Maritime women's basketball league just weeks away from third season tipoff

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The 2024 regular season of the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association is just over a month away as New Brunswick’s four clubs look to get their players ready.

Before the season starts, the four local teams will play an exhibition tournament from April 27-28 in St. Stephen called Battle at the Border presented by McDonald’s. The tournament aims to raise awareness for the World’s Oldest Basketball Court project.

The Fredericton Freeze, the Port City Fog, the Moncton Mystics, and the upstart Miramichi Her-icanes will all play.

Following the tournament, regular season games will begin on May 2 with Miramichi playing Port City. Fredericton will have its season opener on May 4 against Moncton.

The Freeze had a solid second season last year, finishing with a 7-3 record, second in the league going into the Legacy Cup championship tournament. They reached the semifinals where they lost to the Fog, and then lost to the Halifax Hornets in the bronze medal game.

According to the team’s Facebook page, they began having open gyms on March 17, and will host tryouts on April 13 and 14. Kevin Daley will return as head coach of the team.

They’ll also play out of a new home, playing their home games at the Richard J. Currie Centre on the University of New Brunswick Fredericton campus.

The Port City Fog are also looking to make further strides, following last year’s playoff run.

Port City was third in the regular season last year with a 5-5 record, and was led by MVP Kaylee Kilpatrick. In the Legacy Cup, they went on a run to reach the championship game before coming up just short, falling to the Halifax Thunder.

Madeline Belding will return to the bench as head coach for another year.

This will be the third season in the league’s short history. It features high-level women’s basketball players from university players, to former professionals.

Going into 2024, the Mystics will be led by a new face on the bench. The league announced that Troy Mackenzie has been named the Mystics newest head coach, replacing Jillian Smith.

Mackenzie has been a veteran coach in the Moncton area, coaching at the high school level for 14 years in several schools.

In his last seven years at the high school level, he coached Moncton High’s girls’ basketball team until the 2020-2021 season. He led the Purple Knights to two New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association Final 12.

He is also a recipient of the Peg McAleenan Coach of the Year award.

Mackenzie said he’s been following the Mystics since the league started up.

“I am a competitive coach, for sure, so I like to compete at a high level. I think it’s going to be interesting to learn how to coach in a different light,” said Mackenzie.” I’m used to coaching girls who are 16, 17, 18 years old, and this situation is going to be very different.”

Last season, Moncton finished tied for fourth in the regular season at 4-6, but lost in the Legacy Cup quarterfinals.

The Her-icanes are the new kids on the block heading into the 2024 season. They were officially introduced as a team back in January, adding a seventh team to the league, the other being the Lake City 56ers from Windsor, N.S.

Miramichi previously hosted a pre-season game last season. They will play their home games at Miramichi Valley High School.