Fundy High Mariners Win 2011 Bear Attack Tourney

On December 10, 2011, the Fundy High Mariners won the 2011 Bear Attack Tournament in Cambellton, New Brunswick.

“I felt the team really found a way to win some games vs tough competition even when we weren’t shooting it well” said Coach Ryan Daye when summarizing his team’s play throughout the tournament.
The Mariners, from St George, NB, went 4-0 in the tournament and had victories against Moncton High JV 46-38 and Dalhousie 51-36 on December 9. On the last day of the tournament, Fundy High continued with a win over Bathurst High 64-60 leading towards their Championship victory over Tobique Valley 64-50.

Players of the Game in each game of the tournament for Fundy included Maddy Stevens in Game 1, Kaitlin French in Game 2, Danielle Anthony and Carly Justason in Game 3, and in the Finals, Haley O’Neil.

Fundy High benefitted from the offensive contributions of Danielle Anthony.  She averaged 17.25ppg through out the tournament.  While Coach Daye was pleased with her contributions and those of his team as a whole, he also saw the emergence of the Katie French’s game

“Katie French really stepped up for us this weekend. When everyone else was struggling she found her stroke and confidently attacked. Seeing her confident and aggressive on offense really took pressure off some of our struggling players and let us get back to focusing on things we could control.”

The Mariners have a relatively young squad, including 4 freshmen, 4 sophomores, 2 juniors and no seniors.  Regardless, they had previously been victorious in tournament action this season, having already won the Granite Town Tip-Off in mid November.

When considering the adversity his troops overcame in Campbellton, Coach Daye added triumphantly, “The whole weekend was like on the job training in resiliency. We know we are younger then most teams so generally we try to play like we are playing with house money. For us to bear down and grind out wins with all the excuses in the world built in for young kids to fall prey to, is great for us.”