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Nova Scotia defeats Ontario to play for gold

BY JOHN DECOSTE

NovaNewsNow.com

The Nova Scotia boys' basketball team will play for gold at the Canada Summer Games on P.E.I. after a thrilling 83-81 semi-final win over Ontario on Thursday afternoon.

The Tim Kendrick-coached Nova Scotia squad trailed 17-15 after one quarter and 36-34 at halftime, but outscored their opponents 23-18 in the third quarter to take a 57-54 lead.

Nova Scotia led 69-65 with five minutes remaining and held on for the two-point win.

Tyler Scott led Nova Scotia with 23 points. Rodell Wigginton added 16, D.J. Smith 14 and Harrison Brown 13. Chris Babin of Hantsport contributed five points and seven rebounds.

Nova Scotia had reached the semi-final round by winning both its round robin games, 82-54 over Alberta and 86-35 over the Yukon.

Nova Scotia then met Saskatchewan in the quarter-finals and survived a major scare before claiming a 91-77 victory.

Saskatchewan led 20-13 after one quarter and 46-35 at halftime, but Nova Scotia went on a 23-4 run to start the third quarter, which ended with N.S. ahead 70-55.

Nova Scotia will play the winner of the other semi-final between Quebec and B.C. in the gold medal match Saturday morning at 10 a.m.

Valley representation on the Nova Scotia team includes head coach Kendrick, assistants Marvin Rhyno and John Bustin and players Chris Babin and Thomas Baltzer of Aylesford.

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Nova Scotia survives scare to knock off Sask and advance

The Nova Scotia men’s basketball team is threatening to make a big noise at the Canada Games in Prince Edward Island.

Coach Tim Kendrick’s team trailed by as much as 16 points early and 11 at the half in their quarter-final game against Saskatchewan on Wednesday afternoon until withering full-court pressure triggered a 30-4 run in the third quarter on the way to a 91-77 win.

Nova Scotia, 3-0, will play in the semifinals today against Ontario and will play for gold or bronze after that.

"We had a good chat at half-time and our kids really came out and responded in the second half," said Kendrick. "We had great efforts from the whole team. To come back from that deficit at this level to make it to a semifinal is great for Nova Scotia basketball."

D.J. Smith had 23 points to lead the scoring attack. Tyler Scott had 21, Rodell Wigginton 19 and Mandrez Downey 17.

Scott had 10 rebounds.

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New Brunswick falls short to Ontario in quarter-finals

A wild three days of action on the hard court ended Wednesday for Team New Brunswick, which sported a 1-2 record that included a 78-61 setback to Ontario in quarter-final action at the Canada Games men's basketball competition.

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Stefan Bielecki of Team New Brunswick goes hard to the basket against Ontario. Scott Anderson of Woodstock drives to the basket during a 78-61 loss to Ontario in the men’s basketball quarter-final Wednesday. Premier Shawn Graham had lots to cheer about Wednesday when he took in a 82-75 win by the N.B. women’s hoops team over Saskatchewan. The loss relegates New Brunswick into the consolation round, where they will play for fifth to eight spots, looking to improve on its sixth place showing in Regina in 2005.

Wednesday, Alex Robichaud of Bathurst and Stefan Bielecki of Fredericton each scored 11 points for New Brunswick while Jeff O'Donnell and Nathan Mazurkiewicz connected for eight each and Sean deWinter of Sussex and Etienne Hache of Fredericton scored seven each.

During the week, the squad turned more than few heads.

It started with a heartbreaking loss to British Columbia Monday when the western province eked out a 68-66 triumph.

In that game, the score was deadlocked at 55-55 in the fourth quarter and New Brunswick had a long shot to win it at the buzzer that fell short.

"We would have really liked to win that game because we would have played Manitoba in quarter-final," said Adam Spurrell of Quispamsis.

"Our coaching staff seems to be impressed with how we are playing. It is probably the best ball we have played all summer."

New Brunswick hit all gears offensively Tuesday by scoring 97 points against Newfoundland and Labrador.

Wednesday, they traded the lead several ties with Ontario in the early going but had trouble containing Justin Shaver, a six-foot-four power forward from Ottawa who hit seven of 11 shots from the field and then converted 10 of 13 free throws for 24 points.

Ontario, which will play Nova Scotia in today's semifinal, led 20-14 after the first quarter, 46-28 at the half and 64-42 after three quarters.

New Brunswick meets Saskatchewan today at 11:15 a.m. A win there puts them into the fifth-place game while a loss will see them play for seventh and eighth place.

The two teams met in exhibition action earlier this month in Moncton and New Brunswick came away with an eight-point victory.

"They look like a different team now," Spurrell said. "We saw them against Nova Scotia and they look like they have improved a lot so we will have to look over the tape we have on them."

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Nova Scotia shocks Alberta on the Canada Games hardcourt

Nova Scotia’s men’s basketball team stunned Alberta 82-54 at the Canada Games in Summerside, P.E.I., yesterday. Dartmouth’s Rodell Wigginton, the younger brother of Halifax Rainmen alumnus Derico Wigginton, dropped a team-high 16 points as Nova Scotia jumped out to a 48-24 halftime lead at Credit Union Place and didn’t look back. Point guard Marquis Clayton of Halifax had 16 points of his own in Nova Scotia’s opener at the Games.

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Island basketball team loses game, wins respect
SCOTT MACDONALD
Special to Transcontinental Media

SUMMERSIDE — P.E.I. came out of the gate with something to prove in Tuesday’s match with Manitoba in men’s basketball, and gave the western team all it could handle.
They also won the respect of the Manitoba despite losing 80-66.
“I give them all the credit in the world,” said Manitoba coach Kirby Schepp. “They came out fired up and hit their first few hoops and it gave them a ton of confidence. Even when we were pulling away, they never quit, they kept bringing it back and kept playing.”
The Islanders broke out to a 13-2 opening run to start the game, highlighted by an Aaron Robbins steal and breakaway dunk.
An energetic crowd spurred the home team on, as the P.E.I. players fed off their enthusiasm.
P.E.I. sealed the middle off, and forced Manitoba into taking some poor outside shots, taking away any type of offensive rhythm.
Manitoba finished the first quarter up 20-15, after Marco Milosevic hit a deep three-pointer at the buzzer.
The second quarter saw the Island continue to be the more physical team and was able to control the game tempo.
Midway through the quarter, P.E.I. starters Kevin McLeod and Robbins both picked up three fouls and were forced to sit for the remainder of the half.
Manitoba slowly chipped away at the Island lead, until they pulled ahead and were up 39-31 at the half.
Every time Manitoba looked they were going to pull away, P.E.I. made a run to cut the lead back into single digits and were down just nine points with over a minute to play.
The team was forced to foul to try and pull out the win but Manitoba made some clutch free throws over the final 50 seconds.
P.E.I. coach Jared Cheverie was happy with his team’s performance.
“Our guys played hard, and all of us couldn’t be happier for the effort they showed tonight,” said Cheverie.
Robbins had a team-high 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Andrew Smith and Jacob Simmons both had 10 points while McLeod added nine.
Manitoba was led by Milosevic with 27 points and Keith Omoerah with 15.
P.E.I. (0-2) falls out of the medal round with the loss and moves into the relegation pool where it will play Yukon today at 11:15 a.m.