For the first time in its four-year history, the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association will have a new regular season champion.
Question is, which team will fly the pennant?
The Halifax Thunder had entered Season IV with three straight regular season crowns, but this year, either the Lake City 56ers of Dartmouth/Cole Harbour or Miramichi Her-Icanes will claim the stake.
Entering this weekend’s final regular season games, Lake City sits 8-1 in first place with one game to play. Miramichi has a game in hand, two games remaining and has a 7-1 mark including seven straight wins.
The 56ers visit Halifax Hornets on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Mount St. Vincent University.
Miramichi can tie the idle 56ers on Saturday if it defeats hometown Thunder in a 7 p.m., meeting at Dalhousie University in Halifax. The Her-Icanes cap their regular season on Sunday, visiting Port City Fog at 3 p.m. at University of New Brunswick at Saint John.
Other weekend games include Fredericton visiting Port City on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Moncton Mystics visiting Thunder on Sunday at 4 p.m. at DalPlex.
Lake City fully controls its own destiny as they have the tiebreaker against the ‘Canes by virtue of its head-to-head win earlier this season. Either a Lake City win at the Hornets or Her-Icanes loss to either Thunder or Fog gives the 56ers first overall. The only path for Miramichi to claim top spot is by defeating the Thunder and Fog and hoping the 56ers lose to the Hornets.
Thunder would need to beat Miramichi and Moncton, plus a Her-icanes loss to Port City, to finish second overall.
The Fredericton Freeze is locked in at fourth overall while the Hornets have secured fifth.
Moncton would finish ahead of Port City in sixth spot with a win over Thunder or a Port City loss to Fredericton or Miramichi.
In Nova Scotia, regardless of weekend results, Lake City is top seed in the Bluenose Province, Thunder will be second and Hornets third for their provincial playoff scenario which will unfold next week once the dust settles.
In New Brunswick, Miramichi has clinched first and Fredericton will be second.
The mystery is will Moncton finish third or will Port City nab that spot.
Third place in N.B., means a ton in order to avoid Miramichi in the playoffs as first will play fourth and second meets third. Miramichi has not lost a provincial rival this season.
Both provinces will send two teams to the PRO•LINE Legacy Cup championship set for Fredericton’s Richard J. Currie Center June 21-22.
– Both Miramichi and Fredericton know it will host NB sectional playoffs in a drive to the finish (Fran Harris Photo)
