In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The host Burnaby Cariboo Hill Chargers defeated the Fraser Lake Cougars 60-46 as Brian Clements scored 22. The Cougars included Andrew Zawada. …………………………………………………… The Victoria St. Michaels University Jaguars defeated the Kelowna Okanagan Mission Huskies 79-47 as L Bradley scored 18. Barry Olsen led the Huskies with 15. The Huskies also included Rob Geisthardt. …………………………………………………… The Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Vikings crushed the South Slocan Mount Sentinel Wildcats 71-35 as Vaughn Mueller scored 14. P Hennely led the Wildcats with 10. The Wildcats also included Jason Wishlow. …………………………………………………… The Vernon Clarence Fulton Maroons spanked the Comox Highland Raiders 71-53 as Richard Bothe scored 17. Kevin Jangula led the Raiders with 17. The Raiders also included Sandy Grant Nick Greengoe. …………………………………………………… The Aldergrove Totems whacked the Smithers Gryphons 106-41. The Gryphons (coached by Joe Toner) included Robert Morris, Danny Blue, John Shorter, Wayne Mayner, Richie Lester, Jamie Ford, Sarenno Madia, Jacques Losier. …………………………………………………… The Port Hardy Whalers stunned the 2nd-seeded Vancouver St. Patrick’s Celtics 67-65 as C Klassen scored 23. “Our guys (Whalers) don’t like to play games unless they’re close,” Port Hardy coach Tom Mason told the Vancouver Sun. “I don’t even feel nervous any more when we get into a game like that because it has happened so many times this year.” Cory Klassen gave Port Hardy a 65-62 lead with 15 seconds left by nailing two free throws. The Whalers hit two more free ones a few seconds later before St. Pats closed out the scoring with a late trey. “I wasn’t that sure about my shooting at the beginning of the year but lately I’ve become pretty confident,” said Klassen, who scored 25. “We thought before the tournament that if we could win the first game, we could win it all. It’s going to be tough but anything is possible now.” Klassen called the win “sweet revenge” after St. Patrick’s thumped Port Hardy by 26 points in a January tournament. Mason told the North Island Gazette “it was back and forth the whole way and we ran for 10 straight points in the third quarter. We fouled out two of their players in the last five minutes and that made the difference in the game.” P Dasilea paced the Celtics with 23. The Celtics also included Luke O’Loughlin, Fred Apolinario. …………………………………………………… The Clearwater Raiders stunned the 7th-seeded Dawson Creek Bethel Christian Lions 61-60 as Richard Shipley scored 27. Nathan Penny led the Lions with 13. …………………………………………………… The West Vancouver Sentinel Wildcats whipped the Invermere David Thompson Lakers 108-60. The Lakers included Hi Brooks, Mike Hickey.
In the quarterfinals, the Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Vikings defeated the Victoria St. Michaels University Jaguars 51-42. “We have a great bunch of guys on the team who work hard and that’s what’s going to win it for us,” Mueller told the Vancouver Sun. “It was a long trip down here (from Vanderhoof). It really took a lot out of us but it would have been an even longer ride back if we hadn’t won.” Vikings coach Mike Murphy, who’d toiled for the Richmond Colts and coach Bill Drisbow in the 1975 final, said “we had some trouble with St. Michaels but as soon as we started getting the ball into Vaughn (Mueller’s) hands that was it. In my mind there isn’t a better single A player in the province than Vaughn.” Viking forward Vaughn Mueller scored 18, including a critical jumper that made it 48-42 and quelled a Jaguars rally. Walt Prevedello added 14 and Rob Dick 11. “It was a tough game,” Vikings coach Mike Murphy told the Prince George Citizen. “The nine-point spread flattered us a little bit. We scored about eight of those in the last 15 seconds.” John Graf led the Jaguars with 12. Dan Duke added 12. The Jaguars (coached by Bill Greenwell) also included Locke Bradley, Conan Purves, Steve Rohh, Hamish Greig, John Marshall, Andrew Greig, Paulo Campillo, Rick Picard, Bobby Ross and Mike Joss.
The Burnaby Cariboo Hill Chargers dumped the Vernon Clarence Fulton Maroons 73-59 as Brian Clements scored 24. Sean Milliken led the Maroons with 25. The Maroons also included Jason Cawkell, Richard Bothe.
