A&W comes out on top in Horton Spring League basketball final

By Fred Sgambati

fsgambati@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

A&W rode a strong first half and put together a powerhouse finish to down Archie’s Welding 104-86 and nab this year’s Horton Spring Basketball League championship Thursday night in Greenwich.

The A&W squad had an outstanding performance from Joe Kendrick, who poured in a game-high 34 points on the night - 21 in the second half - to pace the crew to the title.

Neal McGill offered 20 points in support. Jake Kendrick with 17 and Thomas Baltzer (14) also hit double figures for the winners. Other A&W scorers were Dylan Levy with seven, David Hutchinson with five, and Adam Melanson with four points. Wesley Booth chipped in three in the first half.

Brandon MacInnis led the attack for Archie’s, notching 23 on the night, including 17 in the second half. Stephen Traynor netted 22 points, Kenny Duncan had 17 and Wayne Oickle with 14 all hit double-digits. Travis Pearson had eight and Jalen Sabean two to round out Archie’s scoring.

The game was relatively close at 43-36 by halftime, but Joe Kendrick nailed three consecutive treys down the stretch to pace the A&W attack and provide a comfortable margin of victory.

In the semis

A&W had little trouble reaching the final, dumping Skeeters Pet World 112-89 in the first semi-final, played Tuesday, June 3 at Horton.

McGill had the hot hand for A&W that night, leading all scorers with 25 points. Joe Kendrick had 21, followed by Jake Kendrick (14), Jason Clark (12), Baltzer (11), Melanson (10), Booth and Hutchinson (seven each), and Levy, with five.

Top pointgetter for Skeeters was Weston Gerrits, who finished with 22. Mark Clarke had 18, Dimitri Galattis 15, Josh McGill and Daniel Dienes 12 each, with Connor Stewart adding six and Luke Wiseman four to round out their scoring.

In the other semi Tuesday night, Archie’s defeated Apple Auto Glass 95-56 to punch their ticket to the championship tilt.

MacInnis led all scorers with 27 points, but had ample support from Oickle, who poured in 18 and Garrett Bangsboil with 17. Other scorers for Archie’s included Kenny Duncan (9), Garner Hill (8), Traynor (8) and Pearson (2).

Sage Tanner led the way for Apple Auto with 18. Keegan Fiske added 13, followed by Dennis Humphries (7), Chris Babin and Reileigh MacInnis (six each). Connor Simmons, Josh Thomas and Matt Riley each collected two points on the night.

All-stars named also

The league also named its all-stars last week, including: Traynor, Archie’s Welding (fourth in scoring and fourth in assists); Tanner, Apple Auto Glass (sixth in scoring, first in assists with 5.4 per game); Neal McGill, A&W (third in scoring, third in assists and second in steals); Brandon MacInnis, Archie’s Welding (second in scoring, second in rebounding).

Joe Kendrick was league MVP. He was first in scoring with a 26.8 points-per-game average, first in steals (2.7 per game), second in assists and fifth in rebounding.

Top rebounder went to Daniel Dienes, who set a new league record with 15.9 rebounds per game, and Adam Melanson earned the Student Rookie Award. He played in all 15 league games, was 10th in rebounding and had a 6.4 points-per-game average.