Double gold

Birchwood sweeps PEISAA intermediate A championships

The Birchwood Cobras swept the P.E.I. School Athletic Association intermediate A basketball championships.

The Birchwood girls edged the Summerside Intermediate School Blue Owls 40-38 in a nail-biting final, and the Charlottetown school recorded a 10-point decision – 34-24 – over the Stonepark Tigers in an all-Charlottetown boys’ goldmedal contest.

The SIS White Owls defeated Morell 55-37 in the girls’ bronze-medal match, and the Miscouche Mustangs topped the host Owls 51-39 in the boys’ third-place match.

All four medal games were played before lively and appreciative crowds at Summerside Intermediate School on Saturday.

Cobras 40 Blue Owls 38

Urmila Khanal, who was named the provincial championship tournament’s most valuable player (MVP), scored 20 points to lead the Cobras while Jordynne Mann had 10 points for the Owls.

“It’s wonderful to win,” commented a member of the Birchwood coaching staff following the final. “This is a great group of girls.

“They worked hard for this, and they have big hearts and played like lions the whole year. We thought we would be here, and we got here, and that was so important.”

Owls head coach Wil MacDonald said, despite the defeat, the team accomplished its goals for the season.

“The loss doesn’t even matter,” commented MacDonald. “We were just talking about it as a team, and we were undefeated in the (10-game) regular season.

“A lot of the girls on our team have never played the game before, so I think the development we saw in all of our players was accomplished this season.”

MacDonald concluded: “A silver medal is basically just the icing on the cake. I think if you ask the girls what has been the best part of the season, I believe for them it was getting better at the game they love and making new friendships.”

Cobras 34 Tigers 24

Ben Crosby’s 17-point effort led the Cobras. William Robertson (point total unavailable) was Stonepark’s top scorer.

The Cobras’ Chad Stewart was recognized as the provincial championship tournament’s MVP.

“It feels great to be the winning team because last year we led in the fourth quarter and ended up losing,” explained Cobras coach Susan Deighan. “This shows the dedication of the players, for them to be down by 10 points in the first quarter and then come back to tie, and win.”

Stonepark coach Rudi Terstege said he is very proud of his basketball team.

“We did not expect to get to this place,” explained Terstege. “We ended up third in the east and had a lot of games to play this week because of all the snowstorms and stuff like that it was a very condensed schedule.

“So the boys left everything out there (Saturday).

White Owls 55 Morell 37

Sydney Gallant scored 20 points to spark Summerside Intermediate’s offence. Kaylee Stewart sank a game-high 21 points for Morell.

Mustangs 51 Owls 39

Shawn Aitken sank 20 points to pace the Mustangs, and Will Somers had a 12-point performance for Summerside Intermediate.