Special victory for KISH
Host Torchettes go undefeated in winning Aidan K. Harrington Memorial tournament
It’s always special to win a tournament, but that accomplishment took on extra significance for the Kensington Torchettes on Saturday afternoon.
The Torchettes defeated the Charlottetown Team Two Raiders 50-36 in the girls’ final of the second annual Aidan K. Harrington Memorial basketball tournament, hosted by Kensington Intermediate-Senior High School (KISH).
“It’s a really big honour to win it,” said the Torchettes’ Ellen Cole, who was named the tournament most valuable player. “He (Aidan) was such a really good basketball player.”
Harrington, who proudly wore Torchmen basketball jerseys from 2007 to 2014 and was named KISH’s 2014 senior male athlete of the year, passed away suddenly at the age of 20 in November 2016 in Halifax, N.S., where he was attending university.
“We are really proud to win it,” offered KISH point guard Hillary MacLean, who was named a tournament all-star along with Kinkora’s Abigail Rogers, Rural Team Two’s Lila Willdey and Westisle Team Two’s Emily Matthews. “It was really nice to see (Aidan’s sister and KISH senior boys coach) Hannah here, and the family was here to watch. It means a lot.”
Aidan’s father, Alan, recognized the efforts of Brianna MacKay and Mitchell Bernard, who were the driving forces behind the development and organization of the inaugural event in 2017.
“It means a lot to us,” noted an appreciative Alan.
The championship capped an undefeated weekend for the
Torchettes, who completed the two-day tournament 4-0 (wonlost). The Torchettes, who are 7-1 in league play, are seeded sixth out of 16 teams in the latest P.E.I. School Athletic Association basketball rankings released Sunday night.
“We are doing pretty good,” assessed Cole, who is from New
London. “We are small (with eight players) but mighty!”
In the final, which featured the top two teams of the round robin, Callie Champion poured in a game-high 17 points to lead the Torchettes. Casey Currie led Rural with 11 points.
It was the second of back-toback games between the two
teams after KISH defeated Rural 51-32 in the final game of the round-robin on Saturday morning.
“It was a really good game, and we played really, really well in the end,” commented Cole, a 15-year-old Grade 10 post player from New London. “They came out really hard, and I thought we did a really good job of keeping them at bay.”
After taking a 21-18 advantage into halftime, KISH outscored Rural 20-10 in the third quarter to open up a 41-28 cushion.
“I don’t think we were expecting them to come out as hard as they did because we had just played them, and that (round-robin) game wasn’t as tough,” said MacLean, a 16-yearold
Kensington resident. “They really showed up, and so did we.”
Cole, despite being whistled for three early fouls, was a force on the boards.
“At the end I had a burst of energy, started getting my game going and getting blocks,” said Cole.
When asked what is the key to strong rebounding, Cole noted “being able to jump” and positioning is very important.
“You have to that sense of where the ball is going to go when they shoot it,” added Cole.