; Jana Spindler; Emma Duinker; Jill Boates; Jessica Hutchinson; Marissa Morse; Jasmine Parent; Kaylee Young; Lindsay Harris; Jill Boates; Robyn Fleckenstein; coach Bev Greenlaw; manager Sarah Currie