Comeback kids from Summerside win PEISAA gold
Three Oaks scores come-from-behind gold medal victory in AAA boys’ basketball title game
Three Oaks finally got its first lead with two minutes left in the third quarter, and the Axemen ran with it to a 72-63 victory over the Charlottetown Rural Raiders in the Prince Edward Island School Athletic Association Domino’s senior AAA boys’ basketball title game Tuesday in Charlottetown. TOSH forward Ethan Boyd finished off his senior year with AAA basketball and volleyball titles (he won volleyball in the fall) and capped it with the basketball tournament MVP. But, he admitted, he wasn’t sure about anything for most of Tuesday’s game.
“Honestly, I really didn’t realize it until three minutes left and we were up by seven points and then I thought maybe we might pull this one out,” said Boyd, who recorded 16 points. “It’s awesome, right up there with the volleyball.” Rural, which had the edge
from the start, took 15-7 and 25-22 leads at the first quarter break and halftime, respectively. The Raiders kept the pressure up in the third when it led 35-29 almost seven minutes into the quarter.
But TOSH chipped away at the lead and got a 39-37 advantage at the 2:08 mark and turned things around. Rural never recovered despite the efforts of Logan MacCallum, who finished with 15 points, and
senior Zack Wall, who went for a game-high 22 points.
“I don’t really know what happened. They just started playing better and turned the tide of the game,” Wall said. “It sucks to get second for the third time in a row, but it happens.”
TOSH’s Logan Cameron chipped in 15 points while freshman Ben MacDougall had 13 points and 11 rebounds. MacCallum nabbed 11 boards and teammate Parker Roche scored 11 points and had nine boards.
The Colonel Gray Colonels shellacked the Bluefield Bobcats 87-54 in the bronze medal game earlier on Tuesday.
That style worked to a tee and forced several early Gray miscues, which Rural took advantage of and built an 18-7 lead after the first quarter. In the second frame, it was more of same as Rural’s press took its toll and lead the squad out to a 47-16 advantage at the half. Third quarter? Ditto the second. Rural had a 67-25 edge after three and closed things out in the fourth.
For Gray senior Francis Alvarez,
all-star. “I think we played pretty hard and didn’t give up, played hard all the way. They were just a really good team.” Rylee Connolly added 10 points for Gray.
Bronze medal
The Westisle Wolverines built a 29-22 lead en route to a 52-46 win over the Three Oaks Axewomen Tuesday in the bronze medal game to capture its first ever AAA medal.
TOSH closed to 40-36 after three, despite missing 13 foul shots to that point. Lyndsay Callaghan had a huge game with 16 points and 15 rebounds for Westisle, while Martina Gallant and Hannah MacKinnon each added 10 points and Hannah Hackett seven.
For Three Oaks, Jane Doyle had 11 and Jill Woods and Georgie McKenna had eight points each.