In the zone 4-15 playoff, the Winkler Garden Valley Zodiaks clipped the Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen 70-58 as Janessa Penner scored 32 and Alex Bergman 15. Kortney Stanley led the Plainsmen with 27. Lindsay Hunter added 12 and Melissa Kunzelman 10. The Plainsmen also included Ashley Hatch, Tara Jago, Sarah McCharles, Carla Howard.
In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Winnipeg Sisler Spartans defeated the 8th-seeded Winnipeg Miles Macdonell Buckeyes 80-66. The Buckeyes (coached by Chris Chartier) included Kait Flett, Riley Epp. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders defeated the 12th-seeded Winkler Garden Valley Raiders 75-49. …………………………………………………… The 11th-seeded Winnipeg Shaftesbury Titans defeated the 6th-seeded Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans 59-51. The Trojans (coached by Stacy Yeul) included Laura Churley, Claire Willerton, Sarah Penner, Christine Sharrow, Jaclyn Greening. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Winnipeg River East Kodiaks defeated the 10th-seeded Winnipeg Silver Heights Huskies 70-38. The Huskies included Marie-Lynne Richard.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions defeated the 9th-seeded Winnipeg Sisler Spartans 73-61. The Spartans included Joyce Nortey.
The 4th-seeded Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions defeated the 5th-seeded Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders 61-52. The Raiders included Laura Morton, Jessica Stromberg, Amy Ogidan, Lauren Gavrailoff, Belinda Sachvie.
The 3rd-seeded Winnipeg John Taylor Pipers dumped the 11th-seeded Winnipeg Shaftesbury Titans 55-38. The Titans included Kate Leitch.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Dakota Lancers defeated the 7th-seeded Winnipeg River East Kodiaks 55-49. The Kodiaks (coached by Jen Price and Kristin Asmundson) included Jackie Lester, Erin Visch-Krahn.
In the semis, the 3rd-seeded Winnipeg John Taylor Pipers defeated the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Dakota Lancers 61-55 in overtime as Ashley Morris hit 6-8 from the line in the extra session. “I was missing them (free throws) earlier but I really took a deep breath, focused and they went in,” Morris told the Winnipeg Free Press. The Pipers led at the half but Winnipeg Dakota opened the second frame with a 10-0 run to take a 27-24 lead after 3.5 minutes of play. Neither team led by more than five through the remainder of the half. Winnipeg Dakota led 48-43 with 2:40 to play but the Pipers rallied back and Ashley Morris hit two free throws in 14 seconds left on the clock to force overtime. In the extra session, the Pipers took the lead for good midway through overtime and then iced it by hitting 5-6 from the line. Ashley Morris paced the Pipers with 21 points. Sara McDonald added 14, along with 18 boards. Krystal Hathaway scored 11. Tremaine Francis nabbed 17 boards. Sarah Reilly had 23 points and 22 boards for the Lancers. Kaitlyn Irvine scored 13 and Leigh-Anne Legal-Young 10 points and 10 boards.
In the other semi, the 4th-seeded Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions upset the top-seeded Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions 67-57. The score was tight for most of the affair. Winnipeg Fort Richmond led 32-31 at the half. Winnipeg Fort Richmond broke it open with five minutes to play when they exploded to a 59-50 lead on a rally triggered by a Caity Gooch trey and coasted home. Jen Foster hit a critical jumper to ensure the win with a minute to play. Kayla Klassen hit four treys for the Centurions. Klassen and Foster paced Winnipeg Fort Richmond with 19 apiece. Stephanie Olford added 12 and Tolu Iielboye 22. Foster added 13 boards and Ilelboye 12. Georgia Harvey paced Winnipeg Dakota with 24 points. Allie Butz scored 12, as did Rachel Parsons. Bryanne Hogue grabbed 9 boards. “I feel amazing. It’s a great accomplishment,” 5-9 post Olford told the Winnipeg Free Press. “We had some big outside shooting but we really crashed the boards and that’s what we’d been keying on in practice because we knew Glenlawn has big players. It’s just the best, considering they were No. 1 and we were No. 4 and we beat them.” Georgia Harvey led the Lions with 24. Allie Butz added 12 and Rachel Parsons 12.
In the final, the 3rd-seeded Winnipeg John Taylor Pipers defeated the 4th-seed Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions 69-64 as tournament MVP Ashley Morris scored 33. “It’s amazing, the players on our team played awesome defence and this is the best feeling in the world,” Morris told the Winnipeg Free Press. “We just wanted it so bad. It’s just awesome to finish it off.” The Centurions led 30-28 at the half and went on 10-2 run ignited by a Stephanie Olford trey midway through the second half to take a 61-54 lead. But the Pipers responded with an 11-0 run and then put the game away with a 15-3 run. “Ashley Morris just takes the team on her shoulders,” said Pipers coach Jana Taylor. “She willed us to win that game, it’s just unbelievable. I’ve never seen an individual performance in a high school game like that. That was astonishing. As soon as Ashley Morris starts to make those plays, everyone else just follows in right behind her. I knew our kids, down five, down eight, I knew we weren’t done. These kids have so much heart.” Kayla Klassen paced the Centurions with 17. Jen Foster added 15, along with 10 boards and 3 blocks, Olford 11 and Tolu Ilelboye 13 boards and 3 blocks. “That’s the thing with John Taylor, even when we had that run, we weren’t safe because Ashley can go to the basket, draw fouls and score,” said Fort Richmond coach Allison Laferty. “It’s a young team and we showed a lot of composure to get this far.” Piper coaches Taylor and Susie Laping were teammates on the last Piper team to win the crown, in 1994. “The last time we won was with our coaches and it’s just an awesome feeling to win it for them,” said Piper Tanysha Robinson, who scored 11. “We played so well on defence and we know that when we play good defence, we get intensity and we bring it all back to offence.”
The co-bronze medalist Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions: Georgia Harvey; Allie Butz; Rachel Parsons; Bryanne Hogue; Amanda Lamoureux; Caity Gooch; coach Bryan Kornberger; assistant Jane Edstrom
The co-bronze medalist Winnipeg Dakota Lancers; Sarah Reilly; Kaitlyn Irvine; Leigh-Anne Legal-Young; coach Ray Houssin
The silver medalist Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions: Jen Foster; Kayla Klassen; Tolu Illelaboye; Steph Olford;
The gold medalist Winnipeg John Taylor Pipers: Tanysha Robinson; Carly Muth; De Nel Johnson; Sandra Morton; Tremaine Francis; Krystal Hathaway; Ashley Morris; Chelsea Breland; Hayley Baker; Sara MacDonald; Brenna Philp; Katryna Robinson; coach Susie Laping; coach Jana Taylor