| Dawson | 97 | |||||||
| Lethbridge CC | 81 | Dawson | 98 | |||||
| —–DAWSON | ||||||||
| George Brown | 96 | George Brown | 82 | |||||
| Nova Scotia Agricultural | 60 |
In the Four-West semis, the Langara Falcons edged the Briercrest Bible Clippers 57-53.
In the other semi, the Lethbridge Kodiaks defeated the Red River Rebels 114-50 as Glen Novak scored 19, Dave Preus 16, Don Yuill 15, Larry Simpson 12, Frank Willis 10 and Bruce Hamilton 10. Roger Twerdun led the Rebels with 15. Dave Stastook added 14. Lethbridge hit .443 from the floor and .632 from the line, while Red River was .273 from the floor and .140 from the line.
In the bronze medal match, the Briercrest Bible Clippers whipped the Red River Rebels 111-44 after leading 55-22 at the half. Warren Dueck paced the Clippers with 25. Mel Fehr added 21 and Murray Redekop 20, along with 18 boards. Norm Smith paced the Rebels with 15. The Clippers also included David Boyes, Phil Webb, Randy Roth.
In the Four-West final, the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks crushed the Langara Falcons 82-59. The Falcons took an early 20-12 lead as Kodiaks Don Mehew and Dave Preus took technical. But the Kodiaks rallied to knot the score at 20 and led 41-37 at the half. The Kodiaks took command in the second half and led by as many as 23. Kodiak Don Mehew was chosen player of the game after scoring 6 and dishing 4 assists. Glen Schuler led the Kodiaks with 19. Frank Willis added 18, along with 14 boards, Glen Novak 12 and Dave Preus 12. Kodiaks coach Ben Brooks told The Endeavour that “we’ve played better ball but we were forcing B.C. to shoot from the outside.”
In the CCCA semis, held at Windsor’s St. Clair College, the Ontario champ George Brown Huskies stomped the Nova Scotia Agricultural College Rams 96-60 as Herman Sheppard scored 24, Curtis Tillman 15, Roger Bisson 12, Gary McKeigan 12, Horniblow 8, Da Silva 8, Chase 8, Sparks 4, Wilson 3 and Weber 2. Huskies coach Alex Barbier told the Windsor Star that “they had two shooters (Steve Russell and Stu McPherson) who kept them in the game in the first half. Their shooting was exceptional but we managed to defence them better in the second half and we began to move the ball faster.” Steve Russell led the Rams with 29. Crabbe added 13, Stewart 10 and Stu MacPherson 8. The Huskies led 39-36 at the half.
In the other semi, the Quebec champion Dawson Blues defeated the Four-West champ Lethbridge CC Kodiaks 97-81 despite trailing 79-78 with four minutes to play. After Wayne Smith put the Blues in the lead, Varouj Gurunlian rattled off seven of the next 15 points for the Blues as they took control in the final minutes with a 13-0 run. Gurunlian scored 31. Henry Blumenfeld added 24, Wayne smith 15, Harley Lawrence 10, John Reggler 10, Bennett 5 and Ippolito 2. Coach Alex Barbier’s squad hit 31-41 from the line. Kodiaks coach Ben Brooks said the foul count was the difference: 41 were whistled against Lethbridge and just 8 against Dawson. The Kodiaks were 5-8 from the line. “The loss was primarily our own doing,” Kodiaks coach Ben Brooks said. “We didn’t maintain our poise out there. Once we had them beaten, we had no business throwing the ball away four times. We had them. We moved ahead in the game at the right time. What it was, was a good matchup that was lost on the foul line — it just goes to prove that you can’t win when you get yourself in foul trouble. It was not the fault of the refereeing that we lost. Dawson College didn’t have a foul called against them under their own basket, but that was the only place there was any inequity in the officiating at all. It wasn’t the refereeing that killed us.” Frank Willis paced the Kodiaks with 22. Glen Novak added 21, Glenn Schuler 16, along with 10 boards, Don Yuill 10, along with 3 boards and a half dozen forced turnovers, Browne 8, Hamilton 2 and Mehew 2. “I was impressed with the play of Yuill, Novak and Willis, and Mehew did a good job for us on defence,” Brooks said. “Except for the fouls it was a very even contest.”
