In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded wildcard Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions clipped the 8th-seeded Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders 82-74. The Raiders (coach Damien Drzewiec, coach Josh Lobo) included Kai Boyko, Logan Brinson, Jordan Buenaventura, Keenan Courchaine, Andres Garcia, Cain Guertin, Kaeden Ham, Luke Lodewyks, Hoa Luu, Ian Maxwell, Mathieu Methot, Everet Noonan, Luke Penner, Gioranni Rosar Nunes, Ian Surasky, Taven Vigilance and Ryan Wall. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Winnipeg Miles Macdonell Buckeyes torched the 12th-seeded Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs 75-59. The Zodiacs (coached by Danny Friesen) included Sam Bergen, Jared Bueckert, Dante Dyck, Dimitrius Dyck, Tyrell Dyck, Tim Friesen, Caleb Hildebrandt, Ryan Loewen, Connor Matuszewski, Rylan Toews, Dmitrii Troickii, Jesse Vanden Berg and Ethan Wiebe. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Winnipeg Dakota Lancers crushed the 10th-seeded Brandon Vincent Massey Vikings 96-46. The Vikings (coach Brett Nohr, coach Garrett Popplestone) included Jacob Doerksen, Brannigan Ferland, Ewan Marion, Seth Mitchell, Carter Moore, Aaron Pasaporte, Christian Santin, Justin Sharpe, Matt Stephens, Daniel Teferi, Connor Van Santen and, Ricardo Villeda. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded wildcard Winnipeg Sturgeon Heights Huskies stomped the 11th-seeded Steinbach Regional Sabres 94-57. The Sabres (coach Jeff Dykerman) included Alizandro Ballares, Marvin Beardy, Fritz Carpena, John Rovic Duaqui, Fara Fola-Bolumole, Tomisin Fola-Bolumole, Jonico Funk, Sam Fuss, Jacob Gallego, Tyler Hiebert, Gavin Kehler, Khean Koeuth, Gabe Millan, Jan Paul Mutuc, Angel Renacia, Shant Ualat and Clint Jhorenz Villanueva.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Winnipeg John Taylor Pipers edged the 9th-seeded Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions 80-78. The Centurions (coach Ryyan Koleric, coach Dan Poperechny) included Mudasser Abid, Michael Adebiyi, Adebare Adegbosin, Thane Carlos, Jalen Gihad, Atakan Guven, Bussil Khan, Tife Obasoto, Ife Paul, Vincent Telus, Sahib Viria, Devan Wehella Gamage and Tyler Wooden.
The 4th-seeded Winnipeg Garden City Fighting Gophers dispatched the 5th-seeded Winnipeg Miles Macdonell Buckeyes 94-81. The Buckeyes (coach Jeff Shaddock) included Eyu Abire, Samuel Adesuyi, Steven Ajibi, Kevin Baniuk, Joey Bodner, Andrei Capucion, Nate Harris, Kato Jaro, Azia Karoma, Ben Klassen, Daniel Mackic, Elijah Mensah, Maxwell Nganyadi, Olamid Owoeye and Ben Penner.
The 2nd-seeded Winnipeg St. Paul’s Crusaders dusted the 7th-seeded Winnipeg Dakota Lancers 95-65. The Lancers (coach Dean Favoni) included Steven Akintokun, Girum Assefa, Mikias Bockru, Ben Boileau, Jacob Caspillo, Davide Guariglia, Dheer Gupta, Chinonso Njelita, Chisom Njelita, Joel Odogun, Lucas Redmann, Jordan Tousignant and Marcus Wahl.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Winnipeg Sisler Spartans dispatched the 6th-seeded Winnipeg Sturgeon Heights Huskies 76-62. The Huskies (coach Stephen Tackie) included Mosab Ahmed, Hansen Cloete, Elijah De La Mothe, Luciano Glades, Aidan Hruska, Hunter Jacobucci, Noah Kankam, Jacob Pineda, Logan Robinson, Joash Rocaberte, Daylan Sagun, Blake Sherk, Carlos Silva, Levi Verity and Samuel Sola.
