Battle for First Place goes to the Varsity Reds

Really, this is why you play the game. It’s why you coach. It’s why you hit the weight room when your friends are gathered for parties. It’s why you put in the time.

To play games like that.

Sure, it was a special night all the way around anyway…before they even tipped off. The final night of Atlantic University Sport women’s basketball at the Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium … ever! The final night, at home, for stellar fifth year veterans Amanda Sharpe and Leah Corby. Emotional night all the way around.

And then they played.

The University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds and Cape Breton University Capers, the two top teams in the AUS, went head-to-head and then toe-to-toe in an epic battle that brought the curtain – and the house down – when all was said and done. UNB knocked back the Capers 71-68 in a thriller.

Two heavyweight teams. … back and forth. No one dominated for long stretches, save maybe a 14-1 UNB run that was long forgotten by the time the clock ticked down. A lead would fall. A lead would be regained. In the end, it was Sharpe pouring in 23 points and Corby scoring a scintillating individual basket in the dying minute that pushed UNB ahead for good.

Oh, it also gave the Varsity Reds a first round playoff bye and propelled them into the AUS semifinals, slated for early March in St. John’s, Nfld. Say goodbye to the Pit, say hello to a classic game.

“It was a special night at the Pit. A nice win for our team to help else clinch a first round bye in the AUS playoffs,” said UNB head coach Jeff Speedy, who started the night with an emotional speech to applaud Sharpe and Corby. “I am so happy for Amanda and Leah. They played great in their last home game and showed how valuable fifth year players are to a program.”

Oh yeah.

Thing is, this is where Speedy and his charges expected to be. The sting of not getting to the post-season was the rocket fuel the squad fed on entering this season.

Sharpe’s 23 points, none of them easy considering she battled all night against Cape Breton’s duo of Denisha Haywood and Stephanie Toxopeus, were augmented by 16 from Corby. Megan Corby, battling a sore wing and rookie Claire Colborne both reached eight points.

There are two games left on the AUS regular season for UNB. It faces the Capers again Saturday in Sydney after playing the St. Francis Xavier University X-Women on Friday.

The main goal now is preparing for the semifinals.

“We set a goal at the beginning of the season to get that first round bye and we have now accomplished that goal,” Speedy said. “But you do not get a banner for finishing first or second in league play. So, to cap off this special season and make it a great one, we still have some work to do.”