In the Saskatoon city and northern playoffs: …………………………………………………… In the quarterfinals, the 6th-seeded City Park Cowboys stunned the 3rd-seeded Bedford Road Redmen 63-61 as Steve Gillett scored 18 and Gord Skelly 16. Ron Sawchuk led the Redmen with 16. Brian Bridal added 12. The Redmen (coached by Ralph Schoenfeld) also included Cyprian enweani, Rick Ruzeksy, Eric Veerinlius. …………………………………………………… In the other quarterfinal, the 5th-seeded Evan Hardy Souls topped the 4th-seeded Walter Murray Marauders 80-79 in overtime as Scott Cory scored 19 and John Bean 15. Stewart Foster led the Marauders with 23. Darren Kowaluk added 12. The Marauders also included Kam Hay, Byron Tokarchuk, Doug Hassle. The Marauders led 38-33 at the half. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the top-seeded Mount Royal Mustangs nipped the 5th-seeded Evan Hardy Souls as John Cleland scored 29 and David Patola 20. Cam Hazen led the Souls with 23. Curtis Bell added 17. The Souls also included Scott Cory, John Bean, John McConnell. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the 2nd seeded Holy Cross Crusaders dusted the 6th-seeded City Park Cowboys 92-74 as Kirk Jones scored 22 and Jim Sorgo 16. Steve Gillett led the Cowboys with 21. Gord Skelly added 16. The Cowboys also included Daryl Karolat, Mike McEdward, Greg Schutte. …………………………………………………… In the final, the 2nd-seeded Holy Cross Crusaders defeated the top-seeded Mount Royal Mustangs 65-62 as Kirk Jones scored 16, Mike Bischoff 15 and David Karwacki 13. Jon Cleland led Mount Royal with 22 and Dave Patola scored 14. The Mustangs (coached by Nick Patola) also included Greg Jockims, Dave Shockey, Bruce Bell, Sewchuk, Yurchak, Deptuch, Darcy Jarymy.
In the Regina city quarterfinals: …………………………………………………… The Campbell Tartans bombed the Balfour Redmen 78-47. The Redmen (coached by Glenn Kozey) included Doug Brown, Horst Kannenwischer. …………………………………………………… The Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns dusted the Martin Monarchs 87-35 as Mark Reis scored 38. The Monarchs included Kevin Shalley, Dan Salowski, Ken Nickel, Jamie Fiesel. …………………………………………………… The Thom Trojans dispatched the Sheldon-Williams Spartans 62-53 as Brad Johns scored 21, Kelly Hawrysh 14, Bob Wilhems 13 and Dave Coley 8. Johns told the Regina Leader-Post that “that was our kind of game. We have to play the fast-paced brand of basketball if we’re going to win. We don’t have a lot of height, but we’ve got speed.” Johns took command of the boards in the second half, while Kelly Hawrysh and Kelly Leichart started getting out in transition. Spartans coach Spence Burgess said “the second half killed us. They began shooting and we got cold. I thought we defended well against them in the first half but in the second, they started getting the inside and outside stuff on us. The first 7 or 8 minutes in the second half really hurt us. Lately, the guys haven’t been playing as aggressive as I would have like. Early in the game, I thought we did a good job in that area. But then we let up; we talked about that in the dressing room at the half. It’s a letdown to lose but the guys gave it 100%.” Thom coach Dale Wilde said poise around the basket “was key for us. I thought we showed a great deal of patience and poise out there. We were patient against their zone, and I thought we were patient when playing our own. I really thought the guys used their heads and didn’t scramble around like we’ve shown in the past.” Burgess said “we couldn’t seem to penetrate. I don’t know what it was. The guys had their chances but it just wasn’t going our way.” Graham Pelat scored 17 to lead the Spartans. Rod Schwartz added 10 and Greg Schwartz 10. The Spartans (coached by Spence Burgess) also included John Campbell, Dave Rogne. …………………………………………………… In the last quarterfinal, the Luther Lions dumped the Miller Marauders 87-68. The Marauders included Mark Winter, Marlowe Pelletier, Jim Braun, Todd Bolk. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Campbell Tartans pounded the Luther Lions 79-62 as Doug Mutschler scored 22. The Tartans boke to a 30-13 lead as their pressure defence yielded major dividends. Lions coach Dick Stark told the Regina Leader-Post that “you’re never going to win, when you shoot 22% from the floor and make only six baskets for a half. This game was simply won and lost in the first half. We dug ourselves in and when you’re down 30 points to a team such as that, it’s almost impossible to come back.” Tartans coach Glenn Szabo said “we talked about the history of this team. These kids have a lot of pride. Some of these guys – Mutschler, Hillis and (Jim) Killoh don’t know what it’s like not being a city championship. Nobody wanted this game to be our last.” Hillis said “we were ready tonight. You don’t want to come into a game too confident. We tried not to look ahead to the city final.” Mike Gibbens said “playing the press and the zone like we were doing, I think we might have surprised them a little. We tried to force them to take the shot, and then out-position them under the boards.” Brad Hertz led the Lions with 17. Kent Sorsdahl added 12. The Lions also included Ben Schoots, Harlie Saunderson, Christianson, Lutz, Knudson, Becker. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns dispatched the Thom Trojans 72-56 as Tim Sinclair scored 25 and Mark Reis 18. Brad Johns led the Trojans with 19. Kelly Leichert added 18. The Trojans (coached by Dale Wilde) also included Dave Coley, Kelly Hawrysh, Bob Wilhems, Brian Babcock, Steve Cain, Bill Bell, Brian Reichert, Wayne Scherle, Larry Harris and Tim Relke. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns clipped the Campbell Tartans 71-61 as Mark Reis scored 27, Tim Sinclair 12, Chris Biegler 11 and Terry Boychuk 10. Doug Mutschler led the Tartans with 24. The Golden Suns 1-3-1 zone contained Campbell’s perimeter shooting. Mutschler said “that defence forced us inside. They forced us to be base and to work inside. What beat us was that they got a good team effort. On the other hand, we got frustrated and the guys were trying to do it themselves, instead of getting a team effort.” The Golden Suns dominated the boards and led 32-26 at the half. Sinclair said ‘we were working on breaking their press. Being able to break it the way we did really helped us. We had talked about controlling the boards as one of the things we had to do if we wanted to win – I guess we made out okay.” Campbell coach Glenn Szabo said “instead of playing five on five, we started going one on five. We were hesitating too much. It only took one or two people to hesitate and that would throw everybody off. They were really tough in the key but I think that came as a result of us hesitating.”
