FREDERICTON - Eight young basketball players from northern New Brunswick have proven it's possible to triumph over tragedy.
The Bathurst High School boy's basketball team has won the provincial AA final, just a year after a horrible accident claimed the lives of seven players and the wife of their former coach.
The crowd at the Aitken Centre in Fredericton erupted in jubilation Saturday afternoon as the Phantoms beat the Campobello Vikings 82-50.
Bradd Arseneault, who survived the January 2008 crash, scored 25 points during the game, wearing the number 7 of his late friend Nathan Cleland.
After their program was shut down last year, the Bathurst team pulled off a sports miracle this year, running up an impressive record of 35-3, including 26 wins in an row heading into the provincial championship.
John McLaughlin, superintendent of the Bathurst School District, says it's been an emotional year, but the boys have brought a lot of joy to the school and community.
