In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions edged the Winnipeg Nelson McIntyre Maroons 53-49. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Westwood Warriors nipped the Winnipeg St. John’s Tigers 61-58. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders stomped the Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans 50-25. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions dumped the Winnipeg Mennonite Brethren Hawks 58-52 as Angie Adams scored 20 and Kelly Spiers 13. Shannon Ploegman led the Hawks with 27.
In the quarterfinals, the 4th-seeded Brandon Vincent Massey Vikings clocked the 5th-seeded Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions 63-48. The Vikings got a big boost at the end of the first half when Glenda Clark drilled a jumper at the buzzer to give them a 37-29 lead. Clark, who scored 10, told the Brandon Sun that her last-second field goal gave the whole team an important lift. “We had the jitters in the first half but we got a bit of a lead and then I made the shot at the end and we took control from there. I could hear (assistant coach Mike Hill) shouting out the last few seconds, and I just went underneath and shot. We’re told to wait until there’s four second left. I almost waited too long . . . it was a lucky shot, but it went in.” Heather Gibson led the Vikings with 27. Ann Smith added 11. “Ann was on the bench for most of the second half, so it shows the strength of our team,” said Gibson. “We have 11 girls that can play, but some of the other good Winnipeg teams have maybe five or six girls that play. We can use anyone and they all play well.” Angie Adams led the Centurions with 19. Kelly Spiers added 9. The Centurions also included Katherine Berg
The top-seeded Winnipeg Kelvin Clippers dusted the Winnipeg Westwood Warriors 76-46. The Warriors were coached by Dave Guss.
The 3rd-seeded Selkirk Lord Selkirk Royals crushed the Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions 78-63. “We didn’t shoot as much as
usual,” Royals coach Wendy Goodbrandson told the Selkirk Journal. “Glenlawn shot well and played good defense against us.” The Lions led 37-36 at the half after Royals Cara McCandless and Krista Fox found themselves in early foul trouble. The Royals took command in the fourth quarter on the free throw shooting of Sheri Telke, who hit 11-14 from the line. “I told the girls that offense wins games but defense wins championships. We’ll have to be better in the championships.” Telke led the Royals with 27. McCandless added 20 and Fox 20. The Royals hit 31-36 from the line. The Lions (coached by Bryan Kornberger, assisted by Bonnie Allen) included Bev Mitchell.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Dakota Lancers tripped the Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders 62-37. The Raiders (coached by Murray Brown) included Karen Krepart, Tracey Peter, Sandy Newsham.
In the semis, the top-seeded Winnipeg Kelvin Clippers defeated the 4th-seeded Brandon Vincent Massey Vikings 57-49 as 5-11 post Jennifer Bell scored 21 and nabbed 10 boards. Sarah Smith added 16. The Clippers built an early 19-9 lead. The Vikings rallied no closer than 5. “We have such depth on our team,” Bell told the Winnipeg Free Press. “No one person stands out, but the intensity is all there.” Vikings coach Stew Farnell told the Brandon Sun that “it was like there was a lid on their basket. The difference was our shooting, no question. It wasn’t so much our poor percentage as it was us missing the easy ones inside. I don’t think much separates the two clubs. We just fell behind and then we couldn’t sink the sure ones. (Bell) was unbelievable. She was so dominant out there. Great shooter, great passes, so big underneath. She was the whole story for Kelvin.” Ann Smith led the Vikings with 13. Heather Gibson added 8 and Trisha Ward 7. “I must have missed four or five easy one out there,” Smith said. “If those go in, that’s eight or ten points and that was the difference in the game. I don’t know why they (inside shots) weren’t falling in. It doesn’t matter now, but we proved something to these Winnipeg clubs that we won’t be pushed over.”
