In the quarterfinals, held in Bible Hill, the top-seeded Caledonia North Queens Rural Spartans defeated the 8th-seeded Sacred Heart of Halifax Sharks x-x.
The 4th-seeded Pugwash District Panthers defeated the 5th-seeded four-time defending champ Lockeport Regional Green Wave 65-46 as Josh Kennedy scored 20, Jeff Langille 11 and Jared Nix 11.
The 2nd-seeded Tatamagouche North Colchester Mustangs clipped 7th-seeded Ecole Beau Port 77-65. “It’s nice to get one under our belt,” said Mustangs coach Scott Armstrong. “We’ve got a young team so to get a win and get the jitters out is a good thing.” The Mustangs came out of the gate with plenty of jitters, causing them to rush plays. But once they took the lead mid-way through the second quarter Armstrong said his team settled down and got back to its game. Devin Cameron led the Mustangs with 21 points, while Mike Latinski, the team’s only senior, netted 14 and Thomas Patriquin followed with 10. Armstrong said his team’s strong shooting ability opened the floor to make other plays. “It opened up the inside for us,” he said. École Beau-Port included Jake Boudreau, Travis Landry, Julien L. Boudreau, Julien R. Boudreau, Tyson Boudreau, Devin Pierce, Logan Landry, Colin Peeples, Réal Boudreau, Spencer Boudreault, Kyle Samson, Christian Short, and Jordan Kehoe.
In the last quarterfinal, 3rd-seeded Neil’s Harbour Cabot Trailblazers defeated 6th-seeded Pictou 76-60.
In the semis, the top-seeded Caledonia North Queens Rural Spartans edged the 4th-seeded Pugwash District Panthers 66-61.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Tatamagouche North Colchester Mustangs edged 3rd-seeded Neil’s Harbour Cabot Trailblazers 81-76 in overtime.
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded Pugwash District Panthers whipped the 3rd-seeded Neil’s Harbour Cabot Academy Trailblazers 73-48.
In the final, the top-seeded Caledonia North Queens Rural Spartans downed the 2nd-seeded Tatamagouche North Colchester Mustangs 70-51 to claim its first boys’ banner since 2001. Jason Fancy had a game-high 21 for Caledonia North Queens Rural, runners-up in 2006, 2004 and 2002. “It wasn’t easy to lose my last game,” said Mustang Mike Latinski. “The school hasn’t won a provincial banner in 50 odd years so it would have been nice to win it.” Latinski was knocked out after going up for a block when the opposing player’s shoulder hit him in the jaw. “I guess I was down on the floor for a couple minutes.” But Latinski returned to play the fourth quarter and finished the contest with nine points. “I had to play because it was my last game,” he said. Coach Scott Armstrong said he was impressed with the drive Latinski showed to get back in the game. “That was pretty gutsy and you couldn’t ask more from him,” he said. “It really inspired the other players.” Devin Cameron led the Mustangs with 18 points, while Dyson Forbes collected 16. Mustangs coach Scott Armstrong said “they were a physical and we’re more of an up-tempo fast team. It was our third game and we just didn’t have the gas to finish the tournament off.”
The bronze medalist Pugwash District Panthers: Josh Kennedy; Jeff Langille; Jared Nix;
The silver medalist Tatamagouche North Colchester Mustangs: David Cameron; Thomas Patriquin; Mike Latinski; Dyson Forbes coach Scott Armstrong
The gold medalist Caledonia North Queens Rural Spartans: Jason Fancy;