And then there were four.
Four teams will battle for the PRO•LINE Legacy Cup Final Four championship next Saturday and Sunday at the Richard J. Currie Center in Fredericton.
That after a busy weekend of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick sudden-death semifinals.
The Maritime Women’s Basketball Association will crown a champion in its fifth anniversary season after an exciting season that will see the top four teams during the regular season clash on the RJCC floor.
On Sunday, three teams punched their tickets to the PRO•LINE Legacy Cup when Halifax Thunder, Moncton Mystics and Fredericton Freeze all won provincial semifinal showdowns.
Halifax Hornets had advanced on Saturday and sat back and watched Sunday to see who would join them.
At Halifax, the Thunder entered its semifinal as the No. 1 seed in Nova Scotia and eliminated No. 4 seed Truro Tidal Queens, 87-52. At Moncton, the New Brunswick No. 1 seed ousted No. 4 Miramichi HerIcanes, 88-53. At Fredericton, the No. 2 NB Freeze earned an 87-52 win over No. 3 Port City Fog of Saint John.
Those three finals were eerily similar.
Thunder, as its way, used a balanced scoring attack to advance to Fredericton.
Mali Straker paced the way with a dozen points for Halifax and Ava MacNutt pumped 11.Kali Grottenboer and Bianca Helmig offered nine apiece.
Courtney Cain-Nordin capped a solid season for the expansion Tidal Queens, leading all scorers with 15 points. Tyler Malloy and Nykeva Wilson-Brown had seven apiece.
Thunder enters the PRO•LINE Legacy Cup as the overall N0. 1 seed, setting up a showdown with No. 4 seed and city rival Hornets.
Those teams clash next Saturday at 5 p.m., in the first semifinal.
In Moncton, the Mystics rolled to victory, blasting out of the gates with a big first half and never looked back to dispatch the reigning champions from Miramichi.
Rookie Eve Kalala sparked Moncton with an 18-point night. The MWBA’s leading scorer, Maddie Eustace, was a point behind with 17. Sadie Bowen cashed 14 and Jesse McCarron offered 10.
Charlee Connors hit for 10 to lead Miramichi. Ava Sprague scored nine and Lexi MacInnis had six.
Meanwhile, in Fredericton, the Freeze outscored Port City, 46-17 in the second half to break open a tight game at halftime and move on to host in its own city.
Moncton and the Freeze meet at 7:30 p.m., Saturday night for a trip to the final on the line.
Allie McCarthy paced all scorers with a 20-point night as the Freeze clung to a 41-35 halftime lead before erupting over the final 20 minutes.
Ann Bastien buried 18, Kristen Taylor was good for 14 and Eva Tumwine meshed a dozen.
Clancy MacIntyre’s 12 powered Port City. Grace Tilley had nine and Ella MacDonald eight.
Both the Thunder and Hornets have been to a championship game. Thunder has two MWBA titles, Hornets have one.
The winner of Moncton and Fredericton will attend its first-ever MWBA final.
– Eva Tumwine had another big night for the Freeze as it advanced in playoff action. (Fran Harris Photo)
