Dr. John Hugh Gillis Regional Royals’ captains Kelly MacGillivray (left), Courtney Scott and Kalli MacDonald make a $500 donation on behalf of the basketball team to Cancer Resource Room representative Mariam Denon last Wednesday. The funds were generated at the Mabel Arsenault Memorial Basketball tournament. (Submitted photo)

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The Dr. John Hugh Gillis Regional Royals will host the 9th Annual Ian Spencer memorial girls’ basketball tournament, sponsored by Scotsburn, Friday and Saturday.
Joining the host Royals are Riverview Royals, the top-ranked team in Cape Breton, along with Park View Panthers and the Horton Griffins the number-one ranked team in the Valley region.
Action gets underway Friday at 5 p.m. with the host Royals taking on Riverview.
The Royals competed in the Park View tournament last weekend, emerging with a 2-1 record for third place.
The team opened with a 104-72 victory over the CEC Cougars. Grade 9 guard Holly Scott returned to the line-up after being sidelined since December with a stress fracture and poured in a game-high 31 points.
Kelly MacGillivray added 17 points, while player of the game Kalli MacDonald scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Primrose Chareka recorded a double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds.
Kallie Ross also hit double digits with 10 points, while Melanie Stewart, sidelined since November with a concussion, returned to the court with a nine-point effort.
The Royals built up a 46-41 lead at the half.
In second round action the C.P. Allen Cheetahs owned the game from start to finish, posting an 86-60 win over the Royals.
Scott paced the Royals’ offense with 16 points and Heather MacPherson chipped in with 13 points. MacGillivray scored 11 points and Chareka, the player of the game, hauled down eight rebounds to go with her four points.
In their final game of the weekend the Royals scored a come-from-behind 92-52 victory over the North Nova Gryphons. The Royals trailed 17-4 after the opening quarter, while leading 32-27 at halftime.
Scott and MacPherson each scored 17 points in the game with Stewart adding 16. MacGillivray contributed 14 points and Ross scored 10 and added eight rebounds. MacPherson earned game star honours, while Scott was named to the all-star team.

The Dr. John Hugh Gillis Regional Royals boys’ basketball team participated in a tournament at the East Antigonish Academy Feb. 3 to 4. 
The Royals lost their first game 82-44 to the host East Antigonish Academy Mustangs.
Colin Jarvis, the Mustangs player of the game, scored 31 points and added five rebounds and five assists for the Mustangs. Kendall Breen scored 26 point and hauled down nine rebounds in the win. He also dished out nine assists.
Leading scorers for the Royals were Frank MacFarlane with 15 points, Jermal Mansfield with 12 points and Patrick Marlow with eight points.  Mansfield was the player of the game.
“When Colin and Kendall are shooting the ball well we’re a hard team to stop,” coach Terry Long said.
The East handed Sydney Academy Jayvees an 81-49 setback. Craig Perry scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Breen scored 21 points and had five assists. Jarvis chipped in with 14 points, five rebounds and 11 assists. Also hitting double digits were Pat Brouwer and Raheem Johnson each with 12 points. Perry was the player of the game.
“Getting an early lead allowed me to get rookies Dameon Johnson and Evan Green scome quality minutes throughout the game,” Long commented.
In their final game, the Mustangs defeated Cabot High School 82-46 with Perry scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Breen had 21 points and seven rebounds and Jarvis added 14 points and 10 assists. Brouwer chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds. Derek DeCoste provided some outstanding defense to earn player of the game honours.
In other action, the Royals were defeated 70-65 by Cabot High.  Edmund Dobson led the offense with 19 points, while Jordan Vosman added11 points and Patrick Marlow scored nine. Vosman was the player of the game.
The Royals played their final game on Saturday and defeated Sydney Academy Jayvees by a score of 51 – 43. 
Leading scorers for the Royals were Mansfield with 12 points, Dobson with 11 points and Matthew Sampson with seven points.  Mansfield earned player of the game accolades for the Royals.

The girls’ team from East Antigonish nipped Pictou 48-46, overcoming a 24-10 halftime deficit. Game star Katlyn Boudreau scored 16 points for the Mustangs. Oxford defeated the Mustangs 60-33.
“Our girls played hard and improved as the game went on,” Long said.
Jaden Prosper was the player of the game, supplying strong defense and contributing 12 points offensively.
In their final game the Mustangs fell 56-41 to Cabot.
“We got down 24 and couldn’t close the gap,” Long said. Roin Kirby was the player of the game with 10 points.

The Royals from Dr. John Hugh Gillis Regional High School posted a 2-1 record at the annual Red Cup hockey classic hosted by Riverview Rural High School.
The Royals opened with an 8-3 loss to Glace Bay High School.
The Royals gave up two goals in each of the first and second periods and were outscored 4-1 in the third.
Kyle Bouchie, Ian Cashin and Alec Smith handled the scoring for the Royals with Bouchie, Cashin, Stephen Chisholm and Smith providing assists. Jake MacPherson was between the pipes for the Royals and faced 45 shots.
“We started out well, scoring in about 12 seconds,” coach Bernie Gillis commented. “We also gave us a goal on the next shift, so it was a case of us dominating for a bit and then they would take control. The third period we completely fell apart. For the most part we felt we were still in the game but we didn’t play consistently enough and let the game get away on us.”
The Royals had defeated Glace Bay earlier in the season 7-1 and later dropped a 4-3 decision.
Smith, a right-winger, was the player of the game for the Royals. Saturday, the Antigonish school scored four goals in the opening period enroute to a 10-0 trouncing of Cole Harbour.
“They’re rebuilding,” Gillis said of the Caveliers. “We did play well — even though they are a weaker team. We did the things we wanted to do and fixed some mistakes we had made against Glace Bay. We also limited them to very few chances. It got our confidence back a bit.”
Mike Tobin, the player of the game, provided two goals and three assists to lead the Royals offensively, while Cashin provided two goals and two helpers. Dylan MacLean scored a pair and supplied a helper, while Smith and Bouchie each added a goal and an assist. Broghan MacDonald also found the net as did Chisholm. Bobby Dunphy earned the win in nets, facing 45 shots.
The Royals nipped the host Riverview squad 2-1 Saturday before a crowd of 1,500 boisterous Riverview fans.
The Royals received the winning goal from David MacDonald on a goalmouth scramble. Tobin also found the net for the Royals. Evan MacDonald chipped in with an assist and MacPherson recorded the win in nets.
“For the most part we played very well,” Gillis commented. “They scored first, we tied it up and then Dave MacDonald got a goal on the end of a powerplay to win it. It was a pretty intense game and really either team could have won this one. I also felt we had a few very good chances that if we could have buried them we would have had some separation in the score. Considering we were playing in their building, and it was packed, the boys handled it very well and it was a big win.”
Bouchie was the player of the game.
The Royals return to league action Thursday at 7 p.m. against the CEC Cougars.