CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Devon Lawlor and a pair of her Charlottetown Rural Raiders teammates capped off their high school basketball careers with a third provincial title.
The Raiders defeated the Three Oaks (TOSH) Axewomen 83-52 Thursday to capture the Domino’s Prince Edward Island School Athletic Association senior AAA girls’ basketball banner at Holland College in Charlottetown.
Charlottetown Rural has now won five straight provincial banners while Lawlor, Taylor Mitton and Anna Brazil have been part of Rural’s last three championships during the dynasty.
“It’s really exciting,” said Lawlor, an 18-year-old guard from Millcove. “We all became friends through basketball, so it’s been really great to grow up with them.”
The championship game was over early.
Charlottetown Rural jumped out to an 11-3 lead and held quarter advantages of 19-13, 46-26 and 63-42.
“We worked really hard this year,” said Lawlor. “Our goal was to come out strong and push the ball up the court and I really think we did that.”
The Raiders went 12-0 in league play this season and 21-8 overall, including games against the best teams in the Maritimes at the start of the season.
“We took some punches, but they really responded,” head coach Peter Lawlor said. “Of all the teams I’ve coached over the years, and it’s been a lot of years, this team has probably improved the most, start to finish as a group, of any of the teams I’ve coached.”
The group had six Grade 10s who joined the squad this year with a lot of experience from provincial teams and a core group of Grade 11s, who gained a lot of court time as Grade 10s when the Raiders dealt with injuries.
Charlottetown Rural played Three Oaks in the final game of the regular season and saw a number of different looks from an Axewomen squad that showed lots of hustle, desire and athleticism.
Peter Lawlor said they wanted to get out and run in Thursday’s final.
“In that second quarter, that’s what we were able to do,” he said. “We got some stops, got some rebounds and then the girls really pushed the ball.”
TOSH head coach Garth Turtle said he was proud of his team.
“I thought we played really hard and that’s all you can ask kids to do,” he said.
Tournament MVP Devon Lawlor had game-high 20 points while Sydney Lawlor had 17, Amy Plaggenhoef 14 and Katie Vidito eight. Mitton had five rebounds and two blocks.
Paige MacLean scored 10 to lead Three Oaks while Lauren Lilly had nine, Alyssa Richard eight and Jill Power seven.
Award winners
A look at the award winners from the Domino’s Prince Edward Island School Athletic Association senior AAA girls’ basketball championship tournament.
MVP – Devon Lawlor, Charlottetown Rural
All-stars
Helena Vos, Colonel Gray
Taylor Mitton, Charlottetown Rural
Paige MacLean, Three Oaks
Amy Plaggenhoef, Charlottetown Rural
Lauren Lilly, Three Oaks
