The Gonzaga Vikings, led by tournament MVP Matt Torraville, ended the Holy Heart Highlanders’ hopes for a three-peat in the Hall of Fame Cup (Elite Eight) high school basketball tournament held in St. John’s and Mount Pearl over the weekend.
The Vikings defeated the Highlanders 85-66 in the male final of the annual event Sunday afternoon at the Old MUN Gym in St. John’s.
The Holy Heart boys were the 2018 and 2019 4A high school champs.
The 2020 Hall of Fame Cup girls’ champions are the Waterford Valley Warriors, who successfully defended the Elite Eight crown they won last year by downing the Holy Trinity Tigers of Torbay 64-42 in Sunday’s final.
The event featured 16 of the top male and female high school teams from across the province. The Highlanders had been the No. 1 seeds in both the boys and girls divisions.
In boys’ semifinal play, Gonzaga beat the O’Donel Patriots 90-70, while Holy Heart defeated Waterford Valley 101-70.
In the girls semifinals, Waterford Valley beat O’Donel 79-50, and Holy Trinity downed Holy Heart 77-72.
Comprising the tournament boys all-star team were Chris Druken (Waterford Valley), Ben Oliver (Gonzaga), Josh Reimer (Holy Heart), Gavin Curtis (Elwood High) and A.J. Nash (O'Donel).
The girls tournament MVP was Alyssa Jenkins of the Warriors and all-stars were Alana Lee (O'Donel), Anja Heffernan (Waterford Valley), Holly Mackey (Corner Brook), Abby Sparrow (Holy Heart) and Amanda Pearcey (Holy Trinity).
