In the wild card game, Prince George College Heights defeated the Salmon Arm Gold 67-57, perhaps. Scorekeepers changed the score midway through the second half to give College Heights a 14-point lead, rather than a six-point lead. Salmon Arm coach Ken Hecker protested the outcome to the BC Boys Basketball Association, asking that the game be replayed. But the associaton ruled that time, cost and distance precluded such a replay. The association said on-site officials could not determine the degree of error but acknowledged that mistakes were rampant. No one really knew the final score. With 2.5 minutes to play in the second quarter, Aaron Fujikawa scored to draw Salmon Arm within 28-22. But the scorekeeper gave the points to College Heights. They then added a bucket for College Heights for a player who wasn’t on the floor. They acknowledged the error initially but compounded it by giving College Heights another two points to make it 34-20. Hecker pointed out the miscues to the officials, who stopped the game. The scorekeepers said they’d made an error but didn’t know what it was. The refs let the miscues stand. Hecker told the Salmon Arm Observor that “people even came out of the stands to say an error had been made but the referees refused to change it because they said they didn’t know what the error was.” Later in the second quarter, the scorekeepers failed to notify the refs that Salmon Arm was in the bonus on a foul, so they didn’t get their free throws. Hecker said “that happened again in the second half, so that’s a possible four points that we should have been able to try for. … The players were upset but they controlled it and played hard, trying to overcome the difficult situation. I think the whole situation is unfortunate. It leaves us with a bad taste in our mouth because we feel we should be going to provincials. And it casts a dark cloud over Prince George’s win.” Kent Hecker led the Gold with 20. Will Fazan added 18. The Gold (coached by Ken Hecker) also included Aaron Fujikawa, Brent Layenhorst, Stace Hagel.
In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The Richmond Colts thumped the Prince Rupert Rainmakers 85-58 as Joey DeWit scored 21, Ron Putzi 18 and Rob Rowett 13. Colts coach Bill Drisbow told the Richmond Advance that “I thought the refereeing was ridiculous. Ron (Putzi) said he’d never been fouled so much in a game. Everytime we went inside, we got hammered.” George Mason led the Rainmakers with 16. Robert Gruber added 13. The Rainmakers also included Joseph Woods, Rory Kallappa. Mason said “we sort of let up at the end. I think it was a psychological letdown.” …………………………………………………… The Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Centre Eagles defeated the Steveston Packers 82-66 as Paul Chaffee scored 32 and Rob Koslowsky 24. The Eagles added guard Prentice Lenz, MVP at the BC junior championships a week earlier, to their roster for the draw. Lenz scored 6. Rory Brown paced the Packers with 17. John Roberts added 15. The Packers (coached by Dennis Begin, assistant Terry Dortman) also included Sean Berda, Corey Cooksley, Darrell Grosul, Lee Bouchey, Russ Lawson. …………………………………………………… The Abbotsford Panthers dispatched the Penticton Lakers 88-48 as Mike Jackson scored 17 and Mike Schmid 15. The Panthers broke to a 21-5 lead after one quarter and romped. Cody Allen paced the Lakers with 14. Paul Foreman added 14. The Lakers also included Kurt Witt, Jordan Iannone, Steve Ottewell. …………………………………………………… The Vancouver Lord Byng Grey Ghosts defeated the Victoria Mount Douglas Rams 73-64 as Jason Leslie scored 22 and Erik Rolfsen 17. Tony Nelson led the Rams with 16. The Rams (coached by David Morgan) also included Bill Coutts, Kent Douglas, Keith Atkinson, Jim Derksen, Jory Secter, Jason Budynski, Wade Burbank, Doug Cook, Clayton Disley (sp?), Jason Snider, Stan Foreman and Dennis Morris. …………………………………………………… The Coquitlam Centennial Centaurs thrashed the Trail J.L. Crowe Hawks 74-44 as Cam Aronetz scored 27 and Don Towers 13. Dale Dergousoff led the Hawks with 23. The Hawks also included Chris Dergousoff. …………………………………………………… The Vancouver Killarney Cougars clipped the Saanich Parkland Panthers 70-59 as Norm Pahl and Robbin Burns each scored 12. Ken Crewe paced the Panthers with 17. Jonathan Hunter added 13. The Panthers (coached by Joe Miligan ?sp) also included Paul Landry, Dale Woodman, Paul Dexter, David Lawes (sp?), Jason Grist, Jo Down (sp?), Paul Johnson, Steve Ottewell, Darren (sp?) Udd, Jason Fletcher and Sean Horn (sp?). …………………………………………………… The Quesnel Correlieu Clan edged the 9th-seeded Delta Seaquam Seahawks 63-58 as Dan Ledoux scored 19 and nabbed 17 boards. Clan coach Mike Stevens told the Vancouver Sun that his eight-man squad was “just a little backwoods team.” Dean Bubela iced the win with a pair of free throws in the final seconds. The Clan led 18-17, 38-28 and 47-46 at the quarters. Bob Hoy paced the Seahawks with 21. The Seahawks (coached by Bill Stebbings) also included Rick Gill, Steve Rothmund, Blair Maundrell, Eric Labadie, David Hughs. …………………………………………………… The North Vancouver Windsor Dukes clipped the Prince George College Heights Cougars 65-51 as Kevn Bradshaw scored 24, Paul Lanley 21 and Ian Banks 14, while also nabbing 8 boards against his former teammates. Cliff Cameron led the Cougars with 28. Corey Bachand added 13. The Cougars (coached by Bill Gook) also included Cliff Cameron, Jean-Paul Martin, Mark Ormesherand, Wade Schneider.
