ANNAPOLIS VALLEY - The Junior Axewomen girls’ basketball team came home proud this weekend with a U14 provincial division one championship title.
And the good news doesn’t stop there.
“We have a dedicated group of girls that have been throwing up hoops since they were five,” said Junior Axewomen Head Coach Fred Cumby. “Watching them develop with such skill and grit has been exciting for everyone involved in the program.”
The provincial win was a fitting end to an undefeated run in the regular season, but it came with an added bonus. As the winners of the Nova Scotia banner, the Jr. Axewomen will play provincial club champions from Newfoundland and PEI to win a spot in the first annual Jr. NBA World Championship Canada Regional Finals in St. Catherines, Ont. in June.
“Winning the Nova Scotia title is a significant achievement for a small, local club team,” Cumby said. “However, being provided the opportunity to continue and compete with other Atlantic provinces only makes it that much greater. There is a great opportunity to showcase some of the great basketball that is coming out of this region.”
In the weekend competition the girls squeaked through the semi-finals with a 48-47 win over the Colchester Tigers for a chance to face the Community YMCA Panthers in the finals. The Axewomen played to a packed gymnasium, and ended with a 45-34 victory over the Panthers.
“We had some exciting moments in those last two games, and you couldn’t help but feel the energy from the girls and the fans,” Cumby said.
Player of the Game awards went to Vanessa Vaughan, Brynna MacKenzie, Danielle Cumby, and Lauren Hainstock; Tournament All Star to Danielle Cumby; and Tournament Most Valuable Player to Lauren Hainstock.
“I think we all play hard as individuals, but we really come together and work well as a team, and that’s pretty cool,” said Hainstock.
The Junior Axewomen program draws from various communities in the Annapolis Valley, stretching from Hantsport to Coldbrook.
The upcoming competition to determine who represents the region at the Jr. NBA World Championship Canada Regional Finals is part of a larger international competition sponsored by the NBA. Sixteen U14 girls club teams from all over the world will eventually play in the Jr. NBA World Championship in Florida this August.
Leanr more about the Jr. NBA World Championship here: https://jrnbawc.nba.com/
