A hero’s send off
Acadia fans show their gratitude for Port Williams star Haley McDonald during final home game
jason.malloy @saltwire.com @JasonMa47772994
Haley McDonald gave Acadia Axewomen basketball fans plenty of reasons to stand up and cheer during a prolific five-year career playing for her hometown team.
They returned the favour Feb. 11 by standing and cheering the Acadia legend’s name one last time as she was recognized after playing her final home game at Stu Aberdeen Court in Wolfville.
“It’s very overwhelming, especially to see the support that the community has for me,” the Port Williams native said in a post-game interview. “I don’t really think I will truly understand the impact that I’ve made for quite some time.”
The impact started immediately as the Horton graduate forced overtime in her first home game by hitting a trey at the buzzer “that was pretty damn near from Noggins farm,” head coach Len Harvey said. It has included hundreds of thousands of shots, two Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championships and rewriting the Acadia Axewomen record book. She passed Lindsay LaMorre as the team’s all-time assist leader on Feb. 11 and had already earned top spot for most points (1,800), field goals (620), free throws (342) and three-pointers (218).
“She loves the game in a pure way that’s really hard to find,” Harvey said. “She wears the fact that she’s from a small school in the small town she grew up in like a badge of honour. She could have gone anywhere else to play this season. (But) her heart led her back to Acadia, of course, to pursue a national championship here at home in front of all of you.”
McDonald and her Axewomen teammates took care of business on the court in the final home game with a 90-67 win over the St. F.X. XWomen.
McDonald led the way with 32 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals. She ended her home career with a layup with 23 seconds left.
“I knew the sub was coming, so that was kind of a moment I have been dreading for a while because that is my favourite place in the world,” she said. “There’s no place like the Stu.”
Fans gave her a hero’s send off as she exited the game. She went to centre court one last time, knelt and touched the A before heading to the bench.
“That was kind of my thanks to the crowd, to people who have supported me for so long,” McDonald said, noting “there’s a lot of people in that gym that came to my first game.”
Others have attended many contests over the years while some hadn’t saw her play since Grade 8.
“I don’t think anyone in that gym, other than myself and maybe Len, … truly understands what it’s like to be on that floor and to feel that way and to have that support,” McDonald said, her voice full of emotion as a tear slowly rolled down her left cheek. “It is something that I will deeply miss and something I don’t think I’ll experience again in my life.”
CLUTCH
The game was close early on
before McDonald did what she so often has done during her university career – find a way to spur a run and help the Axewomen pull away en route to victory.
With the Axewomen trailing 13-11 with 3:28 left in the first quarter, McDonald hit a trey, stole the ball and set up Samantha Russell for a layup. She then drew an offensive foul on the defensive end and hit another trey to put Acadia up 20-13 with 2:49 left in the quarter – a lead they would not relinquish.
While McDonald will go down as an all-time Axewomen great, she is more concerned with titles than individual records.
She is driven by team success and appreciates being celebrated
as a person as opposed to a player.
“When my teammates talk about me and my friends talk about me, I don’t want them to say I am a great shooter. I want them to say I am a great person,” the 25-year-old daughter of Chris and Scott McDonald said. “I hope I’ve had that impact on them.”
UP NEXT
Acadia finishes the regular season with road games at St. F.X. on Feb. 14 and UNB on Feb. 18.
“This is a great night, and I am definitely going to soak it in, but there’s still work to be done,” McDonald said Feb. 11. “We have our eyes set on an AUS championship and we
have our eyes set on a national championship.”
The Subway AUS basketball championships will take place at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax from Feb. 24-26. Acadia (14-3) has clinched first place and a first-round bye. Cape Breton is hosting the U Sports national women’s championship March 9-12.