In the quarterfinals, held in Terre Noire, the top-seeded Springhill Golden Eagles clipped the 8th-seeded host Terre Noire Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies 57-43 as Meaghan Moore scored 19, Shauna Ryan 13, Brittany Barton 10, Kathryn MacDonald 10, Lacey Rushton 3 and Alissa Quinn 2. Kathleen Cheatham led Highlands with 15. Springhill led 26-22 at the half. The score was knotted at 14 after one quarter. The Huskies moved ahead 20-16 but Springhill closed out the first half with a 10-2 run. “Take six minutes out of that game and we had them,” said Huskies coach Shane Hannigan. “I didn’t think it would be that close; we weren’t playing well the last couple of games, but the girls put it all together this weekend. I’m happy for them and proud of them all.” Huskies centre Kathleen Cheatham said “that was the most intense game we ever played. Every time we’d put up a basket the crowd would roar, and we’d be smiling running back up-court.” Cheatham added that once starting guards Thea Doucet and Alicia Smith got into foul trouble in the second quarter, breaking Springhill’s press became more of a challenge. “At one point, Shane had me at guard, and with Erin (Burton) inbounding, they were doubling up on me.” Cheatham paced Dalbrae with 15. Alicia Smith added 12, Thea Doucet 5, Caitlin Deveau 4, Erin Burton 3, Jessica MacMillan 2 and Brielle Doucet 2.
The 5th-seeded Digby Regional Mariners edged the 4th-seeded Halifax Grammar Gryphons 64-56 as Joleesa Robinson scored 35, Lynn Wall 10, Rebekah Cook 10, Kate Chute 3 and Lyndi Daley 2. The Gryphons included Sarah Delicat, Lucy Jackson, Chloe Jacobs, Jessica VanZanten, Allison Balan, Reah Black, Julie Tanner, Annika Karlsen and Emily McLean.
The 2nd-seeded New Germany Rural Saints defeated 7th-seeded Southwest Mabou Dalbrae Dragons 54-39. The score was knotted at 20 at the half. Dalbrae led 35-34 after three quarters. But the Saints dominated the last six minutes of the match. “That’s where size and experience comes in,” said Dalbrae coach Paul Brown. “They simply wore us down.” Meagan Campbell led Dalbrae with 16. Laura Rankin added 8, Bridget Wilson 5, Robyn Wilson 4, Leah Gillies 2, Nicole Van Zutphen 2 and Theresa Rankin 1.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Bridgewater Vikings dumped 6th-seeded Windsor King’s-Edgehill 54-48. King’s-Edgehill included Sam Langille, Nicholle Morrison, Denise Roy, Caeleigh Fraser, Tessa Macaulay, Melanie Morrison and Krista Henniger.
In the semi-finals, the 2nd-seeded New Germany Rural Saints defeated the 3rd-seeded Bridgewater Vikings 56-29.
In the other semi, the 5th-seeded Digby Regional Mariners stunned the top-seeded Springhill Golden Eagles 56-54 as Joleesa Robinson hit a driving layup with three seconds remaining on the clock. Robinson finished with 22. Lynn Wall added 10, Rebekah Cook 10, Alyssa Oliver 9, Kate Chute 6 and Lyndi Daley 1. The Mariners, who were whistled for 10 fouls as opposed to Springhill’s 22 infractions, overcame a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter when they held Springhill to just six points. Shauna Ryan held the hot hand for the Golden Eagles as she bucketed 22, followed by Brittany Barton with 16. Kathryn MacDonald and Lacey Rushton both had five points, with Meaghan Moore hooping four and Emily Moore had two. Digby led 29-27 at the half. “We led by nine heading into the fourth quarter against Digby and the shots stopped falling,” Springhill co-coach Charlie Chambers said. “We had good looks but couldn’t finish. And when we didn’t score at one end, they came down and did. They crushed us on offensive rebounding. We could see the cut, but we couldn’t stop the bleeding. We felt horrible because we were this close to winning it all. I believe we deserved a better fate.”
In the bronze medal match, the Springhill Golden Eagles crushed the Bridgewater Vikings 60-41 as Kathryn MacDonald scored 16, Shauna Ryan 14, Meaghan Moore 13, Brittany Barton 11, Lacey Rushton 4, Tiffany Hunter 2 and Emily Moore 2. Nicole Brinson paced the Vikings with 22. Jamie Brown added 8, Niki Brown 7 and Bronte James 2. The Golden Eagles led 31-20 at the half.
In the final, the 5th-seeded Digby Regional Mariners defeated the 2nd-seeded New Germany Rural Saints 54-52 while avenging two regular season losses. Joleesa Robinson paced Digby with 22. Kate Chute added 12, Lynn Wall 9, Lyndi Daley 5, Rebekah Cook 4 and Kirby Melanson 2. Bailey Himmelman led New Germany with 23. Lauren Moore added 13, Kaitlyn Barry 8 and Emily Padden 8. Mariners coach Tyler Colwell told the Digby Courier that “the theme all year is never give up, keep working hard. We started down 12-2. I called a time out because they were pretty worked up. They started to think the game was lost before it even really started.” The Mariners rallied to within 14-11 after one quarter as Joleesa Robinson hit a trey at the buzzer. The teams traded the lead down the stretch, with Lyndi Daley hitting the winner with six seconds to play. Joleesa Robinson added an insurance free throw after pilfering the ball on the ensuing play. Saints coach Marcus Noel said “they deserved to win as they worked hard. They truly earned it.”
The bronze medalist Springhill Golden Eagles: Courtney Sauveur; Tiffany Hunter; Lacey Rushton; Kathryn MacDonald; Meaghan Moore; Shauna Ryan; Brittany Barton; Alissa Quinn; Emily Moore; Sonya MacDonald; coach Charlie Chambers
The silver medalist New Germany Rural Saints: Bailey Himmelman; Lauren Moore; Kaitlyn Barry, Emily Padden; coach Marcus Noel
The gold medalist Digby Regional Mariners: Joleesa Robinson; Kate Chute; Alyssa Oliver; Lynn Wall; Rebekah Cook; Jessica Sabean; Jenny Ramsey; Lyndi Daly; Kirby Melanson; coach Tyler Colwell