The Miramichi HerIcanes certainly will have a new look this Maritime Women’s Basketball Association season.
Jimmy Watters, a longtime head coach with Miramichi Valley High School Pulamoo and Basketball New Brunswick age class teams, will patrol the sidelines this season for the HerIcanes, who enter the campaign as reigning PRO•LINE Legacy Cup champions.
Many of the faces who hoisted the Legacy Cup last season – Miramichi was the first New Brunswick-based team to win an MWBA title – are not in the ‘Canes lineup in 2026, but Watters has assembled some familiar veterans and youthful talent for the green and orange.
Dynamic point guard and offensive scoring machine Lauren Rainford is certainly going to be a missing dynamic for the HerIcanes along with veterans such as Bailey Black and Katie Donahoe not returning.
‘We have some new faces in town and they are bringing with them plenty of positivity and energy,’ said Watters, who is taking over for Neil Smith at the Miramichi helm. ‘It’s going to be an adjustment for some rookies, but we look at what the Moncton Mystics did last year with a youthful lineup. They struggled early, but by the end of the season, they became a dangerous team. We expect some growing pains early, but we’re going to be a handful. Our energy at training camp was excellent.’
Veteran Kassidy Hamilton, an original HerIcane, is back to lead the way for Miramichi.
She has company with Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association player of the year, Charlee Connors, from the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association’s St. Thomas University Tommies. Connors scored a shade under 15 points a game and secured 7.9 rebounds each time out.
Point guard Maika LeBanc, an Atlantic University Sport commit to University of Prince Edward Island Panthers, joins Miramichi along with Ava Sprague from the ACAA’s University of New Brunswick at Saint John Seawolves. A point guard, Sprague was a workhorse for UNBSJ last season, logging almost 35 minutes a game and averaging 7.2 points per outing.
Her teammate Ainsley Green brings MWBA experience with her. She played with the Port City Fog in Saint John last season and had a banner year for the Seawolves, scoring 14.6 points a game and earning 11.2 rebounds an outing.
Former UPEI forward Lexi MacInnis has also inked with Miramichi. MacInnis also played at the ACAA level, spending two seasons with Charlottetown’s Holland College Hurricanes, where she earned All-Canadian honours.
Noella Thomas, who is committed to ACAA’s Mount Allison University Mounties next season, is also joining the HerIcanes. She helped Carleton North High Stars to a Scholastic Sport New Brunswick Final 12 last February and was a member of BNB’s Canada Summer Games last year.
A familiar face to Miramichi fans is Callie Harris, who will play for her home city team. Harris was a rookie last season and a teammate with Green and Sprague at UNBSJ.
Former BNB Canada Summer Games guard Carli Church of Sussex is back on the court as well. The former Sussex Regional High Sonic will join another former Canada Games player, Lauren Wallace from the Moncton High Purple Knights. Wallace was a two-time SSNB all-star with Moncton.
Popular Abby Miller, who signed to play professionally in Portugal this season, is hoping to join Miramichi late in the season.
Stay tuned for more ‘Cane announcements.