The West Vancouver Sentinel Spartans defeated the Port Hardy Whalers 83-77 as Mark Watson scored 24. Whalers coach Tom Mason told the North Island Gazette that “we played the best basketball of the year during the first half and had a 51-38 lead. We figured we had the game in the bag. But they came out hot and beat us badly in the third quarter. We also missed four fouls shots in the latter part of the game and turned the ball over twice. We could’ve won the game.” Daryl MacDonald paced the Whalers with 14. Cory Klassen added 14. The Whalers (coached by Tom Mason) also included Per Humle, Tony Jackson, Jason Gaunt, Colin Lang, Don Renwick, Ross Demmings, Nathan Thornton, Chris Hartnell, Chris Webb, Jason Dunlop.
In the last quarterfinal, the Aldergrove Totems dispatched the Clearwater Raiders 73-45 as Joe Yurick scored 18 and Jim MacDonald 17, including a trio from beyond the arc. Richard Shipley led the Raiders with 19.
In the semis, 6-4 centre Brian Clements hit for 25 as the Burnaby Cariboo Hill Chargers thumped the Langley Aldergrove Totems 74-58 after taking a 24-4 lead in the first quarter with their aggressive play. Joe Yurick paced the Totems with 17.
In the other semi, the West Vancouver Sentinel Spartans defeated the Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Vikings 65-62 as Derek Christiansen scored 21 and Shane Gray 6. Vanderhoof was paced by player of the game Vaughn Mueller’s 24. Robert Dick added 20. “We played, I thought, a great game,” Vikings coach Mike Murphy told the Prince George Citizen. “They (Sentinel) were tough. They hit some shots at the end when it counted.”
In the bronze medal match, the Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Vikings dispatched the Langley Aldergrove Totems 66-51 as Chris Brinnen scored 24. Jim MacDonald led the Totems with 26. The Totems led 33-30 at the half. The Totems (coached by George Bergen) also included Joe Yurick, Mike Parkes, Chris Allen.
In the final, ranked number one and hosting the tourney, but appearing in its first ever B.C. provincial playoffs, the Burnaby Cariboo Hill Chargers capped a magical season by winning the crown after playing the entire year with the motto “an hour of (practice) a day, wins single A.’ Cariboo Hill shook off the number one curse and captured the crown with 74-62 win over the West Vancouver Sentinel Spartans. It was quite an achievement making its first appearance in the provincials. The Chargers appeared headed for trouble midway through the third quarter when, leading 39-36, tournament MVP Brian Clements and forward Greg Traub each picked up their fourth foul with seven minutes left in the quarter. But subs David Hargreaves and Alberto Sandoval held their own as Cariboo Hill took a 52-47 lead into the final quarter. Twin guards Mike and Colin Davis kept the team and they gave firmly in control in the final frame as Cariboo Hill breezed to a 74-62 victory. Clements finished with 18. Shane Gray paced Sentinel with 16. Cariboo Hill coach Mark Prinster noted that “it was the first time our bench had to come through and boy did they ever. They didn’t just hold the lead, they stretched it out a little. We wanted that game so bad and the guys just couldn’t let it get away.” Guard Colin Davis noted that “the power of our team comes from the balance attack that we have.” Colin and twin brother Mike practiced all summer, coining the phrase ‘an hour a day, wins single A’. “Brian (Clements) provides us with an inside game and we try to do it from the outside,” he added. Sentinel coach Ken Scherk lamented a second runner-up finish. “Always a bridesmaid,” Scherk’s Spartans had lost to Pitt Meadows in the 1983 final. “That was a heart-breaker but we lost this ball game on the foul line, where our guys missed 13 front-end free throws.”
The bronze medalist Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Vikings: Vaughn Mueller; Chris Brinnen; Rob Dick;
The silver medalist West Vancouver Sentinel Spartans: Mark Watson; Derek Christiansen; Shane Gray; coach Ken Scherk
The gold medalist Burnaby Cariboo Hill Chargers: Brian Clements; Greg Traub; David Hargreaves; Alberto Sandovall; Mike Davis; Colin Davis; coach Mark Prinster