In the semis, the top-seeded Winnipeg John Taylor Pipers whipped the 4th-seeded Winnipeg Garden City Fighting Gophers 87-69 as Atok Makuer scored 34, Ryan Luke 17 and Nathan Duncan 11. The Pipers broke to 30-19 lead but the Fighting Gophers rallied to within 39-38 at the half. “I’m very pleased with our effort, especially in the second half,” Pipers coach Spiros Kavadas told the Winnipeg Free Press. “Just getting into the change room (at halftime) and reminding them we had a game plan and to stick to it really helped.” Noah Cansino led the Fighting Gophers with 23. Jayden Holmes added 16 and Markus Ragot 15. “Mentally we made some mistakes,” said Gophers coach Iggy Grinevsky. “We weren’t very good from the foul line today and we actually turned the ball too much — unforced turnovers — and they’re very big and athletic. We’re a short team — probably the shortest team in the province and we have to play a perfect game to give them an upset.”
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg St. Paul’s Crusaders clocked the 3rd-seeded Winnipeg Sisler Spartans 115-61.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg St. Paul’s Crusaders whipped the top-seeded Winnipeg John Taylor Pipers 101-83 to avenge their only loss of the season. Crusaders coach Jeff Laping noted that his troops overcame the absence of star forward Ramogi Nyagudi, a practicing seven-day Adventist who does not play between Friday and sundown Saturday. “It was an incredibly rewarding experience, dealing with COVID and not being able to play last year and at times this year not knowing if we’d be able to finish the season,” he told the Winnipeg Free Press. “There were a lot of unknowns and then coming up short in that conference final. The guys really rallied today without Ramogi — they just played exceptionally well. … I really did think without Ramogi we’d have to play some small ball, let’s call it, but they’re just such good athletes that they, you know, they just get up and down real quick. They both are great. Defensively, they both rebound really well. And so in a lot of ways, it was a really strong lineup. Even though we weren’t as big as they were.” Lorence Dela Cruz led the Crusaders with 24. Michael Uzonna added 18 and Jason Uzonna 8. Pipers coach Spiros Kavadas said “I felt that as the year progressed it kind of made us a lot stronger and harder to beat. Because we really learned how to deal with adversity and played with foul trouble. I felt that every kid on my team gave everything they had. They all did their best and they all contributed in so many different ways.”
The all-tournament team featured MVP Lorence Dela Cruz (St. Paul’s); Randale Capras (Garden City); Amrinder Bhandal (Sisler); Ryan Luke (John Taylor); Michael Uzonna (St. Paul’s); Ramogi Nyagudi (St. Paul’s); and player’s choice Chinonso Njelita (Dakota)
The co-bronze medalist Winnipeg Garden City Fighting Gophers: Jakyri Babb; Noah Cansino; Randayle Capras; Derian Castaneda; Jedd Fermin; Charles Grande; Jaden Holmes; Charlie Launder; Dylan Montemurro Anderson; Rylen Olaes; Gerard Paiso; Marzellus Pinder; Marcus Ragot; Orion Remoquillo; Angelo Umali; coach Iggy Grinevsky; coach Manoj Nowrang; coach Mario Olaes
The co-bronze medalist Winnipeg Sisler Spartans: Charles Abarca; Amrinder Bhandal; Paul Bocalan; Tristan Bushie; Ethan Celones; Rhovic Curatcha; Kian Evangelista; Lawrence Gallardo; Pawan Khaira; Charles Llanes; Lance Mangaron; Mateio Mason Torres; Vashon Sharma; Arshpreet Singh; Jiro Umali; coach Tyler Tynes
The silver medalist Winnipeg John Taylor Pipers: Ethan Aguirre; Tristan Anderson; Tyrone Caithness; Nathan Duncan; Liam Hutter; Ryan Luke; Ater Makuer; Atok Makuer; Presley McCorrister; Rony Musa; Attalah Nakhleh; Anointing Nnah; Divine Nnah; Jhommel Ramos; Mervin Robles; Ethan Sweeny; coach Spiros Kavadas
The gold medalist Winnipeg St. Paul’s Crusaders: Giovanni Ajiamah; Marlon Alfaro; Baruba Bendu; Carson Cabredo; Mykel Caparas; Lorence dela Cruz; ‘Juan’ Marco Guaring; Ashton Laping; Nash Matias; ‘Gaoussou’ Itopah Momoh; Miguel Nitro; Ramogy Nyagudi; Israel Opanubi; Marc Roxas; Myles Stewart; Jason Uzonna; Michael Uzonna; Guy Weinbeg; Mohammed Zeid; coach Jeff Laping