In the quarterfinals, the Richmond Colts narrowly escaped the Abbotsford Panthers, winning 63-62 in overtime as Mike Hanik scored a free throw to tie the game at 58 in regulation play and force overtime. Three Colt starts fouled out, including Ron Putzi, Jamie Stone and Rob Rowett. In the extra session, Abbotsford opened with a pair of buckets. But Brian Tait answered with a bucket and 6-2 substitute forward Neil Blake hit a field goal (his only bucket of the game) with a minute to play. Colt Jeff Pereira stole the ball for a runout but lost control of it in a tangle of bodies and it went out of bounds. Drisbow later noted that Pereira was being bumped all the way. “There’s not two times in the season that will be called that way but it has to be the big call.” On the ensuing possession, Panther Doug Nicholas stepped out of bounds on the sideline. One official missed it but the othe caught it. Nicholas reached in on the inbounds play to knock the ball out of Tait’s hands before he’d passed it. He was hit with a technical but Tait missed both free throws. Abbotsford missed a bomb and Richmond hung on for the win. Rowett, Warren Matthews (who was chosen player of the game after coming off the bench) and Brian Tait each scored 12 for the Colts. Matthews told the Richmond Review “that’s the kind of game I like to play in. I wanted it so bad. This is my last season and I had to put it all together in my last game.” Drisbow said “our bench, that’s what did it. … Neil Blake has done the job for us every time he has come in. He’s a good scorer and a good player. … I didn’t do a whole lot of coaching in this one. It was the boys.” Mike Schmid paced the Panthers with 18. Mike Jackson added 13. The Panthers (coached by Norm Bradley) also included Blair Luscombe, Ian Andreason, Mike Hanik, Doug Nicholas.
The Vancouver Lord Byng Grey Ghosts whipped the Quesnel Correlieu Clan 72-55 as Jason Leslie scored 22 and Erik Rolfsen 13. Baljit Sekhon led the Clan with 23. The Clan (coached by Mike Stevens) also included Dan Ledoux, Richard Gauthier, Myles Green, Dean Bubela, Brian Kossey, Tod Anderson, Gerald Risma.
The Clearbrook MEI Eagles clipped the North Vancouver Windsor Dukes 79-65 as Paul Chaffee scored 36 and Rob Schmidt 13. Kevin Bradshaw led the Dukes with 19. The Dukes (coached by Phil Langley) also included Paul Langley, Ian Banks.
In the last quarterfinal, the top-seeded Coquitlam Centennial Centaurs dispatched the 6th-seeded Vancouver Killarney Cougars 80-65 as Cam Aronetz scored 46 and Scott Slacter 15. Ron Arnold led the Cougars with 21. Robbin Burns added 15. The Cougars also included Norm Pahl.
In the semis, Richmond returned to form, thumping the Vancouver Lord Byng Grey Ghosts 87-59 as Joe deWit scored 26 and Ron Putzi 14. Miles Hathaway led the Grey Ghosts with 19. Chris Frye added 14.
In the other semi, the 5th-seeded Clearbrook MEI Eagles upset the top-seeded Coquitlam Centennial Centaurs 60-52 as Paul Chaffee held Centennial star Cam Aronetz to 19. Chaffee noted that he felt intimidated at the start but soon calmed down. He finished with 17. Rob Koslowski added 14, including four from beyond the arc. Don Towers notched 13 for Centennial. “It seems like a dream come true,” Chaffee told the Vancouver Sun. “I was a little intimidated by him (Aronetz) in the first half and was trying to force it but I was okay after I settled down.” Eagles coach Arnie Dick said “it was head-to-head between the two big men all the way. We came into the game wanting to hold Cam (Aronetz) to under 20 points and we did it. The boys executed the game plan perfectly.” Centaurs coach Rich Chambers told the Maple Ridge Tri-City News that “we were never in sync. … (Down the stretch), the kids just panicked. … You cannot win the B.C. championships unless you hit the uncontested 12-footer.” Centaurs guard Larry Ryan said “MEI hit every shot inside and outside. They made us widen out our defence.” Chambers said “sometimes there wree four guys around Cam.” MEI coach Arnie Dick said “it was head-to-head between the two big men all the way. We came into the game wanting to hold Cam under 20 points and we did it.” Chaffee said dominating Aronetz “seemed like a dream come true. I was a little intimidated by him in the first half. But I was okay after I settled down.”
