The Moncton Mystics celebrated their first-ever Maritime Women’s Basketball Association’s New Brunswick Division regular season crown this season.
Miramichi HerIcanes entered this year as reigning PRO·LINE Legacy Cup champions, but featured an almost entirely different lineup in 2026.
None of that matters Sunday night.
It’s a sudden-death playoff game and anything can happen.
One offensive run, one bout of foul trouble, a cold shooter, a hot shooter and an unexpected lift from a player out of nowhere.
That’s what we love about the post-season.
Entering Sunday’s 6 p.m., contest at Crandall University in Moncton, the hometown Mystics enter as No. 1 seed in the NB provincial derby to get to next weekend’s PRO·LINE Legacy Cup Final Four in Fredericton.
Miramichi comes in as No. 4 NB seed.
Mystics bring a merry go around of a team, one that features speed and get up and go jump.
It’s been the kids and some savvy veterans that paced Moncton to a 7-3 first place NB record.
The league’s leading scorer is entering university in the fall when Maddie Eustace arrives in Sydney, NS, to play for the Atlantic University Sport’s Cape Breton University Capers. She never acted like an MWBA rookie once this season.
Fearless, Eustace averaged just over 30 minutes a game and paced all scorers, hanging a 20.6 points per game average on opponents for head coach, Troy Mckenzie. She has plenty of help.
Youngster’s Eve Kalala and Jesse McCarron bring about 24 minutes a game and double figures in points to the Mystic show.
There are plenty of other parts that make the Moncton engine roar.
One of the league’s all-time leading scorers is Jenna Jones, who returned to the Moncton lineup this season, bringing veteran leadership and 7.8 points per game and 5.4 rebounds. Lindsay Black is another respected veteran, averaging under 23 PPG and just under 23 minutes of floor time.
A year ago, the kids were point guard Kate Fillmore, Addie Albert and Sadie Bowen, who have all thrived as MWBA sophomores.
Pick your poisons when it comes to containing Moncton.
That’s where veteran head coach Jim Watters and the HerIcanes come into play.
One thing about facing Miramichi is you know you’re going to be in for a track meet with its high-energy youth and grit.
The HerIcanes may have to alter that game plan as they won’t want to get into a run and gun outing with the Mystics, but Miramichi has some intriguing skillsets that could offer a stubborn opponent.
Ava Sprague blossomed in her rookie MWBA season at the point position. She played just under 30 minutes a game and was second in team scoring, averaging 11.4 points.
Charlee Connors, the reigning Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association player of the year with the St. Thomas University Tommies, also found success in her first season. Connors was Miramichi’s highest average point-getter at 11.8 a game, but she also brought plenty of rebound prowess, finishing top five with 10 boards an outing.
Veteran Lexi MacInnis scored a shade under 11 points a game and Kassidy Hamilton brings her three-point prowess that can go off at any time when she goes on runs. Ainsley Green brings 9.7 points a game and 9.2 rebounds and is an intriguing player for the ‘Canes.
The HerIcanes feature plenty of horses, but someone or two players are going to have to eclipse season highs in points to keep this one tense.
Moncton swept the season series with two wins in recent weeks including a 90-61 decision June 6 on the road and an 84-74 win at home back on May 31.
– Maddie Eustace was the MWBA’s leading point producer as a rookie. (Tanya Everett Photo)
