Stingrays are championship bound

St. Mary’s Bay Academy Stingrays are heading to the provincial championships in Kennetcook this week after blowing away the competition over the weekend to win their qualifying championship.

SMBA finished second against Shelburne in Regional play but had a second chance at Provincials by hosting a qualifying tournament.

The Stingrays were slow off the mark Friday afternoon, allowing the Knights from Annapolis West Education Centre to keep pace with them in the first half of the opening match.

“The boys didn’t have their head in the game.” said coach Derrick Jackson. “They let Annapolis control the play and gain the momentum but the boys pulled up their socks and got the job done in the second half.”

Annapolis led 38-36 at the half, but the next 20 minutes were all SMBA as they outplayed the Knights 61-23 to win the match 98-61.

Six Stingray players reached double digits. Dalton Amero led SMBA with 19 points. Brian Johns had 15, Patrick Johns and Nick Glavin added 13 each and John Ward and Robbie Peters had 10 each.

Joey Hudson led the Knights with 20 and Noah Steeken chipped in 16.

Springhill Eagles edged Oxford Golden Bears 57-55 in a tight second game. Mitch McBurnie led all scorers with 23 for the Eagles win and Bryan Margenson had 14 for the Golden Bears.

SMBA took on Springhill Saturday morning and cruised to a 76-48 win. Patrick Johns led the Stingrays with 18, Dalton Amero had 16 and Brian Johns added 11.

Jacob Surrette and Jon Casey had 10 each for the Eagles.

This second win gave the Stingrays the qualifying championship.

Co-coach Craig Glavin felt the Stingrays played their best full game of the season.

“The boys played a full 40 minutes of basketball against Springhill and there were no quarter lapses like the night before,” said Glavin. “We hope the boys play this style of game at Provincials this weekend. It will be no cake walk there as the team will have their work cut out for them.”

AWEC and Oxford played the noon game that saw a 40-31 half time lead for the Knights dwindle to five points by the end of the third quarter.

Oxford shut down the Knights offence in the final frame and squeezed out a 73-71 win with a final chance to qualify.

Brian Margenson had 24 points for the Golden Bears and Chad McNutt added 11. AWEC’s Joey Hudson had 27 points including four three-pointers while Danny Lowe chipped in 13.

Springhill and Oxford met once again in the closest game of the tournament for the final qualifying spot. The Eagles were up 40-30 after three quarters of play but Oxford came out with a vengeance and Jeremy Black’s trio of three-pointers helped Oxford close the gap to two points with seconds to go. A bucket and foul shot put Oxford up by one and they denied Springhill the game with a 58-57 win.

Brian Margenson scored 19 and Jeremy Black poured in 16 for Oxford.

Jon Casey had 18 and Jacob Surrette added 15 for the Eagles.

“It was an exciting tournament,” said Jackson. “Any of the other three teams could have advanced as the games were too close to call.”

“Oxford played hard this weekend and each player gave 100 per cent. The opportunity for them to advance to Provincials was well deserved.”

Division 3 Provincials will be hosted by Hants North in Kennetcook beginning Thursday.