Horton Spring League playoffs start Tuesday

BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

The 2008 champion of the Horton Spring Basketball League will be crowned Thursday and if the regular season standings are an indication, any of the league’s four teams could walk away with the top prize.

A&W, which overcame a slow start to roar down the stretch and claim top spot in the final week of the regular season, is probably the favourite, but winning isn’t likely to be easy.

A&W will take on in semi-final action Tuesday a Skeeter’s Pet World squad that, despite finishing fourth in the standings with a 5-10 record, scored an upset victory over Archie’s Welding in their regular season finale.

Meanwhile, Archie’s Welding, losers of their final two regular season games to finish second at 9-6, will take on Apple Auto Glass, a team better than its 6-9 record.

On the final evening of the regular season, Skeeter’s Pet World surprised Archie’s Welding 72-68, and A&W topped Apple Auto Glass 108-90 in a high-scoring contest.

Josh McGill led Skeeter’s to their win with 32 points. Daniel Dienes had 13 and Mark Clark 12. Stephen Traynor had 22 and Wayne Oickle 18 for Archie’s, which played without two of its top players, Brandon MacInnis and Kenny Duncan.

Joe Kendrick, the HSBL scoring champion, had 25 points to lead A&W to victory. Jason Clark added 21 and Thomas Baltzer and Neal McGill 18 apiece. Keegan Fiske had 25 points for Apple Auto, with Dennis Humphries and Sage Tanner contributing 18 each.

In action Tuesday, May 27, A&W moved into a first-place tie with a 77-62 win over Skeeter’s Pet World while Archie’s Welding lost 110-83 to Apple Auto Glass.

Joe Kendrick led the way with 26 points for A&W and Jake Kendrick chipped in 11. Dienes had 15 points and Josh McGill 13 in a losing effort for Skeeter’s.

In the other game, Dennis Humphries had 34 points, Sage Tanner 31 and Pat Riley 17 for Apple Auto while Traynor had 26 and Brandon MacInnis 20 for Archie’s.

Entering play May 27, Joe Kendrick led the league in scoring with 27 points per game (and pretty much matched his season average in his final two games).

Brandon MacInnis was second at 20.7, Neal McGill and Kenny Duncan had scored 19.8 each per game, and Stephen Traynor and Mick Tanner of Skeeter’s were tied at 17.9.

Daniel Dienes had hauled down an average of 15.7 rebounds per game to lead the league. Sage Tanner was averaging a league-high 5.5 assists per game and Joe Kendrick was tops in steals with 2.6 per game.