In the zone 8-15 playoffs, the Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans dispatched the Swan River Swan Valley Tigers 68-56. “It was 7-0 before we got our first bucket, and then we were down 12-2,” said Tigers coach Kevin Carter told the Swan Valley Star & Times. “It was a slow start, and that was the hole (we dug ourselves) that we were not able to overcome at the end.” Carter a poor shooting start undid his troops. “It’s more frustrating than anything. It gets us off our game, and we spend most of the game trying to figure out how to get back into it. We came out flat. We said all the right things, but it doesn’t really mean anything if you don’t get the start you’re looking for. … Neelin has always had that big aura about them, and we’ve always played them at least once this time of year. I’ve said we were ready to play, but we didn’t really show that through the first three or four minutes. If we would have came out with a half decent start. I think it would have been a really good game.” Neelin led by as many as 20 in the first half. “We talked at half time that there’s only two ways for this to go – we can either roll over and die or get out there and try to claw our way back into it,” said Carter. “We got off to a strong start in the second half and got some momentum rolling, but it seemed every time we got something going, we had a couple of turnovers or a couple of calls that didn’t go our way.” Melissa Johnson led the Tigers with 14. Whitney Fried, Nicole Vestby and Kelsey Hart each added 6. …………………………………………………… In the zone 4-13 playoffs, the Beausejour Edward Schreyer Barons dusted the Sanford Sabres 72-38.
In the quarterfinals, held at Winnipeg Westgate, the top-seeded St. Norbert Celtics whipped the 8th-seeded Beausejour Edward Schreyer Barons 71-44. Jamie Semchuk was chosen player of the game for the Celtics, while Chrissy Hildebrand earned the laurels for the Barons.
The 4th-seeded Thompson R.D. Parker Trojans defeated the 5th-seeded Winnipeg Westgate Mennonite Wings 62-55. Courtney McKay was chosen player of the game for the Trojans, while Nicole Peters earned the laurels for the Wings.
The 3rd-seeded Swan River Swan Valley Tigers thumped the 6th-seeded Winnipeg Linden Christian Wings 68-42. Laura Alford earned player of the game laurels for the Tigers, while Kaleigh Trask earned the laurels for the Wings.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans crushed the 7th-seeded Flin Flon Hapnot Kopper Kweens 49-26. Jessica Decter earned player of the game laurels for the Spartans, while Cybil Fischer earned the laurels for the Kopper Kweens.
In the semis, the top-seeded St. Norbert Celtics whipped the 4th-seeded Thompson R.D. Parker Trojans 58-37. Elisa Anderson earned player of the game honours for the Celtics.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans dumped the 3rd-seeded Swan River Swan Valley Tigers 50-33. Stephanie Lacey-Avon was chosen player of the game for the Spartans, while Marcie Schabert earned the laurels for the Tigers. Tigers coach Kevin Carter told the Swan River Star and Times that “I thought that game could have went either way. We got off to a slow start again, but we didn’t get as far behind as we did in the interzone. We stormed back and it was a one-point game there for a bit, and we actually took the lead a couple of times.” In the end, though, Neelin built its lead up to 10 points early in the second half and maintained it to the final buzzer.
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded Swan River Swan Valley Tigers spanked the 4th-seeded Thompson R.D. Parker Trojans 59-42. Melissa Johnson was chosen player of the game for the Tigers. Tigers coach Kevin Carter told the Swan River Star and Times that “after the loss in the semi, when everyone was down after the goal of reaching the final was over, we had to try and collect our thoughts and play another tough game the next day. I think our girls responded well, and it was one of our better games all year. It was good to finish on a high note. The girls were working hard and having fun. … Some of the girls mentioned that to me, by getting a silver medal (after losing the provincial final), it was like someone gave something to you. This way (by winning the bronze-medal game), they felt they earned something a little more, and winning their last game.”
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans nipped the top-seeded St. Norbert Celtics 63-59 to capture their second consecutive title. Stephanie Lacey-Avon was chosen player of the game for the Spartans, while Teresa McMullan earned the laurels for the Celtics.
The bronze medalist Swan River Swan Valley Tigers: Laura Alford; Marcie Schabert; Courtney Dubyk; Sarah Soprovich; Ali Maidy; Ariel Kern; Melissa Johnson; Mirissa Kalynuk; Jessie Foster; Kendal Hart; Kelsie Hart; Caitlyn Lucan; Nicole Vestby; Whitney Fried; coach Kevin Carter; coach Al Maidy; teacher liaison Ken Khadekin
The silver medalist St. Norbert Celtics: Jamie Semchuk; Elisa Anderson; Teresa McMullan; Danielle Saurette; Chantal LeBlanc; Zoe Sullivan; Dayna Schulz; Kelsey Dorge; Sherri Backlun; Brooke Semchuk; Amie Seier; Tessa Harvey; Dallas Buhr; coach Denis Marinelli; coach Colin Ritchie; coach Michelle Stone; trainer Kelly Heintz; statistician Britny Laurencelle; statistician Allyson Greene
The gold medalist Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans: Jessica Decter; Stephanie Lacey-Avon; Nikki Ragush; Stephanie Couturier; Britta Albrecht; Jessica Jonasson; Raine Kearns; Chelsea Easter; Katlin Mallette; Jessi-Beth McCannell; Alise Gaiser; Dominique Bouche; coach Dwight Kearns; coach Warren Watt; manager Lawrie Hammersley