In the quarterfinals, held in Port Hawkesbury, the top-seeded Middleton Regional Monarchs dumped the 8th-seeded Port Hawkesbury Strait Area Education and Recreation Centre Saints 68-51. “We were more than in the game – we could have won it,” Saints coach Jason Seymour told the Port Hawkesbury Reporter. “We just had a bad three minutes, but the seniors really stepped up. Riley Kelly had 23 points and Breton MacNeil had 14 points. It was a close game, and a great start.”
The Saints (coached by Seymour) also included Carmen D’Intino, Dustin Peters, Dawson McColl, Jonny West, Alex MacDonald, Julian van Audenhove, Connor Kelly, Owen MacLean.
The 4th-seeded Chester Basin Forest Heights Community Falcons clipped the 5th-seeded Kennetcook Hants North Rural Flames 63-53. The Flames (coached by John Tanner)
The 6th-seeded Bridgewater Vikings stunned the 3rd-seeded Shelburne Regional Rebels 81-65. The Rebels included Tyson Harley, Drew Jacklin, Zac Nickerson, Daniel Slack, Skye Buchanan, Allan Hallett, Ryan Hardy, Trevor Fehr, Colton Wagner, Duncan O’Connor, Cam Trevors.
In the last quarterfinal, the 7th-seeded Windsor King’s-Edgehill upset the 2nd-seeded Southwest Mabou Dalbrae Academy Dragons 76-68. The Dragons (coached by Phil Blackwood) included Chris Clark, Olan Spears, Shamus MacLean, Jack MacEachern, Kirkland Bernard, Jeff MacDonald, Cody Harrison, Cullen MacInnis, Brock Beaton, Noah Dunn.
In the semis, the 4th-seeded Chester Basin Forest Heights Community Falcons stomped the top-seeded Middleton Regional Monarchs 79-42.
In the other semi, the 6th-seeded Bridgewater Vikings nipped the 7th-seeded Windsor King’s-Edgehill 67-62.
In the bronze medal match, the top-seeded Middleton Regional Monarchs dumped the 7th-seeded Windsor King’s-Edgehill 87-75. King’s-Edgehill (coached by Derek Bouwman, assisted by Yueh Tao Lin and John Naugler) included John Atwood, Martinus Bouwman, Wai-Lun Cho, Adrian Danquah, Cody Ettinger, Xiaocong Guo, Alexandre Jagot, George Joyce, Zachary Klassen, Hyeongyoon Lee, Zacharia Ocole-Akorimo, Korolos Sawires, Vaishanavan Somasekaram, Tai Wai Wa, Ziyang Wang, Sen Wu and Kyle Yearwood.
In the final, the 6th-seeded Bridgewater Vikings edged the 4th-seeded Chester Basin Forest Heights Community Falcons 70-60 in overtime. “It was amazing energy here in this gym, probably the best game that was in this gym for a number of years,” Vikings coach Corey Lohnes told Lighthouse Now. “I’m not sure how many more games are going to be in here with what’s going on with the school review, but I think we put on a pretty good show tonight.” Team captain Mark Rogers, who scored 17, said “it’s pretty exciting to win this in my final year, especially in our home gym. It’s a pretty great group of guys, and we’ve been together a long time, so it was just a good team win. … When we came out after the time out, coming out into overtime, it was exceptional. Everyone was on their feet – it was just an awesome atmosphere.” Matthew Sabean led the Vikings with 30. Austin Brown, who led the Falcons with 32, said “we did what we could. It was mainly just foul trouble that hurt us. That’s about it.” A winter storm delayed the game by three hours. Lohnes said “it’s really hard to get a team psyched up when you’re not sure when you’re going to play.” Mark Rogers said “our coaches just reassured us that we’ve got to stay in it all game, that it’s going to come down to the end. They did a really good job managing the bench and getting people in good situations.” Lohnes said “we just said don’t get caught up in emotion – let the crowd help us, not hurt us. Just keep calm and play basketball, just do what we do.”
The bronze medalist Middleton Regional Monarchs: Liam Walton; Ben Mercer; Mark Sharpe; Dylan Outingdyke; Jordan Cloutier; Ian Dixon; Joel Harris; Nathanael French; Ben Dowell; Calen Morrison; Ryan Cloutier; Andus MacKinnon; Dylan Taylor; Kobie Hubley; coach Mike Mason; assistant Ryan McNeil; assistant Brent McNeil
The silver medalist Chester Basin Forest Heights Community Falcons: Kyle Russell; Zack Reeves; Colten Levy; Calum Norwood; Graeme Weagle; Austin Brown; Jeremie Grondin; Mitchell Thompson; James Keddy; Thomas Russell;
The gold medalist Bridgewater Vikings: Andrew Johnson; Ryan O’Toole; Connor Munro; Chris Johnson; Mark Rogers; Colin Silver; Matt Sabean; Bailey Silver; Sebastian Heffner; Camden MacMillan; Daylon Stitt-Williams; coach Corey Lohnes