In the quarterfinals, held in Antigonish, the top-seeded Greenwich Horton Griffins clipped the 8th-seeded Riverview Royals 84-45. The Griffins dominated the third quarter with a 33-5 run. Lindsay Harris led Horton with 30. Abbey Duinker added 16 and Kira Pederson 14. The Royals included Devon Pierre.
The 2nd-seeded Halifax Grammar School Gryphons thrashed the 7th-seeded Halifax West Warriors 78-56 as Justine Colley scored 27 and Julia Rivers 20. “They are the type of team that keeps coming at you so you have to be prepared to play an entire game,” said Halifax Grammar coach Kathy Spurr, who was missing top post players Ellen Crosby (concussion) and Alex McKenna (flu), told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. It was a close game well into the third quarter when the Gryphons ramped up the defence. “We really picked up our intensity,” said Rivers. Kristy Moore scored 25 for the Warriors.
The Sydney Mines Memorial Marauders defeated the Auburn Drive Eagles 71-57 as Amanda Bianchini scored 18 and Jocelyn Moore 15. Clarissa Crawley had 18 and Samantha Martin 14 for the Eagles.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Halifax Citadel Phoenix dusted the 6th-seeded Antigonish Dr. J.H. Gillis Royals 66-42 as Anna Von Maltzahn hooped 15 and Liz Coolen 13. Lindy MacDonald had 16 and Melissa Gottschal 15 for Gillis. The Royals (coached by Gail Macdougall, assisted by Maggie MacDonald and Mary Beth Chisholm) also included Kali Harris, Alison MacPherson, Lindsey Chisholm, Corinne Scott, Heather MacPherson, Kalli MacDonald, Carrie MacInnis and Kelly MacGillivray.
In the semis, the top-seeded Greenwich Horton Griffins dumped the Sydney Mines Memorial Marauders 78-45. The Griffins ripped off a 28-6 run in third quarter to take command. Abbey Duinker paced the Griffins with 23. Lindsay Harris added 15, Kayla Davis 10 and Kira Pederson 10.
In the other semi, the Halifax Citadel Phoenix defeated the Halifax Grammar School Gryphons 67-57 in triple overtime. It was duel between Anna von Maltzahn of Citadel and Justine Colley of Halifax Grammar, as each scored 31. Trish McNeil added 19 for Citadel, while Rachel MacLean chipped in 15 for Halifax Grammar. “That was probably the best high school basketball game played in Lord knows how long,” Phoenix coach Janet Wells told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. “There’s definitely a huge rivalry there and both teams come out fired up and you know it’s going to be a battle the whole way, and it was.” The Phoenix trailed by double digits in the second half before pulling level again. “We went through a spurt where we started to panic a little bit,” Wells said. “Then my girls, they just got refocused, and they played with composure throughout the fourth quarter. It was a trading basket situation, and I thought it was going to go on until midnight.”
In the bronze medal match, the Halifax Grammar School Gryphons defeated the Sydney Mines Memorial Marauders x-x.
In the final, the Halifax Citadel Phoenix captured their second consecutive crown, in just the schools second year of operations, by defeating the top-seeded Greenwich Horton Griffins 68-59. “It’s pretty extravagant,” Darcy Zinck told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald of the back-to-back banners. “It’s not really something that you expect to accomplish.” Added captain Anna von Maltzahn: “There aren’t words. I’m speechless. It’s so emotional, we were all in there sobbing happy tears. This group of girls has come so far and I’m just really proud of everyone, every single person contributed whether they played or not.” Zinck led the Phoenix with 17 points, Anna von Maltzahn added 12 points, Carley Lewis 12, Liz Coolen 10 and Trish McNeil 10. “I thought that at times definitely (the execution) was lacking,” Horton coach Ian MacMillan said. “It was lacking on defence in the first half. There were times when we went stale on offence and then there were times that we went to the wrong place with the ball.” The Phoenix led 20-19 after one quarter. Citadel took a three-point lead into half time at 38-35, before a seesaw second half. The Griffins closed a low-scoring third quarter on a 10-0 run to take a five-point lead, before the Phoenix responded in the fourth quarter with a 10-1 run of their own to hold a 57-51 lead with less than four minutes to play. “All the hard work and all the early morning practices and all the times that they complained about going into the gym, right now it’s all worth it,” Citadel coach Janet Wells said. Lindsay Harris paced the Griffins with 16. Kaylee Young added 13, Abbey Duinker 12 and Kayla Davis 10.
The bronze medalist Halifax Grammar School Gryphons: Hilary Grantmyre; Justine Colley; Becky Vinci; Anne Kiberd; Morgan Smith; Emily McCormick; Ellen Crosby; Rachel MacLean; Liz Dickson; Alison Conrad; Julia Rivers; Alex McKenna; coach Kathy Spurr; assistant Noel Pendergast
The silver medalist Greenwich Horton Griffins: Kaylee Young; Lindsay Harris; Abbey Duinker; Kayla Davis; Kira Pederson; coach Ian MacMillan
The gold medalist Halifax Citadel Phoenix: Trish McNeil; Darcy Zinck; Anna von Maltzahn; Carley Lewis; Liz Coolen; Beatrice Cleveland-Thompson; Deanna Yarr; Che Kara Beals; Keena Izzard; Erica McAdam; Emma Reardon; Kara Hayes; Taryn Oakley; coach Janet Wells