In the interzone playoffs, the Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen clipped the Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs 56-46 as Ashley Creighton scored 14, Nicole Syntak 14 and Sigourney Burrell 8. Heather Bray led the Zodiacs with 13. Kristen Kehler added 10.
In the wildcard game, the Winnipeg Kelvin Clippers defeated the Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs x-x.
In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Winnipeg Sisler Spartans defeated the 9th-seeded Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen 63-44 as Kristine Zatoysky scored 13. Danna Rudniski led the Plainsmen with 23. Ashley Creighton added 8. The Plainsmen (coached by Barb Coulter) also included Sigourney Burrell, Nicole Syntak, Hailey Connor, Shanda Veldhuisen. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions defeated the Winnipeg J.H. Bruns Broncos 76-33. …………………………………………………… The 11th-seeded Winnipeg Kelvin Clippers upset the 6th-seeded Winnipeg River East Kodiaks 51-48. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Winnipeg Miles Macdonell Buckeyes defeated the 10th-seed Brandon Vincent Massey Vikings 67-53 as Sokron Chhoeun scored 18. Danielle Hargreaves led the Vikings with 20. Jennalee Burch added 12. The Vikings (coached by Dave Malowski) also included Celeste Taylor, Brittany Gibson, Lisa Rowley, Amber Bauman, Tara Purvis.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Winnipeg Daniel McIntyre Maroons defeated the 8th-seeded Winnipeg Sisler Spartans 48-38. The Spartans included Christine Zatorsky.
The 5th-seeded Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions upset the 4th-seeded Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders 65-61. The Raiders (coached by Murray Brown) included Sabrina Barnes, Katie Lafreniere, Holly Kitchen, Sam Breakenridge, Hillary Johnson.
The 3rd-seeded Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans defeated the 11th-seeded Winnipeg Kelvin Clippers 57-27. The Clippers included Katie Hall, Heather Gray.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seed Winnipeg Dakota Lancers crushed the 7th-seeded Winnipeg Miles Macdonell Buckeyes 68-47. The Buckeyes included Laura Ruta.
In the semis, the top-seeded Winnipeg Daniel McIntyre Maroons defeated the 5th-seeded Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions 39-27. “This is very big for our school, it’s so exciting, I’m just overwhelmed!” Maroons point guard Eleanor Topacio told the Winnipeg Free Press. “We started to press, we got a few steals and the momentum changed right there. And we pulled it through.” Leading 26-22 late in the second half, the Maroons broke the game on a Topacio trey, followed by a bucket from Maroon player of the game Anousone Kosanouvong, scored 13. “Their press was an irritant for us throughout the game, that’s the best way to put it,” said Lions coach Bryan Kornberger. “We played against one heck of a basketball team. But our players wore the uniform proudly for us and did a great job.” Maroons coach Brad Purpur said his team’s speed just wore down the Lions. “Our speed is the biggest part of our game and we knew if we could keep it up, they’d just get tired. We can last a whole game in a full-court press. At DMCI there’s high expectations in basketball with both the boy’s program (provincial champions in 2001) and in our program. I wouldn’t say excellence is expected but our girls put a lot of pressure on themselves to do well and they did a great job here tonight.”
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans dumped the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Dakota Lancers 65-55. The Lancers led 30-27 at the half but the Trojans opened the second frame with a 16-3 run featuring a pair of treys from Jenny Ezirim. “Our coaches are always telling us that the first five minutes of the half sets the tone for the rest of it,” Ezirim, who scored 20 and was chosen Trojan player of the game, told the Winnipeg Free Press. “This was great for our team because we lost to Dakota in the conference playoffs and we’ve played each other so many times.” Wande Olude led the Trojans with 15. Laura Delavau paced the Lancers with 15, all on treys.
In the final, the 3rd-seeded Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans upset the top-seeded Winnipeg Daniel McIntyre Maroons 56-54. Tournament MVP Jenny Ezirim scored 16 while delivering a masterful performance at the point. Eleanor Topacio paced the Maroons with 28, including 8 treys. Trojans forward Wande Olude, who scored 12 and blocked a number of shots, told the Winnipeg Free Press that “it’s just a tremendous feeling to win. Daniel Mac played us so tough, as expected, with all the threes. The key for us tonight was staying calm. They’re a great defensive team, they double-teamed me a lot, which meant we just had to find the open person.” The Maroons led most of the first half as perimeter shooters Topacio, Jackie Lou Juanillo, Anousone Kosanouvong and Michelle Amonte lit it up from the arc. The momentum shifted in the second half when Ezirim hit a trey to knot the score at 39. Massey stretched the lead to as much as eight points with key buckets from Andrea Polischuk, Kira Macleod, Olude and Ezirim. “In the first half we were trying to play their game but the big change for us in the second half was that we started to slow the game down to our place and set up our offence,” said Trojans coach Tara Kelly. “Our team really came together in the game. I’m very, very proud of this team.” The outcome was decided with 5.9 seconds to play when Kira McLeod pilfered the ball. “I was just focused on trying to get a hand on the ball, it was a very exciting finish, I’m just shaking,” said Macleod.
The co-bronze medalist Winnipeg Dakota Lancers: Laura Delavau; Leigh-Anne Legal-Young;
The co-bronze medalist Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions: Larlee Sapoznik; Amanda Kardal; Melanie Schlicter; Britt Harvey; coach Bryan Kornberger
The silver medalist Winnipeg Daniel McIntyre Maroons; Anousone Kosnouvong; Eleanor Topacio; Jackie Lou Juanillo; Michelle Amonte; Madelaine Calanza; Kristine Legaspi; coach Brad Purpur
The gold medalist Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans: Jenny Ezerim; Allison Degroot; Erin Beaudry; Kira Macleod; Sara Gowan; Brittany Hilton; Amanda Green; Andre Polischuk; Shannon Longclaws; Melissa Chichlowski; Olawande Olude; Bridget O’Brien; coach Tara Kelly; coach John Fagan; assistant Jen Parisian; assistant Erin Kelly; manager Gillian Anderson