Garth Turtle Memorial Sweetheart tournament
February 3, 2024 by admin
Filed under Provincial and Territorial News
Busy weekend of basketball in Summerside with Garth Turtle Memorial Sweetheart tournament
SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — One of the region’s prestigious high school girls’ basketball tournaments tips off at two locations on Feb. 1.
The 2024 Garth Turtle Memorial Sweetheart tournament begins with games at Three Oaks Senior High School in Summerside and in Montague. The Three Oaks Axewomen, who are hosting the tournament, face the Westisle Wolverines while the Montague Vikings entertain the Charlottetown Rural Raiders. Both games begin at 5:30 p.m.
“It’s always a great tournament for the girls to play in, in front of the home fans,” said Axemen head coach Ted Johnston, adding it’s a well-recognized tournament with a waiting list of teams trying to get into it.
The 2024 event features 12 teams from P.E.I., New Brunswick and Nova Scotia taking part in the three-day event. The teams are divided into four pools of three teams.
After playing a round robin, the first-place teams will meet in the semifinals on Feb. 3 at 10:30 a.m. to determine the championship-game matchup scheduled for 2 p.m.
“It’s a great opportunity to play some teams from off-Island and progress as a team,” said Three Oaks senior point guard Dru Gillis.
The Axewomen and Westisle are joined in Pool A by North Nova Education Centre from New Glasgow, N.S.
“It’s a great opportunity to play some teams from off-Island and progress as a team.” – Dru Gillis
The Axewomen roster features four Grade 12s, four Grade 11s and four Grade 10s.
“Our (league) record (0-6) doesn’t show how much we’ve progressed and improved this year,” said Gillis. “We are a young team, and we improve every time we are on the court.”
Three Oaks athletic director Joel Arsenault said two teams to watch are the Charlottetown Rural Raiders, who won their own Confederation City Classic in January, and the Halifax West Warriors, the 2023 winners of the Sweetheart tournament.
First-time participant
This year’s tournament means a lot to Three Oaks senior Bella MacKinnon, playing her first year of triple-A basketball and in the Sweetheart tournament for the first time.
“I’m really excited,” said the 17-year-old MacKinnon, who plays the wing position.
MacKinnon, who is from Richmond, remembers watching last year’s Sweetheart when she was a member of the Three Oaks double-A team.
“I like how much of the community it involves and how excited everybody gets,” said MacKinnon.
Twin teammates
For 17-year-old twins Felicia and Stephanie Stuart of Bedeque, are are in Grade 12, this year will mark their final Sweetheart tournament with the Axewomen.
“My sister and I have played together for a long time,” said Stephanie, who plays post. “A lot of time after games and practices we will talk in the car on the way home, like things we can improve on, things we think we should be doing.”
No doubt part of those discussions over the next couple of days will include playing off-Island teams.
“I like playing against (the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia teams),” said Felicia, a post and wing player. “It’s a chance to learn to play against a different (teams and styles).”
Honours former coach
The Sweetheart was renamed in memory of Garth Turtle in 2023. Turtle was involved in school sports in P.E.I. for approximately 40 years, including 10 years as athletic director at Three Oaks and he served as a longtime coach of the Three Oaks senior AAA girls’ basketball team.
Turtle, who was teaching physical education at Three Oaks at the time, and the late Glenn Edison, who was athletic director, founded the Sweetheart tournament in the early 1980s. The tournament has run every year since except for 2022 because of COVID-19.
“Garth put a lot of years and a lot of time into the basketball program here at Three Oaks over a number of decades,” said Johnston. “The tournament being named after him does show the amount of time and energy he did put into the program.”
Felicia Stuart said although none of the Axewomen players played for Turtle, who died in 2021, they understand what he and his contributions meant to Three Oaks.
“The girls before us, when we were in Grade 10, played for him and they liked him a lot,” said Felicia. “It does carry significance for the school even though we didn’t have him personally.”
At a glance
Following are the teams in the Garth Turtle Memorial Sweetheart basketball tournament:
Teams
- Pool A – Three Oaks, Westisle, North Nova.
- Pool B – Charlottetown Rural, Montague, Central Kings.
- Pool C – Colonel Gray, Halifax West, St. Stephen.
- Pool D – Bluefield, Woodlawn, Avon View.
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Schedule
(Location in parenthesis)
Feb. 1
- 5:30 p.m. – Westisle vs. Three Oaks (Three Oaks); Charlottetown Rural vs. Montague (Montague).
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Feb. 2
- 12:45 p.m. – Woodlawn vs. Bluefield (Three Oaks); Halifax West vs. Colonel Gray (Athena).
- 2:30 p.m. – Charlottetown Rural vs. Central Kings (Three Oaks); North Nova vs. Westisle (Athena).
- 4:10 p.m. – Three-point shooting competition (Three Oaks).
- 5 p.m. – St. Stephen vs. Colonel Gray (Three Oaks); Avon View vs. Bluefield (Athena).
- 6:45 p.m. – North Nova vs. Three Oaks (Three Oaks); Montague vs. Central Kings (Athena).
- 8:30 p.m. – Avon View vs. Woodlawn (Three Oaks); St. Stephen vs. Halifax West (Athena).
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Feb. 3
- 8:45 a.m. – Third-place team in Pool A vs. third-place team in Pool D (Three Oaks); third-place team in Pool B vs. third-place team in Pool C (Athena). Note: Potential to juggle teams to avoid a familiar opponent.
- 10:30 a.m. – Semifinals: First-place team in Pool A vs. first-place team in Pool D (Three Oaks); first-place team in Pool B vs. first-place team in Pool C (Athena).
- 12:15 p.m. – Second-place team in Pool A vs. second-place team in Pool D (Three Oaks); second-place team in Pool B vs. second-place team in Pool C (Athena). Note: Potential to juggle teams to avoid a familiar opponent.
- 2 p.m. – Championship game.
Jason Simmonds is a sports editor with SaltWire in Prince Edward Island. He can be reached by email at jason.simmonds@theguardian.pe.ca and followed on X @JpsportsJason.
Garth had also been a major player in School Sport Canada. He is missed by many around the country! Good luck Ladies.
