The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Dartmouth drops Grammar in final
The Capital Region boys' basketball championship lived up to its billing on Wednesday night.
The latest clash between the Dartmouth Spartans and the Halifax Grammar School Gryphons closed out the truncated high school hoops season with the host Spartans winning 97-90 in a highenergized, highly entertaining final between the top two teams in metro.
“It's a big rivalry,” said Grade 12 point guard Romey Smith. “It's like the Lakers and Celtics of the NSSAF and it was us all three years. Any rivalry you can think of, this is the rivalry. Every championship there was for the last three years, it was us versus them.”
In their third consecutive matchup in the metro championship, the Spartans captured their second Capital Region banner in three years, seizing the title from the defending champion Gryphons.
Although Dartmouth —
NSSAF champions in 2019 and '20 — won't get an opportunity for a provincial three-peat, the elation was not muted Wednesday as the Spartans spilled onto centre court after the final buzzer and danced and celebrated.
“This means so much to me in my Grade 12 year,” said Smith, who finished with 20 points.
“Even without the fans, this means a lot. When the buzzer rang and I saw all of my guys jumping in the air, that was the best feeling right there.”
Kyree Thompson topped all scorers with 28 points for the Spartans while Naijaun David added 24.
Olin Bailly paced the Gryphons with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The teams were in for a tightly-contested, fast-paced battle from the onset. Neither team led by more than six through three quarters. Dartmouth held leads of 26-24 after the first quarter, 56-53 at halftime and was ahead 76-72 heading into the final frame.
But the quicker Spartans squad found another gear in the fourth and eventually pulled away. Smith said the game plan was to “keep the tempo.”
“We knew if we played our game, kept pushing the ball and their bench got tired by the fourth quarter, they wouldn't keep up with us,” Smith said.
“As soon as they scored, we were up and out, up the floor and kept their bigs on their heels so they couldn't sit on us as we drove. It opened up our shooting game.”
The Spartans boys join their female counterparts in the winner's circle. On Tuesday, Dartmouth defeated the Citadel Phoenix 71-51 to claim its third straight Capital Region girls' championship.
“Our girls and us, all three years (we) have dominated,” Smith said.
“We've been winning all three years. It's a dynasty. For the girls and boys, it's win, win, win, win. You go in winning and come out winning, no matter what. We could play 4-on-5 and we're going to win.”