Did we expect anything less?
Not when these two teams get together.
The Halifax Hornets built a seemingly comfortable 80-66 lead at one point late in the third quarter and watched the Moncton Mystics roar back, just not enough.
Halifax would post a 98-87 win over Moncton in the opening quarter-final match of the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association’s Legacy Cup championship.
The six-team Legacy Cup is being played at TD Station in Saint John.
The Mystics erased the big deficit and closed to within 84-83 following an Emily Briggs triple with 4:12 left in the fourth, but Hannah Brown of the Hornets scored off a layup to make it 86-83 and the Hornets would hold on, moving on to semifinal play Saturday.
Halifax awaits a semifinal opponent, pending the late quarter-final between host Port City Fog of Saint John and Windsor Edge of Nova Scotia.
Courtney Donaldson was on fire for Halifax, meshing a game-high 30 points to spark the winners.
Brown and Sophia Widmeyer both popped 18 for the Hornets. Jasmine Parent scored 17.
Did the Hornets panic when Moncton came back to within one?
‘No, honestly we didn’t at all,’ said Donaldson. ‘I grabbed some of my teammates when Moncton came back and said ‘we got this, let’s go.’ I love this team.’
Donaldson hit five threes as part of her offence.
‘Scoring was not first on my list because I want to hit the open teammate,’ she said. ‘I did feel a rhythm and they were going in.’
Allie Berry had 19 points for Moncton. Leonie Elbert stroked 15, Emily Briggs 14 – including four treys – and Lia St. Pierre 10.
Moncton had won the only regular season game between the two teams, a 105-97 overtime thriller back in May.
