The provincials continued to operate with a regional format, with four finalists qualifying for the provincials.
In the wildcard games: …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders dispatched the Winnipeg Daniel McIntyre Maroons x-x. The Maroons included Murray Gofredo, Howard Burston, Waldy Goertzen, Medel Gofredo, Dean Saunders. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Kildonan East Reivers clubbed the Winnipeg Sturgeon Creek Schooners 75-37. The Schooners included Jeff Mitchell, Mike McLean, Dennis Bell, Al Naugh.
In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Westwood Warriors thrashed the Winnipeg College Louis Riel Voyageurs 94-60. The Voyageurs included Chuck Sabourin, Gary Hannan, Dan Dupasquier. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Tec Voc Hornets clipped the Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen 72-61. The Plains led 31-26 at the half. “We turned it over a lot in the second half,” Plainsmen coach Kevin Neufeld told the Brandon Sun. “They started putting the pressure on us and we started getting a little tired.” Terry Lamoureaux paced the Hornets with 31. Dale Coulter led the Plainsmen with 20. Rod Sage added 11. The Plainsmen (coached by Kevin Neufeld) also included Martin McFarlane, Bob Learoyd, Warren Watt, Darrel Ewasiuk, Wes Baker, Scott Preston, Rob Walker and Brian Ironstand. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions defeated the Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans 73-68. The Spartans led by one with four minutes to play but folded down the stretch. “I was pleased with the way we played,” Neelin coach Larry Rhodenbush told the Brandon Sun. “We had a chance to win it.” Dan Becker led the Centurions with 24. The Centurions led 42-31 at the half. Kelly Kaminski paced the Spartans with 18. Craig Hendrickson added 14. The Spartans (coached by Larry Rhodenbush) also included Arliss Ricker, Greg Worley, Todd Gilchrist, Bill Grossart, Dave Musgrave, Greg Worley, Brent Dyck, Rich Little, Kent Arrell and Chris Scheel. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders dumped the Winnipeg Kildonan East Reivers 62-43. The Reivers (coached by Ross Wedlake) included Godfrey Brown, Hans Hildebrandt, Troy Baird, Darren Brown, Rui DaCosta, Bill Brown. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Winnipeg St. Paul’s Crusaders clipped the 12th-seeded Winnipeg Kelvin Clippers 72-55 as Dave Filmon scored 24, Paul Kirouac 16 and Rod Seimans 13. Jeff Fletcher paced the Clippers with 17. Mark Jordan added 13. St. Paul’s coach Ken Nieman told the Winnipeg Free Press that his troops didn’t play particularly well. “I really don’t know what was the matter. We weren’t thinking well. Hymie’s (Kelvin coach Fox) players were more intense. They had nothing to lose. If they lost, well, they were supposed to. If they won, they were world beaters.” The Clippers (coached by Hymie Fox) included Mark Jordan, Ron Patterson, Roger Fletcher, Jeff Fletcher. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans edged the Winnipeg St. John’s Tigers 60-58. The Tigers (coached by Bill Wedlake) included Darren Selk, Mike Ross, Steve Granovsky, Lorne Kiss, Alaistair Houston. …………………………………………………… The Selkirk Lord Selkirk Regional Royals clubbed the Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals 67-44. The Royals included Bob Dyce, Joe Perry, Greg Everett, Brock Balog, Eric Kuntz. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Grant Park Pirates defeated the Winnipeg Mennonite Brethren Hawks 90-84. The Hawks included Tim Neufeld, Rudy Dyck, Paul Martens, Lyndon Friesen, Rick Klassen.
In the quarterfinals, the Winnipeg Westwood Warriors defeated Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans 66-53 as Joey Vickery scored 21. Dave Cowie led the Trojans with 12. The Trojans also included Kris Hildebrand, Kenton Firth, Rob Janzen, Gary McIntosh.
The Winnipeg Tec Voc Hornets nipped the Winnipeg St. Paul’s Crusaders 72-71 as Terry Lamoureaux hit the winner at the buzzer. Jason Chopp led the Hornets with 26. Terry Lamoureaux added 20. Dave Filmon led the Crusaders with 24. Rod Seimens added 23. The Crusaders also included Chris Nolette, Rick Siemens, Jacques Nollette, Gerry Filmon.
The Selkirk Lord Selkirk Regional Royals whipped the Winnipeg Grant Park Pirates 96-62 as Dean Goodbrandson scored 26 and Rob Laycock 23. Cliff Umans paced the Pirates with 22. The Pirates also included Kevin Pommer, Brian Ferris.
