Axemen win Rural tournament
MacDougall, Caron presented with awards
It was an undefeated weekend for the Three Oaks Axemen. The Summerside high school went 4-0 (won-lost) en route to capturing the senior AAA boys’ championship at the Charlottetown Rural Confederation City Classic basketball tournament on Saturday afternoon.
“It was a pretty good weekend,” said Axemen point guard Sahib Singh of Summerside. “We beat a lot of good teams, and we showed that even though we are a young squad – we only have one or two seniors – we can still play with anybody.”
It marked the second consecutive undefeated tournament for the Faro Halupa-coached Axemen, who went 3-0 in winning the 2018 Vikings Christmas Classic in Amherst, N.S., last month.
After posting round-robin wins of 71-55 against Amherst in a rematch of the Vikings Christmas Classic final and 94-68 over Riverview, N.B., the Axemen then defeated Riverview from Cape Breton 78-66 in the semifinals to set up a matchup with Cobequid Education Centre (CEC) from Truro, N.S. CEC defeated Miramichi 85-50 in the other semifinal.
Caron leads way
Tournament all-star Justin Caron poured in 18 points in the final to lead the Axemen to a 95-84 victory. Vlersim Musliu scored 16 points while Singh and tournament most-valuable-player Ben MacDougall each sank 14 points.
“We played really well,” said MacDougall, a small forward from Summerside. “The last game we really shot well and came together.”
Singh and MacDougall, both Grade 11 students, noted the Axemen’s defensive play was a key factor in the final.
“The defensive intensity really came through, and the shooting was a lot better than it was all weekend,” added MacDougall. Singh added, “We were running and pushing the pace.” Ethan Dahr (26) and Daryen Reddick (25) were the top pointgetters for CEC.
The Axemen resume play in the P.E.I. School Athletic Association Senior AAA Boys Basketball League on the road against Charlottetown Rural Team One on Jan. 9 at 7:15 p.m. Three Oaks is 3-0 in league play.