Description
The Ladies, consisting of nine young women from the Central Valley area, coached by M.R.H.S. Phys. Ed. teacher, Al “Pep” Peppard, were the first team to bring a Provincial Basketball title to Middleton. Competing in the Valley Basketball League, the Ladies sailed through the season with 11 wins against 1 loss. Their lone setback came at the hands of the ever- strong Acadia Varsity team in Wolfville.
In their first game of the round-robin format in the Provincials played in Halifax, the Ladies dropped a close encounter to the Halifax X-Spurts, a team of physical education teachers, by a score of 34-30. The following day, the Ladies swished up three straight victories for the championship.
In the most exciting game of the tournament, the Ladies prevailed 41-40 over Acadia University. Tied at 35 after regulation time, Middleton outscored Acadia 6-5 in the two-minute overtime. Middleton then dropped the Normal College from Truro 38-32 and finally defeated the Stad Wrens 43-19.
Leading the Ladies in scoring were Kaye Peppard – 76 points, Pat Walsh – 43 points, Esther Crawford – 21 points, Marie Parks – 8 points and Maxine Aldred – 4 points. Special notice should be given to the four guards (who, under the rules of the time, were not allowed to score): Jocelyn Fraser, Ruth Sanford, Maureen Wheelock and Margaret Curry, all of whom turned in top- notch performances.
The Nova Scotia Intermediate title was a fitting tribute to the Middleton Ladies for a fine team effort all the way and breezed to an excellent 14 win, 2 loss season.
