Miramichi girls fall short in Provincial bids

James M Hill girls played before a packed house on Friday night hoping to punch a ticket to Harbour Station. Meanwhile next door, the Dr. Losier Knights championship hopes came down to the wire.

There was lots of basketball being played in Miramichi this weekend with two girls teams vying for provincial titles. On Friday night at James M. Hill the Tommie girls took on Fundy in sectionals, hoping to punch their ticket to Harbour Station Final 12 next weekend. Next door at Dr. Losier, the girls team made it to the finals against Riverview, seeking the provincial title on Sunday afternoon.

Tommies fall short with slow start to second half

The Tommies get out to an early lead, and the Fundy coach took an early timeout to settle down his girls. He told them the Tommies were living off crowd noise, and they had to continue to play through contact and finish at the rim.

The Tommies were down by three at half in a scrappy affair. Refs put the whistles away for the most part, and girls played through contact, and a capacity crowd made its presence felt.

To start the second half, the Tommies came out flat. Before long the Fundy squad was up by 12, and the Tommies had to eat an early timeout. They closed the gap but with 4:30 left in the game Fundy was again up by 21.

Coach Chris Fanjoy used his final timeouts to focus his girls, and they shut down the opponent the rest of the way. Fundy only scored 7 points in the 4th quarter, and got no baskets in last 4:30. Reese Nowlan had 9 of her 27 points in the 4th quarter, but when the buzzer sounded, the Tommies were still down by 5.

Fundy went on to defeat Woodstock 52-40 the following day to earn a spot in the Final 12.

Also scoring for the Tommies were Emma Connick with 13, and Ashley MacKinley with 10.

(scroll below photos to see Dr. Losier photos and story)

Emma Connick

Reese Nowlan

Nancy McLean, Jennie Cripps and Cassidy English

Ashley MacKinley

Dr. Losier girls play three close games to earn silver medal.

Dr. Losier girls overcame an 11 point deficit to beat Riverview by 2 earlier in the tournament, but the team in red got revenge in the final with a 47-43 victory.

Dr. Losier earned a spot in the final by sinking some late buckets in an earlier game against Harvey, giving them the mathematical advantage to take them through.

The final game was won on the free-throw line. The Dr. Losier Knights committed 28 fouls in the game, putting Riverview in bonus in every period. Riverview, on the other hand, committed 20 fouls putting the Knights in bonus in 3 of 4 periods. Riverview made 20 of 35 free throws, while the Knights struggled from the line making only 6 of 17.

The Knights were also only able to manage 1 point during the entire second quarter, ending the first half down 18-11. The girls were still able to press Riverview in the second half right to the end by closing large gaps twice.

Leading scorers for the Knights were Carol Ann Leggatt with 12, Kaitlin Martin with 11, and Ava Godfrey with 10 . Madi Walsh was a standout defensively, but fouled out late in the game.

Top scorer for Riverview was Robyn Thompson with 12.