In the quarterfinals, held in Springhill, the top-seeded New Germany Saints stomped the 8th-seeded Shelburne Regional Rebels 66-26. The Rebels included Ashton Nash.
The 4th-seeded Musquodoboit Rural Mustangs defeated the 5th-seeded Liverpool Regional Warriors 49-39 as Hailey Messervey scored 25. Sarah Mitton led the Warriors with 14. The Warriors (coached by Terry Metcalfe) included Louise Wentworth.
The 2nd-seeded host Springhill Jr-Sr Golden Eagles edged the 7th-seeded Southwest Mabou Dalbrae Academy Dragons 64-60 as Sydnee Balser scored 20 and Trisha Thompson 14. Lauran van Zutphen and Haley Wilson each scored 13 to lead the Dragons.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Terre Noire Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies defeated Windsor King’s-Edgehill 68-41 as Helena Walker scored 20. Sidney Carmichael added 17. Isabella Bouwman led King’s-Edgehill with 18.
In the semis, the top-seeded New Germany Saints whipped the 4th-seeded Musquodoboit Rural Mustangs 53-27 as Charmaine Conrad scored 18. Hailey Messervey led the Mustangs with 17.
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Terre Noire Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies nipped the 2nd-seeded Springhill Golden Eagles 54-52. Molly Murphy led the Huskies with 18. Brenna Casey led the Golden Eagles with 18.
In the bronze medal match, the 2nd-seeded Springhill Golden Eagles clocked the 4th-seeded Musquodoboit Rural Mustangs 51-32 as Sydney Balser scored 26. Brittany Cole led the Mustangs with 11. Golden Eagles coach Charlie Chambers told the Amherst News that “We’ve had a nice run.” In his 14 years, the Golden Eagles had been to provincials 14 times and medalled 8 times. “I thought our defence played well. The kids have been working hard … they believe in our systems.”
In the final, the top-seeded New Germany Saints defeated the 3rd-seeded Terre Noire Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies 51-40 as Charmaine Cobrad scored 19 and Emma Sue Wagner 10. Sidney Carmichael led the Huskies with 15. Molly Murphy added 10. Coach Marcus Noel told the Lunenberg Progress Bulletin that the final buzzer created a surreal moment. “The girls went crazy. It was awesome. It was a huge catharsis. Everyone was just smiling, laughing, crying, yelling and hugging. The feeling was just elation. All of our hard work not only this year but the last number of years finally paid off. Just pure absolute happiness in its’ most basic form. … The girls had butterflies but they never seemed outwardly nervous. They looked extremely focused and ready for the challenge. We had a classroom all weekend and before every game I had a number of key points written on the whiteboard about our opponents – dangerous players, their tendencies, what defences they ran, what offences they ran and of course our keys to victory. We did this for virtually every game this season so we were prepared to play. Once the Xs and Os were discussed then we got into the motivational stuff. I thought I had a great pre-game speech planned and it went over really well. This of course was until I heard my assistant coach Blair Forrest’s pre-game speech. It was incredible and I think really helped the girls to relax and at the same time get motivated to really go out there and execute.” New Germany took an early lead but the Huskies rallied within 27-22 at the half. “At halftime I really wasn’t lighting a fire underneath [the girls] or anything,” Noel said. “It was just a refocus. There were no huge adjustments whatsoever. I told them to do what we always have done. Challenge all shots and box out. I tell them that multiple times a game and all that had to be done at halftime was to reconfirm what it is we had to do. At the start of the game we applied great pressure and started the game on a 17-2 run. Our starting point guard and defensive catalyst, Kaleigh Wagner, was a little too aggressive and got into foul trouble so she had to sit for basically the entire second quarter.”
The bronze medalist Springhill Golden Eagles: Sydney Balser; Sydnee Balser; Stephanie? McCormick; Trisha Thompson; Brenna Case; Julie Alick; Britany Arsenault; Mallory Thompson; Chynna Williams; Jorden Tabor; coach Scott Balser; coach Kerry Cullihall; coach Murray Thompson; coach Charlie Chambers; coach Patti Gilroy
The silver medalist Terre Noire Cape Breton Highlands Academy Huskies: Helena Walker; Sidney Carmichael; Molly Murphy;
The gold medalist New Germany Saints: Charmaine Cobrad; Emma Sue Wagner; Kaleigh Wagner; Cassidy Forrest; Charmaine Moore-Turner; Rachel Penney; Kelsey Doucette; Emma Bruhm; Hailey Langille; coach Marcus Noel; assistant Blair Forrest