P.E.I.’s Three Oaks Senior High School honours Garth Turtle’s Legacy

P.E.I.’s Three Oaks Senior High School honours Garth Turtle’s legacy

Jason Simmonds · Journalist | Posted: Feb. 2, 2023, 6 a.m. | Updated: Feb. 1, 2023, 2:22 p.m. | 7 Min Read

SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Three Oaks Senior High School is honouring the memory of one of the founders of a major basketball tournament in Summerside.

The senior AAA girls’ event is now known as the Garth Turtle Memorial Sweetheart basketball tournament. The 2023 event runs Feb. 2-4.

“Garth played a big role in getting the tournament started, coached the team here and it was a very easy decision (to name it in Turtle’s memory),” said Three Oaks athletic director Joel Arsenault. “If you are going to name the tournament after somebody, he certainly had his thumb print all over everything related to the Sweetheart (tournament).”

Tournament founders

Turtle, who was teaching physical education at Three Oaks, and the late Glenn Edison, who was athletic director, came up with the idea of the Sweetheart tournament in the early 1980s.

Turtle, who died in September 2021, also served as athletic director at Three Oaks for 10 years and was a longtime coach of the Three Oaks senior AAA girls’ basketball team, including several years after his retirement.

“If you are going to name the tournament after somebody, he certainly had his thumb print all over everything related to the Sweetheart (tournament).” – Joel Arsenault

Overall, he was involved in school sports on P.E.I. for approximately 40 years as a teacher, athletic director, official and administrator with the P.E.I. School Athletic Association (PEISAA).

Turtle’s legacy is also visible in the Three Oaks gymnasium. One of Turtle’s most-used phrases he said to students – “Make good decisions” – is now visible on the gymnasium floor.

“It was like his trademark saying,” said Arsenault. “It’s stencilled in front of the home team’s bench, where he used to stand coaching.”

Field for 2023

The 12-team tournament features six P.E.I. teams, five from Nova Scotia and one from New Brunswick.

This marks the first Sweetheart tournament in three years as the 2021 and 2022 events were cancelled because of COVID-19.

“It’s really nice to have it back,” said Arsenault, who noted this will mark the first time the Grade 12 players on the host Axewomen have an opportunity to play in a home basketball tournament at the high school level.

One of those players is Avery Kerwin, a senior point guard. “I’ve been watching this tournament since I’ve been super young,” said Kerwin, the 17-year-old daughter of Ryan and Tammy Kerwin of Summerside. “My mom always took me to watch, and now that I get to play in one, I’m super excited.

“This is kind of such a TOSH thing to play in. I’m stoked that in my final year I’m able to participate in it.”

Played for Turtle

Kerwin said it means a lot to have the opportunity to play in the first Sweetheart tournament that carries Turtle’s name. Turtle coached this year’s Three Oaks senior players in their Grade 10 years.

Kerwin remembers Turtle bringing a lot of energy to the gym.

“We got a chance to know him a little,” said Kerwin. “It is nice that this tournament is a legacy for him because he had been coaching the team for so long and has been probably at every Sweetheart tournament there has been (before this year).

“Now that we finally get the tournament back, it’s a nice way to honour him.”

At a glance

A look at the Garth Turtle Memorial Sweetheart basketball tournament, hosted by Three Oaks Senior High School in Summerside:

Teams

• Pool A – Three Oaks, Park View, Westisle.
• Pool B – Bluefield, Halifax West, Harrison Trimble.
• Pool C – Charlottetown Rural, Amherst, Avon View.
• Pool D – Colonel Gray, Montague, Bayview.

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Schedule

(Location in parenthesis)

Feb. 2

• 5:30 p.m. – Westisle vs. Three Oaks (Three Oaks); Montague vs. Colonel Gray (Montague).

Feb. 3

• 12:45 p.m. – Bluefield vs. Halifax West (Three Oaks); Amherst vs. Charlottetown Rural (Athena).
• 2:30 p.m. – Westisle vs. Park View (Three Oaks); Bayview vs. Colonel Gray (Athena).
• 4:10 p.m. – Three-point shooting competition.
• 5 p.m. – Avon View vs. Charlottetown Rural (Three Oaks); Bluefield vs. Harrison Trimble (Athena)
• 6:45 p.m. – Park View vs. Three Oaks (Three Oaks); Montague vs. Bayview (Athena).
• 8:30 p.m. – Halifax West vs. Harrison Trimble (Three Oaks); Avon View vs. Amherst (Athena).

Feb. 4

• 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).
• 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).
• 2:30 p.m. – Championship game: winners of semifinal games.

Congratulations to Halifax West who captured the Garth Turtle Memorial Sweetheart Tournament Banner on Saturday.

Sweetheart basketball tournament in Summerside

Jason Simmonds · Journalist | Posted: Feb. 7, 2023, 11:54 a.m. | Updated: Feb. 7, 2023, 11:55 a.m. |

SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — The Halifax West Warriors proved to be the class of the 2023 Garth Turtle Memorial Sweetheart basketball tournament, hosted by Three Oaks Senior High School in Summerside.

The Warriors went a perfect 4-0 (won-lost) in the three-day event, including an 81-44 victory over Park View Education Centre from Bridgewater in an all-Nova Scotia final on Feb. 4.

In pool play, Halifax West defeated P.E.I.’s Bluefield Bobcats 101-31 and Harrison Trimble from Moncton, N.B., by an 82-58 score.

The Warriors’ closest game came in the semifinal when they had to overcome a 10-point deficit to get by the Charlottetown Rural Raiders 61-57.

Halifax West senior shooting guard Mya Cameron, who scored 15 points in the come-from-behind win over Charlottetown and 13 in the championship game, was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

Park View defeated two P.E.I. teams – Westisle Wolverines 106-28 and the host Three Oaks Axewomen 68-45 – in the round robin, before posting a 70-50 semifinal win over Bay View High School from Upper Tantallon, N.S.

The Axewomen went 1-2. Along with their game versus Park View, Three Oaks defeated Westisle 85-33 and dropped a 59-40 decision to Avon View High School of Windsor, N.S., in a placement game.

Awards

Here are the Garth Turtle Memorial Sweetheart basketball tournament awards:

Three-Point Shooting Contest Winner

• Natalie Starrat, Avon View.

All-Stars

• Menna McCabe, Charlottetown Rural.
• Jordin Parsons, Park View.
• Sara Whynacht, Park View.
• Emma Cameron, Halifax West.

Most Valuable Player

• Mya Cameron, Halifax West.

Turtle’s daughter, Halifax resident Kristen Turtle, presented the championship banner on behalf of the Turtle family.

Garth Turtle, one of the Sweetheart tournament’s founders, held several positions in the P.E.I. school sport scene for close to 40 years. He served as Three Oaks athletic director for 10 years and was a longtime coach of the Three Oaks senior AAA girls’ basketball team, including several years after his retirement.

This year marked the first Sweetheart tournament since 2020 as the 2021 and 2022 events had to be postponed because of COVID-19. A total of 10 teams participated after two teams withdrew due to the weather.