In the semis, the Summerside Three Oaks-1 Axemen spanked the Charlottetown Colonel Gray-1 Colonels 76-54.
In the other semi, the Charlottetown Rural-1 Raiders defeated the Bluefield-1 Bobcats x-x.
In the bronze-medal game, the Charlottetown Colonel Gray-1 Colonels outlasted the Bluefield-1 Bobcats 61-55 with a 23-8 outbrust in the fourth quarter. Nathan Swansburg paced the Colonels with 14. Thomas Yeo led the Bobcats with 13. The Bobcats led 17-9, 31-21 and 47-38 at the quarters. The Bobcats also included Tyler Newson.
In the final, the Summerside Three Oaks-1 Axemen whipped the Charlottetown Rural-1 Raiders 87-66 to capture their third title in four seasons. The Axemen led 24-11, 45-26 and 69-53 at the quarters. Playoff MVP Spencer Rossiter paced the Axemen with 29. “I have been waiting for this moment,” sRossiter, wheo status for the playoffs was uncertain because of a sprained ankle, told the Charlottetown Guardian. “At the beginning of the year, we were blowing out teams, and then we started having close games and getting on each other. We had to start playing as a team and being accountable.” Axemen coach Faro Halupa said “it’s always good to win, but you feel good for your Grade 12s, especially Spencer. He’s been so good for three years that if this didn’t happen, you would be so heart-broken for him that he didn’t have the chance to get recognized like he did (Tuesday). He was one of the best five players in our league last year. … We started strong offensively and were averaging almost 100 (points) a game, but sometimes that shooting is unsustainable, and you are always trying to convince your kids that defence is what wins out in the end,” said Axemen coach Faro Halupa. “In the last couple of games for sure, we started to show that belief that if we dug in harder and really defended, people wouldn’t be able to play with us. … The lead grows when you get stops, and that’s what happened.” Halupa added that the Axemen converted on easy buckets. You are always going to miss some, but we didn’t miss enough of those that it was hurting us. Both teams are going to miss easy shots, but it’s how many and how do you recover when you miss? Those easy ones (you miss), you are giving points away. We didn’t give away a load of them, and we work hard on that. It’s crazy, but those are the ones that are most valuable as the game goes on. … I think we trusted nine guys in the game throughout,” said Halupa. “They did what they were supposed to do. All you are hoping for when you get into games like this is that you can trust more guys.” Armaan Singh added 23 for the Axemen, Sean Matheson 10, Ryan MacKinnon 9 and Zach Blood 8. Kalon MacDonald-Wood led the Raiders with 23. Isaac Hughes added 16 and Willis Bulger 11. Raiders assistant Brett Poirier said the Axemen are “really, really composed. They find a way consistently to defend the basketball from 90 feet up and down the court; they are so talented at doing that. … Our guys did everything they could, but ultimately they just outplayed us a little bit, they hit more shots and they were in more places with the basketball.”
The all-tournament team featured MVP Spencer Rossiter (Three Oaks-1); Isaac Hughes (Rural-1); Kalen MacDonald-Wood (Rural-1); Sean Matheson (Three Oaks-1); Armaan Singh (Three Oaks-1); Nathan Swansburg –(Colonel Gray-1); and Thomas Yeo (Bluefield-1).
The bronze medalist Charlottetown Colonel Gray-1 Colonels: Nathan Swansburg; Patrick Muise; Ben Plourde;
The silver medalist Charlottetown Rural-1 Raiders: Kalon MacDonald-Wood; Isaac Hughes; Willis Bulger; Daniel Quinn; assistant Brett Poirier
The champion Summerside Three Oaks-1 Axemen: Spencer Rossiter; Armaan Singh; Sean Matheson; Ryan MacKinnon; Zach Blood; Jason Stefanuca; Clark Farrell; Landon Gallant; Mason Waugh; Campbell Wadman; Damian Barlow; Cohen Billings; coach Faro Halupa; assistant Chris Richard
Thanks to: Summerside coach Faro Halupa for correcting the mistaken impression that the season had been cancelled by the covid pandemic.