En route to the provincial tournament, five players and the coach of the Dawson Creek Bethel Christian Lions were killed in a fiery explosion when their van hit a trailer-transport truck on a flat dry stretch of Highway 97 about 50 kilometres north of Prince George. Killed were school principal and coach Ron Pettigrew, 38, his son Danny, 14, his nephew Jeremy Gailey 15, Rodi Gascome, 18, Daryl Slusarchuk, 15 and Martin Walter, 18. The van was part a three-vehicle convoy carrying the team 900-km south to the inaugural provincials in Lillooet. Bethel Christian was renamed Ron Pettigrew Christian in the coach’s honour. The Lions place in the draw was taken by the Pemberton Red Devils.
In the quarterfinals, the Lillooet Wildfire (formerly the Barons) torched the Nakusp Cougars 82-49. The Cougars included Tony Nowak.
The Keremeos Similkameen Sparks stomped the Pemberton Red Devils 102-41. The Red Devils included Ron Renville.
The Vancouver St. Patrick’s Celtics whipped the Hazelton Spartans 69-48. The Spartans (coached by Lisa Thornton) included Richard Sampson, Kevin Mowatt, Nelzon Azak, Reynold Baskin, Wayne Woodcock, James Gray, James Combs, Tony Wilson, Benji Wilson and Chris Campbell.
In the last quarterfinal, the Hope Mustangs dusted the Ucluelet Warriors 117-50. The Warriors included Lawrence Varga.
In the semis, the Keremeos Similkameen Sparks defeated the Hope Mustangs 85-79.
In the other semi, the Vancouver St. Patrick’s Celtics clipped the Lillooet Barons 59-48.
In the bronze medal match, the Lillooet Barons nipped the Hope Mustangs 68-67 as Nelson Edwards scored 18 and Tom Duguid 17. Timothy Sward led the Mustangs with 26. Andrew Cope added 18 and Robert Demmitt 14.
In the final, Keremeos defeated the Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics 69-42. Tournament MVP Jeff Kilduff paced the Sparks with 25. Barry Forner added 17 and Shawn Carter 16. Andrew Barfoot paced the Celtics with 21.
The bronze medalist Lillooet Barons: Nelson Edwards; Tom Duguid;
The silver medalist Vancouver St. Patrick Celtics: Andrew Barfoot; Jorel Querido;
The gold medalist Keremeos Similkameen Sparks: Jeff Kilduff; Shawn Carter; Barry Mowatt; Barry Forner;