Horton boys undefeated heading into MAC championship

BY JOHN DECOSTE

Kings County Register

The Horton boys’ basketball team heads into this weekend’s Mainland Athletic Conference (MAC) championship on a roll.

Horton improved to a perfect 14-0 in MAC play this season with three wins last weekend on the road, 98-57 over North Nova and 107-47 against Northumberland in Pictou County and 71-62 over CEC in Truro.

Josh Thomas led a balanced Horton attack against North Nova with 17 points, Lorenzo Parker added 16 Chris Babin and Jake Kendrick 13 each and Keigan McGill 11. Horton led 54-28 at halftime.

Against Northumberland, and playing without leading scorer Jake Kendrick, Horton led 53-19 at halftime and cruised to victory. Alex Thomas led the way with 21 points, Parker added 17, Connor Stewart 16, Adam Melanson 14, Josh Thomas and David Hutchinson 13 and Babin 12.

The Griffins then wrapped up their MAC schedule with a 71-62 win over CEC. Horton led 32-26 at halftime. Babin with 15, Parker with 13, Josh Thomas with 12 and Stephen Traynor with 11 all reached double figures for Horton, which improved its record to 31-8 overall. Emad Khalek and Brandon MacKay each had 20 for CEC.

This weekend’s MAC championship is an eight-team affair, with Horton ranked first, followed by CEC, Park View, Yarmouth, Dr. J.H. Gillis, North Nova, Avon View and Northumberland.

Play gets underway at 10 a.m. Friday at Horton, with Horton meeting Northumberland, followed by Yarmouth and J.H. Gillis at noon, CEC and Avon View at 2 p.m. and Park View against North Nova at 4 p.m.

The semifinals will go at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., with Horton likely to play at 6 p.m. against the winner of Yarmouth and Dr. Gillis. The consolation round games will take place at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. at Avon View.

February 13, the seventh place game goes at 9 a.m., the fifth place game at 11 a.m., the third place game at 1 p.m. and the conference championship at 3 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Horton girls hosted Avon View, Halifax West and C.P. Allen in their Boston Pizza tournament Feb. 5 and 6 at Horton.

After C.P. Allen defeated Avon View 62-38 in the opener, Horton took on Halifax West bent on revenge for a defeat at the hands of the Warriors during the previous week. Horton led 14-7 after one quarter, 25-22 at halftime and 37-28 after three quarters, but had to hold on for a 52-51 win. Kira Pederson, Kelsey Young and Kayla Davis all had eight points for Horton offense, while Danielle Broome, Candace Smith and Sarah MacDonald had seven apiece. Acadia recruit Kristy Moore led all scorers with 21 for Halifax West.

Halifax West defeated Avon View 64-39 for third place (Moore had 36 for Halifax West, and Breagh Newcombe 16 to lead Avon View), then Horton took on C.P. Allen in the final. The Griffins led 14-12 after one quarter, 31-23 at halftime and 46-34 after three quarters en route to a 63-46 win. Pederson had 20 points to lead all scorers, and MacDonald added 13 points.

The Horton girls, who improved to 27-10 with the results, are at a tournament this weekend at Dr. J.H. Gillis in Antigonish, their final tune-up prior to hosting the regional final next weekend.