In the South region final, the Regina Campbell Tartans edged the Regina Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns 63-62 in double overtime as Jim Killoh hit the winning free throw with six seconds to play. Doug Mutschler led the Tartans with 30. Mark Reis paced LeBoldus with 14. Chris Biegler added 14 and Ross Topp 12. Tartans coach Glenn Szabo told the Regina Leader-Post that “we’ve been working towards the provincials all year. I think they wanted the city title more than we did but the guys came back this weekend.” The Golden Suns (coached by Ron Pettigrew) also included Paul Welsh, Terry Boychuk, Tim Sinclair, Nagel, Uhren.
In the provincial semis, the Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders defeated Yorkton 90-53 after taking a 42-28 lead at the half. Kirk Jones scored 22, Jim Songo 20 and Paul Beitel 14. Robbie Pasishinik led Yorkton with 24. Crusaders coach Dave Hardy told the Regina Leader-Post “we got a good job from our big guys. We wanted to get the ball inside and we managed that.”
In the other semi, the Regina Campbell Tartans defeated the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders 74-64 after taking a 43-33 lead at the half. Jim Hillis led the Tartans with 18. Jim Killoh added 18, Doug Mutschler 12 and Bob Dodds 10. Mike Nunn led the Crusaders with 24. Grenville Richert added 10. Doub Mutschler told the Regina Leader-Post that “when I start hitting the long ones, it gives me more confidence and I just keep doing it. Their power was inside with three big guys, so we tried to go outside on them first. It worked and we just kept doing it.” Tartans coach Glenn Szabo said “we knew if we were going to do well, we had to get the jump early and knock them off their game. We planned it that way and the guys carried it off perfectly. We knew if we could control the tempo of the game, we’d be able to play our game. When they tried to pick the tempo up, we’d slow it down, and vice versa.” Carlton coach Ken Andrusiak said “I was happy with the way the guys never quit. It’s very intimidating for us to come in here and play a top 4A club. We just turned 4A this year and if the guys could have had the competition Campbell has been playing against all year, I think we may have surprised a few people. They’re a good club, no doubt. I think we played just about every defensive formation against them and they always found a way to score.”
In the bronze medal match, the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders clipped the Yorkton Regional Raiders 75-60 after leading 43-31 at the half. Mike Nunn led the Crusaders with 20. Brad Williams added 16 and Mark Vickers 12. Robbie Pasishinik led the Raiders with 22. Ward Stebner added 10.
In the final, the Regina Campbell Tartans thumped the Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders 73-62 after the Tartans hit their first four shots and rattled Holy Cross. “After that, we seemed to be tight for the whole game,” Holy Cross coach Dave Hardy told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. James Hillis led the Tartans with 24. Jim Killoh added 22 and Doug Mutschler 18. The Tartans led 40-31 at the half. Hillis told the Regina Leader-Post that “this is just great. We came out running and that’s our type of game. When they played man-to-man, that was to our benefit because it let us play our fast-paced brand of basketball.” Kirk Jones led Holy Cross with 14. Paul Beitel added 13, Doryn Muench 10 and Mike Bischoff 6. Tartans coach Glenn Szabo told the Regina Leader-Post that “the guys played great. For me this is great. It’s very gratifying to see what I’ve been preaching all year long bear fruit. … There was never a time when I had doubts. They got a good effort from their people when they came within five. I knew what my guys could do and I never had doubts. We win with a team effort.” Crusaders coach Dave Hardy said that “I thought we were unusually tight. We were much too tight. We made a number of early turnovers and they made the most of them. They got the early jump on us and we just couldn’t get it back.” The Crusaders had rallied within five late in the first half on the efforts of David Karwacki and Mike Bischoff. Hardy said “they’ve got such a good ball club that they can hurt you from any area of the floor. They burned us man-to-man and they shot the eyes of our zone. With that kind of shooting, you can only hope they cool off. … In order for us to get our offence running and to do well, Mike (Bischoff) has got to have a good game. They denied him the ball for the most part and that kept us off balance. … They simply tired us out with their press. It’s tough when you’re trying to move up the floor and you’ve got a man on you all the way.”
The bronze medalist Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders: Grenville Richert; Mike Nunn; Brad Williams; Mark Vickers; coach Ken Andrusiak
The silver medalist Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders: Kirk Jones; Mike Bischoff; David Karwacki; Paul Beitel; Doryn Muench; Jim Sorgo; coach Dave Hardy
The gold medalist Regina Campbell Tartans: Jim Killoh; James Hillis; Doug Mutschler; Chris Yee; Ron Taylor; Dane Wall; Bob Dodds; Ron Bresch; Mike McQuarters; Mike Gibbens; Colin; coach Glenn Szabo