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Dakota Lancers clipped the 3rd-seeded Selkirk Lord Selkirk Royals 51-46 as Andrea Pales scored 21 and nabbed 20 boards. Sarah Butcher added 12. The Lancers trailed 15-8 early but rallied in the third quarter and then withstood a final Royals push. “I think the whole team wanted to win really badly,” said Sheri Telke, who led the Royals with 21. “That third period really killed us, when we only scored six points. We let the Lancers go to the foul line too much.” Krista Fox added 13 for the Royals. Royals coach Wendy Goodbrandson told the Selkirk Journal that “the girls really gave it all they had, and they had nothing to be ashamed about … I hate to blame the refs, but I wasn’t impressed with their calls in the first half.” The Royals were whistled for 15 fouls in the first half, and the Lancers 4. “We didn’t deserve all those fouls. The refs evened it out in the second half by giving the Lancers 15 fouls, but the damage to us had already been done,” said Goodbrandson. Sheri Telke hit 11 of the Royals first 15 points, including a trio from beyond the arc. But the Lancers rallied within 27-26 at the half. Goodbrandson said “I always felt that the third quarter makes or breaks basketball games, so I knew we were in trouble when Dakota outscored us 14-5 in the quarter.” Foul trouble made the Royals play timidly, she said. Krista Fox attempted to rally the Royals in the final frame as they rallied within three but Dakota hung on. “We had 27 turnovers, and only managed 36 shots,” Goodbrandson said. Sheri Telke said “we may have picked up some bad habits playing in the Kildonan Collegiate Athletic Conference. We made some careless passes against Dakota that we got away with in the KCAC.”
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Dakota Lancers edged the top-seeded Winnipeg Kelvin Clippers 36-33. The Lancers held the Clippers scoreless in the third quarter as they rallied from a nine-point deficit. “Back-to-back and I love it,” tournament MVP Andrea Pales, who scored 17, told the Winnipeg Free Press. “At half time (coach Peter Falk) was telling us that these next 20 minutes would be the last of the year and that they would be ours.” The Lancers zone shut down the Clippers in the second half. “I’m sure when I look back on this season, I’ll remember that we played hard and loved every minute of it,” said Clipper forward Sandy McEwen, who scored 10. “But five minutes after the game when you’ve lost by three points you don’t really think of any of that.” It was Kelvin’s second loss in 28 games during the season, both to Dakota. “They shut us out in the third period, said Clippers coach Hymie Fox. “When we hold a team to 36 points, we should win the game. You never learn anything from something like this.” Falk, a lawyer by trade, said “I learn more from winning like this, from the heart, than from losing. But losing is certainly an emotional experience. It was just an exceptional game.” Falk was elated to win back-to-back titles as a coach, as he did as a player for the Lancers in 1973-74 and 1974-75. “Had I been without the experiences I had as a player I wouldn’t have known some of the hurdles that would come up. When I look at my time at Dakota (as a player) and the team this year it really helped me to understand some of the things that happened. It’s all part of that repeat year syndrome. There’s extra pressure to win it. … I think it took some hardships for the team to gel. I think if we did not lose to Kelvin in the St. Vital tournament it could have been a much different story. From a team point of view, they recognized the direction we had to go in and the coaches did as well. That’s (the loss) when the team sort of hunkered down and came together. It’s much more enjoyable winning as a coach than as a player. I think it’s because you get both parts of it. You get a thrill out of it because you still approach the game as a player. You also get a thrill because you’re part of the preparation. It’s sort of the best of both worlds. … While everyone has to be treated as an individual, everyone needs the basic skills. When you get down to a championship final it’s basic skills and defence that wins you games.”
The co-bronze medalist Brandon Vincent Massey Vikings: Ann Smith; Heather Gibson; Trisha Ward; Tricia Sanders; Glenda Clark; Kendra Gibb; Tiffany Balkwill; Kim Everingham; Anna Choy; Shauna Cook; Rhianne Turner; coach Stew Farnell
The co-bronze medalist Selkirk Lord Selkirk Royals: Sheri Telke; Krista Fox; Tara Hnatiuk; Kristyn Shewchuk; Janet Frolek; Shelly Zapatotsky; Allison Riese; Shayne Lovitt; Jody Peterson; coach Wendy Goodbrandson; manager Jenn Preachuk; manager Cara Potts
The silver medalist Winnipeg Kelvin Clippers: Josee Edwards; Sarah Smith; Jennifer Bell; Sandy McEwen; coach Hymie Fox
The gold medalist Winnipeg Dakota Lancers: Andrea Pales; Sara Butcher; Angie Capek; Kristen Koskie; Andrea Sawchuk; Janet Anderson; Amanda Edmonds; Stacy Yuel; Katie Gajosik; coach Peter Falk; coach Loewen