Horton boys win Tip-Off, girls lose in tournament final

BY JOHN DECOSTE

Kings County Register

Horton may not have the D-1 boys’ basketball team it had the past two championship seasons, but it was hard to tell from the Griffins’ performance at the season-opening Kendrick/ Smitty’s Tip-Off Tournament last weekend.

Horton went a perfect 3-0, running the team’s current winning streak to 67 consecutive games dating back to Dec. 29, 2006, defeating Sydney Academy, Auburn Drive and Lockview for the round-robin championship.

All three wins were relatively close: 66-58 over Sydney Academy, 84-81 over a strong Auburn Drive squad and 82-72 over Lockview. Twice in their three games, the Griffins had to come from behind to win.

Against Sydney Academy, Horton jumped out to a 23-14 lead after one quarter and extended it to 42-25 at halftime. The Cape Bretoners got back to within five at 51-46 with a 21-9 third quarter, but Horton righted the ship and ended up winning by eight.

Neal McGill led the Griffins with 19 points, and was the only Horton player to score in double figures (Jake Kendrick had nine points and Chris Babin and Stephen Traynor eight apiece).

November 16, Horton took on Auburn Drive, felt by many to be the top D-1 boys’ team in the province. Auburn took a 32-23 lead after one quarter, led 49-44 at halftime and 67-64 after three quarters before Horton came from behind to win with a 20-14 fourth quarter.

McGill with 23 and Keegan Fiske with 20 led both the Horton scoring and the Griffins’ comeback, combining for 15 of Horton’s 20 fourth-quarter points. Sage Tanner added 13 points, and Kendrick contributed nine on a trio of three-pointers.

In their third and final game, Horton again had to come from behind against Lockview, after trailing 20-14 after one quarter and 42-28 at halftime. The Griffins won the third quarter 23-15 and the fourth 30-15 to account for their 10-point bulge at the final buzzer.

McGill continued his inspired play with 27 points, all but five scored in the second half. Tanner chipped in 18, Kendrick 14 (including four more threes) and Fiske 12.

Girls miss in final

On the girls’ side of the tournament, Horton finished with a 2-1 record, scoring easy wins over Auburn Drive (89-56) and Saint John (77-46) before dropping a 77-69 decision to a talented Fredericton squad, which finished the tournament undefeated 3-0.

Against Auburn, the Griffins started slowly, but still led 20-15 after one quarter, a lead they extended to 36-27 at halftime. Horton led 63-48 after three quarters before pulling away with a 26-8 fourth quarter to win by 33.

Lindsay Harris led all scorers with 33 points, and Abbey Duinker and Kira Pederson adding 15 apiece.

In Horton’s win over Saint John, Duinker scored 23, Harris 20 and Pederson 11. Emily Smith had 14 to lead Saint John.

In the final game against Fredericton, Duinker had 29 points in a losing effort. Sarah MacDonald added 12 and Harris 11.