The Fredericton Freeze has two scenarios awaiting Sunday.
Win, stay home for the playoffs. Lose, hit the road.
The Freeze want to stay at home, thanks.
The 10-game Maritime Women’s Basketball Association regular season will come to a close on Father’s Day and the Freeze will be on home court, hosting Miramichi Her-Icanes.
Game time is 1 p.m. at the Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium and the Freeze is hoping to receive some loud support from its loyal fans.
The math is simple.
If Fredericton produces a victory and finishes the regular season with a 6-4 record, it will stay home Tuesday night for a sudden-death playoff game for the right to advance to the Pro*Line Stadium Legacy Cup championship June 22 to 23 at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Should Miramichi collect a win, that would mean the Her-Icanes, Freeze and Port City Fog would all finish New Brunswick standings with identical 5-5 records. The Freeze would lose the tie-breaker system due to a 1-3 overall record against Miramichi and Port City in the league’s unbalanced schedule.
‘We know the math going into our game and we know we are a difficult team to play against anywhere, let alone at home,’ said Freeze head coach, Kevin Daley. ‘Our players know how important this game is on so many levels. We expect both teams to come out with their best efforts.’
Fredericton is 3-1 at home this season. The Freeze lost its only game against Miramichi on the road, falling 77-72 back on May 5, a game that saw the Her-Icanes take a 25-10 lead after one quarter.
This was all set up Saturday night by Miramichi’s convincing, 84-59 win over the Fog.
A Fredericton win keeps it home Tuesday to face Moncton while Miramichi would visit Port City.
Tickets for Sunday’s game are $7 adults and $5 for seniors and students. Children 14 and under are admitted free.
The tickets are available at the door with cash or debit.
There will be Royale Kitten posters handed out to fans to support one of the MWBA’s founding partners, Royale Tissue. Medavie is the league’s other founding partner.
Should the Freeze prevail Sunday, it will host Moncton Mystics on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the LB Gym. A loss sends Fredericton to Saint John to play the Fog on Tuesday night.
In Nova Scotia, Halifax Thunder will look to go 10-0 and keep an incredible streak of 30-for-30 regular season wins going since the MWBA formed in 2022. Thunder visits city rival Halifax Hornets Sunday at 3 p.m. at Mount St. Vincent University.
Hornets enter at 1-8.
The teams will meet again Tuesday in the Nova Scotia sudden-death playoff. The winner automatically advances to the Pro*Line Stadium title weekend.
The loser will face Nova Scotia second seed Lake City 56ers on Thursday to decide the final team.