Warriors execute game plan
East Wiltshire defeats never-say-die Athena Hawks in boys’ gold-medal match
The East Wiltshire Warriors did exactly what they wanted. The Warriors capitalized on a size advantage, took control early, weathered a second-quarter rally by the never-say-die Athena Hawks and pulled away in the second half en route to an 80-55 win in the boys’ goldmedal game of the P.E.I. School Athletic Association intermediate AA basketball championships on Tuesday night. “We felt prepared and knew what we needed to do, and for three-quarters of the game we did it,” said East Wiltshire head coach Duncan Shaw. “We are very proud of ourselves.”
Before a full house at the Summerside Intermediate School gymnasium, the Warriors jumped out to big early leads of 11-1 and 21-4. However, the Hawks refused to quit and closed the deficit to one point in the second quarter before the Warriors took a four-point lead – 36-32 – in halftime.
“You never count us out,” said a proud Hawks head coach Ian Lilly. “We may be small, but we are mighty.
“I have guys that work hard. I knew going in they were bigger and stronger, and I knew we could probably keep up for a little while, but it would be tough to sustain for the whole game. I’m proud of my boys.”
Shaw said the key to the Warriors’ game plan was to “be tall” against the Hawks.
“We didn’t want to get down and play with their speed,” said Shaw. “We wanted to get the ball inside, rebound well and keep a hand up on those shooters they have.”
Isaac Arsenault poured in 20 points to lead the Warriors, who received 15 from Thomas Yeo and 14 from provincial championship tournament most valuable player Tyler Newson. Spencer Rossiter sank a game-high 35 points to account for over half of Athena’s scoring. Michael Friesen added six for the Hawks, who earned the respect of their opponents. “You have take your hats off to Athena,” said Shaw. “They didn’t quit.”
Lilly admitted depth was a factor as the game wore on. “We are not very deep, and I’m asking a lot of my five starters to play the whole game tired,” said Lilly. “We tried trapping and that got us back in the game, but then fatigue set in.”
Bronze medal
The bronze-medal game required overtime as the Summerside Intermediate School Owls outlasted the Queen Charlotte Coyotes 53-49.
The teams were tied 45-45 at the end of regulation time, and Ethan Haakman and Ryan MacKinnon scored eight points in overtime to spark the Owls. Haakman (15), Nick Blanchard (12) and Will Somers (7) were Summerside Intermediate’s top point-getters. Jeremy Norman (16), Paul Kingston (9) and Parker Williams (8) led Queen Charlotte at the offensive end of the floor. Queen Charlotte led 21-20 at halftime.