Another winning weekend for Griffins

BY JOHN DECOSTE

The Advertiser

NovaNewsNow.com

The Horton Griffins D-1 boys’ basketball team continues to roll along.

The Griffins remained undefeated in Western Region and Mainland Athletic Conference (MAC) play after sweeping a trio of weekend games Jan. 4-5.

Horton, which had won 47 consecutive games (dating back to Dec. 29, 2006) entering play that weekend, defeated CEC 99-46 and Northumberland 109-49 before topping Yarmouth 99-56 in a game that counted in MAC and regional standings.

Head coach Tim Kendrick said it was the best his entire team had played all season, especially considering Horton was without co-captain and top scorer Ellis Ffrench for all three games.

Against CEC, Horton took a 36-8 lead after one quarter and led 61-24 at halftime,

once again allowing the younger Griffins plenty of valuable playing time.

The Horton starters took the floor again (briefly) to begin the second half, but soon returned to the best seats in the house, where they would spend the bulk of the weekend.

Pat Riley had 22 points and Jeremy Dunn 20 in limited action. Keegan Fiske and Stephen Traynor added 12 points and Sage Tanner 10. Sean Upshaw had 11 points and Tim Crouse 10 for CEC.

Against Northumberland, Neal McGill topped six Horton players in double figures with 20 points as the Griffins led 33-14 after one quarter and 64-27 at halftime.

Dunn with 19, Pat Riley with 18, Jake Kendrick with 16, Tanner with 11 and Fiske with 10 all managed double-figure performances. Dylan MacDonald with 14 and Liam Walsh with 13 scored in double figures for Northumberland.

Five reach double figures

As was also the case when Yarmouth visited Horton for a MAC weekend before Christmas, the Griffins and Vikings then took the opportunity to complete their regional schedule obligations and save Horton some travel.

While the score was a bit closer than in Horton’s first two games of the weekend, the Griffins still won by 43 points and all 10 Horton players scored at least two points, with five reaching double figures led by Dunn’s 22.

McGill and Traynor finished with 14 points apiece and Fiske and Pat Riley 12 each. Tanner, Jake Kendrick and Chris Babin had seven points, and Matt Riley and Connor Stewart two points each.

Caleb Jarvis had 24 points for Yarmouth to lead all scorers and Ben DeViller added 12.

This past weekend, the Griffins faced what coach Kendrick termed their toughest test of the season so far when they traveled to Saint John for the Irving Riverboat Classic.

Horton was scheduled to play Woodstock and Fredericton in a tournament that also included teams from Calais, ME and Montreal. Three teams in the field – Horton, Woodstock and Calais – all entered the tournament undefeated this season.