Coyotes hunt down regional crown
KENNETCOOK — Four-forfour.
It’s a pretty good day at the plate in baseball, but it’s an even better basketball season.
That’s what the Dr. WA MacLeod Coyotes boys basketball team did this year. They set out to win two tournaments, the district title and the regional championship. They sealed the deal on March 3 in Kennetcook when they beat the host Hants North Flames 91-42 in the Northumberland Region Junior High Division 2 Boys championship game.
Coyotes’ co-captain Keinon DeCoste had 15 points in the final game and said the team worked as a single unit all year long.
“We have great team chemistry and we worked well together. I think we had some good depth,” he said after the championship.
Fellow co-captain Dakota Fitt scored 13 in the title game and said he was proud of the effort put in by his teammates.
“Everyone played their hardest all season to accomplish this final goal.”
In a tournament hosted by New Glasgow Academy last month, the Coyotes were trailing by large margin and it looked like their season-long plan might be derailed, but they gutted out a one-point win over the host Panthers and then beat Bible Hill to achieve their second goal. Fitt called that a turning point in the season.
“That was huge. It just boosted our confidence a bunch to come and win regionals.”
Nathan Grant led the WA offence against Hants North with 18 points while Braden McKay scored 13.
The regional championship was the culmination of a season of hard work and effort by every player, Coyotes’ head coach Nick Irvine said.
“Every practice we came out and worked hard. Since we worked hard everyone played. We accomplished this as a family.”
The Coyotes began the day with a 75-59 win over St. Andrews Jr. High.
DeCoste powered the Coyotes to the win with 27 points. Grant scored 18 with eight each from Fitt, Aaron MacLeod, and Aiden Pellerine.