Courtney Donaldson is off to a remarkably hot start, sending notice across the Maritime Women’s basketball Association she is an offensive force to be reckoned with.
Already armed with one Royale Player of the Week award, the key performer with Dartmouth/Cole Harbour’s Lake City 56ers, Donaldson is also creeping closer to a major MWBA milestone.
She enters Week III on Thursday night – in a game against Halifax Thunder – sitting third all-time in MWBA scoring with 368 career points.
All-time statistical data has been compiled by Nova Scotia broadcaster, Allan April.
‘It’s fantastic to have Allan recording so much MWBA history and we offer him a huge shutout for that commitment and dedication,’ said league president, Jen McKenzie, of Dartmouth, NS. ‘It’s great to look over the lists of players who have built pathways for our women and many of them are still performing at outstanding levels.’
Two players in front of her, both former professionals, are not a part of the MWBA this season, meaning Donaldson is on a collision course with history.
The 56ers (3-1) collide with Halifax (1-1) in a 7 p.m. game at Saint Mary’s University in the Nova Scotia capital.
Donaldson is 32 points behind the MWBA’s all-time leading scorer, Karissa Kajorinne, who spent two seasons in the league with the former Windsor Edge (now Lake City) and Thunder. Kajorinne went on to play two seasons of professional basketball in Portugal after amassing 400 career points.
Long-time pro Kaylee Kilpatrick, who spent three productive seasons with Saint John’s Port City Fog, sits second all-time with 396 points. Kilpatrick, who played professionally in Germany, Ireland and Australia, is now teaching in New Zealand.
Jenna Jones, the former sharpshooter with the Moncton Mystics retired this year, but sits fourth with 318 points.
Jasmine Parent continues to shine for the Halifax Hornets, one of a handful of league players who have played all four seasons. Parent enters fifth with 291 career points.
Leo Elbert, who played two seasons with Moncton, is sixth at 278 followed by Port City’s Rachel Farwell and present day post Abby Miller of the Miramichi Her-Icanes, both with 266. Miller can move up in the category when the ‘Canes visit Fredericton Freeze on Friday night at Fredericton High School.
Game time is 7 p.m.
Miramichi’s Lauren Rainford is ninth with 264 and Fredericton’s Allie McCarthy sits 10th with 257 career points.
Rainford’s regular season average of 22 points per game entering Friday’s tilt, is best in league history, narrowly beating out Kajorinne’s 21.2 mark.
Kiera Duffie has an opportunity Thursday to become the all-time leading pointgetter for Thunder. Duffie sits four points behind Haley McDonald for the all-time Thunder franchise leading scorer entering the contest against Lake City.
Jasmine Parent stands alone with 31 regular season games played – but Abby Miller and Robbi Daley are right behind with 30 games played each. Daley missed her first-ever MWBA game last weekend against Miramichi.
Speaking of the Daley’s, sisters Robbi and Katie both have exactly 180 points with the Freeze – tied for fifth in franchise history and 24th in league history.
It is a busy third week across the league including tonight’s Lake City-Thunder clash and the Fredericton-Miramichi contest Friday.
One other Friday tilt has Moncton visiting Port City in a 7 p.m. clash at the University of New Brunswick at Saint John.
On Saturday, Fredericton visits Moncton at 6 p.m. at Crandall University.
A scheduled Saturday game between the two Halifax teams has been postponed. Bleacher installation and a new floor at Mount St. Vincent University forced the team to seek a make up date.
There are two games Sunday including Port City at the Her-icanes, a 2 p.m. outing at Miramichi Valley High School and the Hornets visit Lake City in a 3 p.m. start at Cole Harbour High School.
– Courtney Donaldson continues to shine for Lake City (Bob Pettipas Photo)