AMHERST, N.S. – Three-point shooting helped lead the Amherst Regional High School Vikings Senior Girls basketball team to a 63-55 win in the championship game over the West Kings Wolverines at the Tantramar Winter Classic Tournament on Jan. 12 at ARHS.
“The kids made some big shots down the stretch,” said Vikings coach Charlie Chambers. “The first quarter we must have been 0 for 13 for three’s, then all of a sudden we started making some.”
Emma Mattinson started the three-point shooting spree by draining four in the second quarter, and adding one in the third quarter.
Keira Dyck scored five of her own in the second half, two in the second quarter and three in the fourth, and Olivia Scott added two three pointers in the third quarter.
“We did really well at getting the ball inside and then kicking it out for the shot,” said Ceilidh Bennett, the only Grade 12 student on the Vikings.
In the championship game, Mattinson led the Vikings with 22 points, followed by Dyck with 15, Lauren Furlong with 10, Scott with eight, Kelsey Boudreau with five, and Bennett with three.
Chambers said the team played good defence as well.
“I thought we had some really good defensive runs but our defence is something we need to improve on.”
Bennett said the tournament win is a good sign for the rest of the season.
“We’ve come a long way since the beginning of the season,” said Bennett. “We’re a young team. A lot of our players are rookies and it’s not showing that much anymore.”
Chambers says the crowd support was great.
“The cheering from the stands was incredible. The community support was fantastic,” said Chambers. “And the sponsors have been fantastic as well.”
Amherst vs. Middleton
The Vikings started the tournament on Jan. 11, with a 59-46 win over the Middleton Monarchs.
Furlong led the Vikings with 17 points, Mattinson scored 12, Dyck 10, and Bennett and Serah Quinn added six each. Fletcher, Scott, Danaka Hussey and Julia Crawford added two points each.
Amherst vs. North Kings
They won their second game of the tournament, also on Jan. 11, with a 55-39 win over the North Kings Titans.
Dyck scored 18 points, Bennett and Mattinson scored 10 each, and Furlong scored eight.
Scott, Boudreau, Kennedy Hyatt and Victoria Fletcher added two points each, and Rebecca Fromm scored one point.
