In the semis, the Summerside Three Oaks-1 Axettes dumped the Charlottetown Rural-1 Raiders 53-31 after leading 25-9 at the half. The Axettes full-court pressure generated a bushel of dividends. Becky Clark paced the Axettes with 13. Erica Gillis added 8, Madison Tompkins 8, Charlotte Thompson 8 and Aimee Gillis 8. Jessica Patenaude paced the Raiders with 17. Katie Chaisson added 7.
In the other semi, the Charlottetown Colonel Gray-1 Colonels thrashed the Elmsdale Westisle Wolverines 67-32 after leading 33-10 at the half. Rayelle Morrison paced the Colonels with 21. Meghan Adams added 9, Morgan Fitzgerald 8 and Haley Butler 7. Kiera Rigby nabbed 9 boards. Breanna Gallant led the Wolverines with 12 points and 6 boards. Breanne Lewis added 6 points and 7 boards.
In the bronze medal match, the Charlottetown Rural-1 Raiders defeated the Elmsdale Westisle Wolverines 70-65 despite trailing 31-22 at the half. Jessica Patenaude led the Raiders with 18. Danielle Roberts added 14, Kate Kinsman 14, MacKenzie Deighan 8 and Katie Chaisson 8. Brooke Gaudette paced the Wolverines with 14. Emily Malone added 10, Mandy Shea 8 and Breanna Gallant 8.
In the final, the Summerside Three Oaks-1 Axettes dumped the Charlottetown Colonel Gray-1 Colonels 61-48 after leading 32-30 at the half. Becky Clark scored three straight hoops to put Three Oaks ahead 52-46 with 4:26 to play and a three-pointer by Madison Tompkins with 2:45 proved to be the final dagger. The Axewomen avenged three regular season losses to the Colonels. “We lost by 14 to Gray a month ago,” said Axewomen assistant coach Garth Turtle. “Then we went away to the Coal Bowl (in New Waterford, N.S.), watched our boys win (in early February), had a great week and I think the team jelled a bit more there. We’ve just been talking and talking in practice about having confidence in yourselves. Our practices have been very positive, and the kids started to realize that we can play with this team (Colonels). It’s just a bunch of girls who are our age, it’s not just Colonel Gray. It took us a while to get over that hump.” The final score was deceiving, Turtle added. “We were down two (points) with four (minutes) to go. A credit to them, our starters went in and played a great four minutes. We had foul trouble the whole game, they were sitting and we had the opportunity to put them back in and they just played great. (Grade 11s) Becky Clark and Charlotte Thompson were awesome out there. It was quite a display of controlled basketball, which is what we’ve been asking them to do all year. “With the score tied 46-46 late in the fourth quarter, Clark scored three straight baskets to put Three Oaks in front 52-46. Thompson passed the ball to Clark on all three hoops. Axewomen coach James Voye said confidence proved the difference. “The big difference was we had much more confidence in our own abilities than we had earlier in the year. That’s a credit to James and the positive attitude he has with the team.” As well, forward Madison Tompkins “worked really hard,” said Voye. “She’s been in the gym every morning for about the last month preparing for today. All that hard work paid off for her.” Turtle said “we weren’t going to beat this team 70-69,” said Turtle. “We just didn’t have the guns to do that. We knew we had to keep the score down. . . Our defence was just awesome. The kids really stepped up, everybody played hard and that’s all you can ask.” Madison Tompkins paced the Axettes with 20. Erica Gillis added 10, Jamey MacLean 8 and Becky Clark 8. Kiera Rigby paced the Colonels with 29. Rayelle Morrison added 8.
The bronze medalist Charlottetown Rural-1 Raiders: Jessica Patenaude; Danielle Roberts; Kate Kinsman; Katie Chaisson; Mackenzie Deighan;
The silver medalist Charlottetown Colonel Gray-1 Colonels: Kiera Rigby; Rayelle Morrison; Meghan Adams; Morgan Fitzgerald; Haley Butler; Hannah Dawson; Emily Fitzgerald; Jenna Deighan; Patty Nino-Esparza; Madison Blanchard; Lea Fischer; Dana Trainor; coach Chris Annett; assistant Alex Field
The gold medalist Summerside Three Oaks-1 Axettes: Madison Tompkins; Erica Gillis; Jamey MacLean; Becky Clark; Charlotte Thompson; Aimee Gillis; Jessica Gillis; Michaela Walker; Sloane Rioux, Marissa Blacquire; Jaime MacLean; Laura O’Neal; Hannah Steele; coach James Voye; assistant Garth Turtle