In the quarterfinals, held in Lethbridge, Calgary Lester B. Pearson Patriots whipped the Grande Prairie Tomahawks 71-29 as Josh Goertzen scored 27. Brandon Jopp added 11. Justin Alloway paced the Tomahawks with 11. Tomahawks coach Troy Sandboe told the Grande Prairie Herald Tribune that “we were absolutely overwhelmed.” The Tomahawks also included Quinton Williams, Shelby Sawatzky, Jason Viczko, Dean Yakimchuk.
The Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds edged the Taber W.R. Myers Rebels 82-78. The Rebels led 41-33 at the half. Myers struggled to deal with the Thunderbirds patient halfcourt sets. Steve Moore paced the Thunderbirds with 27 points and 12 boards. Chris Horwood added 21 and Lee Channin 20. John Tschritter led the Rebels with 31 points and 19 boards. Ryan Clements added 13 and point guard Bobby Erickson 12, along with 12 boards. The Rebels led 74-71 with four minutes to play when Tschritter fouled out after nabbing an offensive board, pivoting, and knocking out Moore. “Down the stretch they proved they were better than us on the night,” said Rebels coach Chip Koop. “John fouling out really hurt us: I needed him in there’.” T-Birds’ coach Dave Youngs, a former Canada West all-star with the University of Alberta, said Horwood “was great. He gave us leadership, made his free throws and clutch hoops.” The Rebels also included Jared Taylor.
The Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres defeated the Calgary Bishop Carroll Cardinals 80-75 as Phil Cahoon scored 39, including 8 treys. Ryan Marsden added 18. Mike Fitz paced the Cardinals with 25. Greg Montgomery added 23. The Cardinals also included Misi Rose, Rick Peterson.
In the last quarterfinal, the Raymond Comets defeated the Red Deer Lindsay Thurber Raiders 90-61. The Comets broke to a 34-15 lead on the exploits of 6-7 Skousan Harker and romped. Harker finished with 26. Ryan Lamb led the Raiders with 24. “Skouson came out tough and played hard,” said Comet coach Dave Jardine. “He showed he wants to contribute to a provincial run. … To be honest, we didn’t play up to what we have before. I don’t think we did the things we need to do to win this tournament. We’ve got to intensify our level of play and do the good things we’ve done at times this year.” The Raiders (coached by Steve Latta) also included Colin Axelsen, Mike Ing, Jeremy Zollinger, Raymond Sully, Somboun Kammavong, Roby Ryan, Colin Stephenson, Shaun Taylor.
In the semis, the Raymond Comets defeated the Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres 97-77. The Comets took a 15-point lead early in the first half and stretched the margin to 55-38 at the half. The Sabres rallied no closer than 79-67 with nine minutes to play in the second half. Although Chester Powelson had fouled out and Skousan Harker was on the bench with four fouls, the Comets pulled out the win on standout performances from Will Jensen, Kris Wiggins, Cam Workman, and Dustin Ralph. The 6-3 Jensen scored 31 and nabbed 18 boards. Wiggins, a 6-3 forward, added 24. Workman added 12 and Ralph 11. “Will worked incredibly hard tonight,” said Comets’ coach Dave Jardine. “Cam stepped up. When he plays good defence that gives him confidence on offence. Kris is improving on his finishing inside. He’s so strong we’re trying to get him to just go up hard and finish. Dustin did a real good job too.” Phil Cahoon led the Sabres with 20.
In the other semi, the Calgary Lester B. Pearson Patriots defeated the Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds 75-46 as Josh Goertzen scored 23 and Kevin Bryan 18. Steve Moore and Chris Norwood each scored 11 to pace the Thunderbirds.
In the bronze medal match, the Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds nipped the Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres 75-74 as Lee Channin hit one of two free throws with time expired. Channin and Chris Horwood paced the Thunderbirds with 14 apiece. Tim Lambkin added 10. Phil Cahoon led the Sabres with 22. Troy Fleming added 15 and Ryan Marsden 15.
In the final, before 2,000 rabid fans, the Calgary Lester B. Pearson Patriots defeated the Raymond Comets 78-77. Comets forward Chester Powelson notched a putback rebound with a second to play but officials ruled that time had run out and the Patriots were the champs. Josh Goertzen had given Pearson a one-point lead by hitting a jumper with 48 seconds remaining. “I didn’t know what to think, it was like I was two different people,” Comets guard Dustin Ralph told the Lethbridge Herald. “In one second, I was high and then I was low, almost all at the same time. I wasn’t sure what I felt.” Comets coach Dave Jardine called it “a great ball game. I don’t think I could have expected anything more out of my guys.” The Patriots took an early double-digit lead as 6-9 Josh Goertzen and 6-7 Aaron Grant dominated the paint. But the Comets clawed back and eventually took the lead at 61-56 off a 10-0 run. Pearson rallied to knot the score at 68 on their own 5-0 run on a Mike Clark trey. Patriots point guard Kevin Bryan said the difference was “composure. It’s something we’ve been working on all season for situations like this. You have to have it.” Post Josh Goertzen added that “I think they took us for granted a little bit, they underestimated us because of how bad they beat us at their tournament.” Patriots coach Rick Sept said “we “had three losses this year and everyone was a learning experience. Every time we lost a game it exposed something else: we weren’t doing well. Last time we played Raymond (Sugar Bowl Classic) we played a lot of one-on-five basketball and we learned the lesson and took the loss.” Brandon Jopp paced the Patriots with 22 points. Kevin Bryan added 17, Josh Goertzen 15 and Mike Clark 13. Skousan Harker led the Comets with 30. Will Jensen added 18 and Chester Powelson 12.
The bronze medalist Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds: Lee Channin; Chris Horwood; Tim Lambkin; Steve Moore;
The silver medalist Raymond Comets: Kris Wiggins; Chester Powelson; Skousan Harker; Will Jensen; Cam Workman; Stephen Hoare; Dustin Ralph; coach Dave Jardine
The gold medalist Calgary Lester B. Pearson Patriots: Brandon Jopp; Josh Goertzen; Aaron Grant; Kevin Bryan; Mike Clark; coach Rick Sept; assistant Mike Bester