Hurricanes eliminate Storm with 107-104 win
Halifax wins Atlantic Division final in six games
The Island Storm was millimetres away from overtime in its Game 6 battle with the Halifax Hurricanes on Tuesday in Charlottetown.
But A.J. Stewart’s attempt with one second on the clock rattled off the far side of the rim and gave the Hurricanes a 4-2 series win in the best-ofseven Atlantic Division final. Halifax moves on the face the London Lightning for the National Basketball League of Canada championship.
It’s a fight between the top team (London) and the second-best squad (Halifax) during the regular season, and for Halifax’s Antoine Mason Tuesday was about finishing the gruelling Atlantic final.
“We tried to get this win. It was important to get a little rest so we wanted to get this over. They’re a good team. They pushed us to the limit,” said Mason, who had a gamehigh 28 points. “Defence, gang rebounding and executing our offence, running our sets, won the game.”
Billy White chipped in 26 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Tyrone Watson added 14 points.
Clifford Clinkscales dished out 10 assists.
In a spirited game, despite both teams nursing injuries as well as bumps and bruises, the Storm took an early lead in the first quarter on hot shooting by
Rashad Whack, who drained a pair of threes and got the home side out to a 35-23 edge after the first.
In most of the second period the Storm held court, but White had other ideas.
His six straight points forced a Storm timeout with a 53-42 lead and from there Halifax chipped away, eventually cutting the lead to 53-50.
But a Storm mini-run got it out to a 57-52 advantage at the half.
In the third, Halifax resumed control and twice managed a seven-point lead and finished with a 84-80 advantage after three.
And there, said Storm guard Al Stewart, is where things turned for his club. “Third quarter, we always come out flat. We win that third quarter (and) we probably win the game. (And you) get to Game 7 and the series could go either way. It’s basketball,” said Stewart.
“Man, it’s a weird, weird vibe right now. I’m proud, though, proud. I commend the other team. It was a hard-fought series. They didn’t take us lightly and we didn’t take them lightly.”
In the fourth, the Hurricanes kept the lead only falling behind once by one point (100-99) with clutch shots and enough defence to repel the Storm comeback attempts. Jahii Carson led the Storm with 25 points and six assists. Akeem Ellis had 24 points, including three three-point plays, and grabbed a team-high 10 boards. Whack finished with 22 points.