The Dalbrae Dragons hosted and won the girls division of the 2026 Dalbrae Winter Classic basketball tournament. Members of the team include, from left: (front) Lucy Gillis, Elise Munro, tournament MVP Breagha MacLellan, Violet MacDonald, Belle Pierrard; (back) coach Glenna Calder, Peyton MacLean, Isabel Calder, Izaro Garcia Sanchez, Penny MacDonald, Annabelle MacDonald, Julia MacLellan, coach Becky MacDonald.
-by Bill Dunphy
Night and day.
That’s how Dalbrae Dragons coach Glenna Calder described the play of her girls basketball team – from losing by 50 at the start of the season to winning the Dalbrae Winter Classic on Saturday.
The Dragons opened a first-quarter lead of 11-4 and never looked back, beating the Cabot Trail Blazers 52-26 in Saturday’s championship game.
Dalbrae was up 29-6 at the half before easing back to take a 39-15 lead into the final quarter.
Elise Munro and Violet MacDonald each hit double-digits for Dalbrae with 14 and 10 points respectively, while stonewall defence by Breagha MacLellan earned her the tournament MVP award.
“We beat them (Cabot) by four in the round-robin so whatever we had left we were giving it our all – we wanted to win this game,” said MacLellan.
“Everyone worked hard and our defence was stellar,” she added.
Dalbrae didn’t lose a game in the tournament, and were tested early by the Inverness Rebels in the opening game on Thursday, pulling out a 39-33 win.
“Every game this team has played this year they have improved,” said Dalbrae coach Glenna Calder.
“Beating Inverness gave us a good start. Inverness has some great shooters, especially Brea Miller, and once we focused on them we were able to take control of the game,” Calder said.
Against Cabot in the final, Calder said it was a matter of penetrating their two-three defence and making good on their shots from the “three golden spots.”
In basketball strategy, the golden spots refer to the areas on the court from where shooting is most efficient, particularly beyond the three-point line. The three most valuable spots for shooting, especially for hitting threes, are widely considered to be the two corners and the area straight on at the top of the key.
“Our girls did an excellent job hitting them. We also got the girls to quit making blind passes, to make eye contact when passing the ball,” Calder added.
Along with Violet MacDonald, who had two three-pointers, and Munro, there were six other Dragons who picked up points. Also scoring: Annabelle MacDonald, 7; Isabel Calder and Peyton MacLean, 6 each; Breagha MacLellan and Julia MacLellan, 4 each; Izaro Garcia Sanchez, 1.
Answering for the Trail Blazers were: Micah Stockley, 6; Miley MacKinnon, 4; Layla Robinson, 3; Ellie MacKinnon, 2; Marci Gillis, 1.
Miley MacKinnon was named player of the game for Cabot while Elise Munro received that honour for Dalbrae.
Cabot advanced to the final with a 33-24 win over Inverness in the 2nd vs. 3rd crossover game.
Gillis had 14 points to lead the Trail Blazers. Also scoring: Margaret Rambeau, 7; Deidre Rambeau and Jersey MacKinnon, 4 each; Miley MacKinnon and Billie Lyons, 2 each.
Taylor Pringle was the top shooter for the Rebels with 12 points.
Also scoring: Miller, 7; Zoie Cormier, 4; Cienna Chranofsky, 1.
The following are the scores from the round-robin:
Dalbrae 33 (Breagha MacLellan, 12; Violet MacDonald, 6; Lucy Gillis, 4; Elise Munro, 3; Zoey Gallant, Isabel Calder, Julia MacLellan and Peyton MacLean, 2 each) Inverness 29 (Brea Miller, 13; Zoie Cormier, 8; Cienna Chranofsky, 5; Emily Nickerson, 2; Taylor Pringle, 1).
Dalbrae 24 (Munro, 8; Breagha MacLellan, 6; Calder, 5; Violet MacDonald, 3; Gillis, 2) Cabot 20 (Margaret Rambeau, 8; Jersey MacKinnon and Olivia Taylor, 5 each; Miley MacKinnon, 2).
Inverness 25 (Miller, 12;Nickerson, 4; Cormier, 3;Chranofsky, Pringle and Cassie MacKinnon, 2 each) Cabot 18 (Rambeau and Miley MacKinnon, 6 each; Taylor, Micah Stockley and Layla Robinson, 2 each).