Horton High – 2016 Nova Scotia Basketball Provincial Champions
This past week the NSSAF Div boy’s Basketball Championships took place at Horton High School and the home team prevailed.
The story of the weekend up to the final outcome was the upset minded #7 Sackville Kingfishers. After limping into to the provincial tournament as the last entry they pulled off an upset over #2 CP Allen Cheetahs and then the #3 seed Halifax Grammar Gryphons.
The host Griffins posted a one sided victory over Memorial High School and then manged a double digit win over defending provincial champions, the Auburn Drive Eagles.
The championship game pitted Alex Carson (Sackville, Dalhousie commit) and Gage Sabean (Horton, U of Ottawa commit) in a head to head battle. Sabean had an off shooting night but locked down defensively and made Carson work for his. As Sabean showed his maturity and allowed the ball to flow to his very talented teammates, Horton’s depth controlled the game. Guard Keevan Veinot (2017) started out very hot and got the Griffin’s going but it was Matt Ingham’s (Acadia commit) hot shooting that allowed the Griffins to take control in the second half. Also key for the Griffin’s was Noah MacPerson (2017) who seemed to snag the few missed shots for offensive put backs and extra possessions.
Carson made miraculous shot after miraculous shot but Sackvile who never made a single sub in three games just couldn’t compete with Horton’s depth. The Griffins took the game 84-75.
TOP 10 PLAYERS
Alex Carson 6-6 Guard/Forward, 2016. Comitted to Dalhousie University. Highly efficient shooter who can create shots in any area of the floor. Great range that extends to 30 ft.
Gage Sabean 6-6 Guard, 2016. Committed to University of Ottawa. Very good athlete with a feathery shooting range from basically anywhere over half.
Keevan Veinot 6-5 Guard, Horton 2017. Excellent ball handler who and who plays well in the mid range and beyond the arc off the bounce or as a catch and shoot..
Alex Muise 6-2 Guard, CP Allen 2017. Has solid handle and can create off the bounce but is more effective at catch and shoot at this point. Smaller version of Alex Carson.
Chase Tynes 6-4 Guard/Forward, Auburn Drive 2017. Very good athlete who gets to and finishes in the paint. Elite level defender who enjoys the process of shutting players down.
Vernelle Johnson 6-6 Forward, Halifax Grammar 2017. Strong body with soft hands who really goes to work in the paint.
Jacob Sheffar 5-9 Guard, Sackville High 2016. Scoring guard who handles it with impressive body control to attack the rim, knocks down the three to compliment his handle and draw the D out.
Tristan Hyde 6-5 Forward, CP Allen 2016. Committed to Saint Mary’s). Good athlete who has solid footwork in the paint. Relentless rebounder who really attacks the O boards.
Demeric Mercer 5-9 Guard, Halifax Grammar 2018. Outstanding ball handler and a very strong body with great quickness and deception. Plays beyond his years.
Matt Ingham 6-2 Forward, Horton 2016. Committed to Acadia. An excellent shoot and reads the game well to slide into spots and make shots. Makes shots off the bounce when forced off shooting spots.
The top ten are listed but there were a number of excellent players and the underclassmen will be especially fun to watch grow and develop over the next few years.
Isaac Clark (Horton) and Janhnian Simmonds (Sackville) who are class of 2019 played huge roles for their teams. Hope to see these and the other high talent players from this weekend and throughout the 2015/16 season at the East Coast Showcase March 25-28, Saint Mary’s University.
