U15/U17 Boys National Championship - Day 6 review

Team Nova Scotia was not going to be denied its destiny Saturday night at Saint Mary’s.

Led by an astonishing 50-point performance by Nate Darling, Nova Scotia knocked off a powerhouse Ontario team 116-109 in overtime in the gold medal game of the Canadian Under-17 Boys’ Basketball Championship.

Right from the opening tip-off, Nova Scotia showed it would not be intimidated by a province that outnumbers it 13.6 million people to 950,000. The hosts took the game to Ontario just as much as the other way around and neither team ever built a lead bigger than single digits.

Nova Scotia clinched the win with an emotionally charged 9-1 run in the middle of the five-minute extra period that overwhelmed the Upper Canadians.

Alex Carson made several clutch three-pointers on his way to a 28-point performance and Andrew Milner had 12 points. But the star of the night was Darling, who scored 43 per cent of Nova Scotia’s points in a tour de force showing that had the capacity crowd chanting “MVP” during the medal ceremonies.

Darling also had 14 rebounds, six assists and three steals.

R.J. Barrett led Ontario with 30 points, Grant Adu scored 27 and Jordan Lyons grabbed 13 rebounds. But even with a considerable size advantage down low and numerous high-flying offensive threats, Ontario could not match Nova Scotia’s intensity on defence and in the paint. Unsung players like Rowan Power and Tristan Hyde were difference-makers on the boards and in loose ball battles. Hyde had 11 rebounds and 10 points and Power had seven points and seven rebounds.

That determined attitude in the dirty areas and the swagger provided by Darling seemed to negate the intimidation factor for Ontario. The powerhouse from Central Canada won every tournament game by at least 13 points leading up to the final, including a 98-76 victory over Nova Scotia on opening day.

That provincial pride extended through the packed bleachers at SMU’s Homburg Centre where the decidedly pro-Nova Scotia crowd made its presence felt all game.

Quebec 76, British Columbia 73: Christopher Lafrance had 16 points and five rebounds to help Quebec win the bronze medal.

In the under-15 tournament, Ontario defeated Quebec 67-61 for gold.

Noah Wharton was the top scorer with 16 points and Milan Ruknic, Emanuel Miller and Eric Beckettt each had eight rebounds. Quebec’s Damon Squire led all scorers with 22 points.

New Brunswick 71, Saskatchewan 59: Daemen Hemphill scored 19 points to give the Maritime province a bronze medal.