In the last quarterfinal, the Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders defeated the Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions 58-51 as Dean Patzer scored 18 and Kent Kowalski 14. Dan Becker paced the Centurions with 17. The Centurions (coached by Kevin Rowan, assisted by Rob St. Germain) also included Chris Adam, Jamie Brown, Craig McFeetors, Dennis Friesen, Perry Wong, Nicky Lewis, Chiedu Odiatu, Fred Solomon.
In the semis, the Winnipeg Westwood Warriors defeated the Winnipeg Tec Voc Hornets 86-66 as 6-6 post Murray Gehman scored 22 and 5-7 guard Joey Vickery 27. Clive Griffiths led Tec Voc with 20. Terry Lamoureaux and Jason Chopp each added 17. Gehman told the Winnipeg Free Press that “I knew this game was going to be physical.” Vickery said “Coach Guss told us to work it inside and that opened up the outside for shooting.” Guss noted that “we tried to keep the clock running. We wanted to get into our offence more but we had to take what they gave us. We broke it open in the third quarter when we adjusted our pressure to take it away from the middle. But Joey was phenomenal. What else can I say?”
In the other semi, the Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders defeated the Selkirk Lord Selkirk Regional Royals 54-51. Oak Park led 14-12 at the quarter, 28-23 at the half and 41-36 at the three-quarter mark. Raiders coach Randy Kusano said “we tried to slow them down and shoot well.” The game was tied at 51 when Joe Kostyniuk was fouled by Dean Goodbrandson and hit one of two free throws. Goodbrandson missed a 15-footer, Kostyniuk rebounded and Ken Kowalski hit two insurance free throws with 8 seconds to play. Dean Patzer led Winnipeg Oak Park with 16 points. Burton Cummings added 12 and Chris Adam 11. Goodbrandson and Rob Laycock scored 18 apiece for Selkirk. Kusano said Selkirk’s Bill Burrows “really hurt us in the first half, so we concentrated on stopping him in the second.” Burrows finished with 9 points.
In the all St. James Conference final, the top-seeded Winnipeg Westwood Warriors and Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders squared off for the seventh time during the season. The Warriors had won 5 of 6 in games between the pair during the season and again prevailed, by a 66-57 count. Murray Gehman led Westwood with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Joey Vickery added 17 and Rick Downey 12. Chris Adam led the Raiders with 21. Dean Patzer added 14 and grabbed 13 rebounds. Gehman told the Winnipeg Free Press that “I had butterflies all day before the game. But they went away once the game started. I thought our outside shooting was extremely good, especially Vickery. He took a lot of the pressure of me. They couldn’t just sag on me. They had to watch him too.” Coach Dave Guss noted that Winnipeg Oak Park “played a helluva game. Joey and Murray did it all year for us, and they came through again. But I have to give the rest of the team credit too. They all did everything that was asked of them. They met every challenge that came their way all year long.”
The all-tournament team featured: MVP Murray Gehman (Westwood); Joey Vickery (Westwood); Cliff Umans (Grant Park); Terry Lamoureux (Tec Voc); Bill Burrows (Selkirk); and Dean Patzer (Oak Park)
The co-bronze medalist Selkirk Lord Selkirk Regional Royals: Dean Goodbrandson; Rob Laycock; Bill Burrows; Russ Carriere; Al MacLaren; Chris Hildebrand; Kenton Frith; coach Peter Gerbrandt
The co-bronze medalist: Winnipeg Tec Voc Hornets: Terry Lamoureaux; Jason Chopp; Clive Griffiths; Werner Wicha; Robert Grycko; Donnell Wiley; Jessie Capistrano; Hugh Gordon; Brian Trickett; Mike McKenzie; Jon Djekic; Dana Shelby; coach Vic Kirdei; manager Mark Kowalchuk; manager Ashley Gay; manager Bonnie Stewart
The silver medalist Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders: Dean Patzer; Joe Kostyniuk; Ken Kowalski; Burton Cummings; Chris Adam; Brian Hunter; John King; Kent Kowalski; Greg Swalwell; coach Randy Kusano
The gold medalist Winnipeg Westwood Warriors: Murray Gehman; Joey Vickery; Rick Downey; Todd Dann; Derek Patton; Kam Ahluwalia; coach Dave Guss; assistant George Rugg