In the bronze medal match, the Vancouver Lord Byng Grey Ghosts dumped the Coquitlam Centennial Centaurs 68-52 (also reported as 67-52) as defensive player of the tournament Jason Leslie scored 25 points and grabbed 15 boards. The Grey Ghosts led 21-9 after one quarter. The Centaurs led 32-30 at the half. The Grey Ghosts led 46-44 after three quarters. The Centaurs were paced by 6-9 centre Cam Aronetz, who scored 19 and grabbed 6 boards. Tony Burlic added 10 and Scott Sclater 10. Centaurs coach Rich Chambers told the Maple Ridge Tri-City News that “the game was irrelevant. The bubble had burst.” The Centaurs also included Don Towers, Mitch Covling, Danny Aitken, Mike Ringrose, Kevin Brunsch, Bryan Killins, Greg Bowie, Darren Turriff and Tony Buric.
The final was a racehorse game featuring Richmond’s man-to-man suffocating defence against Clearbrook MEI’s run and gun offence. The Colts, led by Joe deWit, Brian Tait and Ron Putzi, returned to centre stage to defeat the Eagles 75-70 as Ron Putzi scored 25, Jamie Stone 16, Joey De Wit 14 and guard Warren Matthews 6. Some papers reported that Richmond led 24-19 after one quarter and 39-37 at the half. Others reported that MEI led 30-28 at the half even though Richmond had held post Rob Schmidt to just one three-point field goal. He ultimately finished with 23, while tourney MVP 6-6 centre Paul Chaffee led the Eagles with 26, along with 19 boards. “I’m so happy. This is my whole life,” wept Putzi. “I played the worst games of my life at this tourney until tonight. I wanted to come out and prove something tonight.” Matthews noted that the win was “like getting a hole in one on a 400-year hole. Those of us in grade 12 knew that this was our last kick at the can and we talked about winning it every day.” Colts coach Bill Drisbow shrugged off the title. “I knew all along that we would be here so I’m not really excited about it. I’m just very happy for the kids. They worked hard and really wanted to win out there. I thought we out-toughed them and proved that we are the best defensive team in the province.” Chaffee said he’d rather have the title than the MVP award. “The Award is not really as good as finishing first but it is somewhat satisfying. I was more intense this week than usual so I guess you could say I did it mainly on emotion.” Stone told the Richmond Review “I don’t believe this is happening. We spent too many hours in the gym to believe this is happeneing. We just worked too damn hard. … It was a total effort. Everybody went all out all the time.” Matthews said “I’ve never been so happy. I never fathomed what it would mean to win something like this. … The more I hustle, the more I get to steal the ball for those easy layups. Those are the kind of shots I like to take.” Drisbow told the Review “the problem with Ron (Putzi earlier in the tournament) was that he wanted it more than anything else. He’s the one that brought all these guys here to practice – but when he got on the court, he wanted it so bad, he couldn’t even think out there. … Nobody played better for us than Rob (Rowett) did. That’s not taking away from our other guys. Rob just played a great game. … Joey (deWit) is the best defensive player in the province – nobody else comes close.” MEI coach Arnie Dick was pleased with his troop’s effort. “You have to look past the disappointment of losing the championship. I think our guys played close to their maximum capability and I’m proud of them.”
The 1987 season was also marked by the participation of Tara Gallaway on the Courtenay HS boys’ team. The school did not field a girls’ team and Gallaway insisted on being provided an opportunity to play. School District 71 supported the Grade 11 student’s position. Gallaway went on to star at the U. of Victoria.
The bronze medalist Vancouver Lord Byng Grey Ghosts: Miles Hathaway; Chris Frye; Jason Leslie; coach Reid Auman
The silver medalist Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Eagles: Paul Chaffee; Rob Koslowsky; Rob Schmidt; Scott Pankratz; Prentice Lenz; Matt Loewen; coach Arnie Dick
The gold medalist Richmond Colts: Ron Putzi; Joe DeWit; Brian Tait; Mike Hanik; Jamie Stone; Rob Rowett; Mel Blake; Warren Matthews; Jeff Pereira; coach Bill Drisbow