It was close early, but the Halifax Hornets and their depth would prevail, sending the second place team during the regular season on to Saturday’s semifinal.
Halifax stopped the Moncton Mystics, 85-67 on Friday in the first-ever playoff game for the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association.
All six teams are at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax in pursuit of the Legacy Cup.
The Hornets entered their quarter-final as heavy favourites, Halifax earned an 8-2 regular season record up against underdog Moncton which finished 2-8.
Halifax entered as the second seed from Nova Scotia while the Mystics were third seed from New Brunswick.
Moncton earned a reputation as battle flies and were close through two quarters before the Hornets found their groove and moved into the semifinals.
Halifax will face New Brunswick No. 1 seed Fredericton Freeze on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Fredericton and the Halifax Thunder earned byes to the semifinals based on finishing first in their respective provinces, but there was quite a difference in records. Thunder finished 10-0 and Fredericton was 4-6.
The other quarter-final Friday had Windsor Edge, the No. 3 Nova Scotia seed against New Brunswick No. 2 Port City Fog of Saint John.
The winner gets Thunder in Saturday’s 5 p.m. semifinal.
Moncton will face Windsor or Port City in Saturday’s consolation game at 3 p.m.
Sunday’s final is set for 3 p.m. Third place game is at 1 p.m.