In the bronze medal match, the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks defeated the Nova Scotia Agricultural College Rams 115-58 as Frank Willis and Dave Preuss each scored 20. Don Yuill added 16, Bruce Hamilton 14, Glen Novak 12, Norman Richards 11, Glen Schuler 7, Dan Browne 6, Don Mehew 4, Larry Simpson 3 and Jim Ralph 2. Steve Stewart led NSAC with 15. MacPherson added 11, Crabbe 10, MacKay 10, Russell 8 and Gaunce 4. “We were a disappointing third,” said Kodiaks coach Ben Brooks. “Saturday, we had the balance we needed so badly on Friday. All the boys were on the scoresheet and six were in double figures. I felt like our lack of flow Friday left people with the idea we were a sporadic ball club. I wanted to show them otherwise Saturday.” The Kodiaks led 49-24 at the half. Accused of running up the score, Brooks said: “We used our guys deliberately. I can’t help it if the fans here didn’t appreciate it. One thing we’ve never developed is a two – pace system — pressure basketball is our only way to go. We have to have that movement. You can’t turn it on and off at will.”
The final featured 38-2 Dawson versus 35-0 George Brown. It proved no contest as the Blues romped 98-82. The game was tied at 34 after eight minutes and close until the final two minutes of the half when three George Brown starters were in foul trouble, forcing assistant coach Alex Barbier to sit them on the bench. Dawson responded with a 12-5 run to take a lead which they never relinquished. The Blues led 46-39 at the half and hit 28-39 from the line. George Brown shot 14-30 from the line. Wayne Smith led the Blues with 33. Varouj Gurunlian added 27 points and 16 boards. Bennett added 13, John Reggler 10, Henry Blumenfield 9 and Harley Lawrence 4. George Brown was paced by Herman Sheppard 21, Gary McKeigan 16, Curtis Tillman 15, Wilson 15, Albert De Silva 8, Roger Bisson 2, Spanks 2, Weber 2 and Skinner 1. Dawson coach Richie Spears told the Windsor Star that “when they took Herman (Sheppard) out, they lost their best ballhandler. So we decided to work the press on them and they couldn’t handle it. We drive a lot and that draws a lot of fouls. … They had nobody to bring the ball up, we managed to pick off some passes and force some turnovers. Then we made them pay off.” Spears added that “we drive a lot and that draws a lot of fouls. If you’re constantly moving and the opposition gets confused, fouls usually result.” The loss was George Brown’s first in three years. The Blues finished (39-2) on the season. Huskie Rick Chase told the Star that “it was a lesson but a bitter one. You just can’t play this game by yourself.” De Silva added that “we were psyched out” because star Curtis Tillman was hampered by a hand injury. “He was our spark plug. Each of us tried to be the spark but none of us could.” Chase said “that’s because everybody was trying to do it all by himself.”
The all-star team featured MVP Varouj Gurunlian (Dawson); Wayne Smith (Dawson); Herman Sheppard (George Brown); Gary McKeigan (George Brown); Frank Willis (Lethbridge).
The bronze medalist Lethbridge CC Kodiaks: Frank Willis; Glen Schuler; Dave Preuss; Glenn Novak; Don Yuill; Dan Browne; Larry Simpson; Bruce Hamilton; Jim Ralph; Don Mehew; Norman Richards; Andy Dupree; coach Ben Brooks; assistant and trainer Jack Linderman
The silver medalist George Brown Huskies: Curtis Tillman; Roger Bisson; Herman Sheppard; Gary McKeigan; Randy Wilson; Albert De Silva; Roger Bisson; Vince Sparks; Don Weber; Gord Skinner; Mike Horniblow; Ken Moses; Rick Chase; coach Vince Drake; assistant Alex Barbier
The gold medalist Dawson Blues: Varouj Gurunlian; Wayne Smith; John Reggler; Henry Blumenfield; Harley Lawrence; John Ippolito; Trevor Bennett; Eddie Pomykala; George Loy; Pat Adrien; Keith Bambridge; Donavan McKenzie; coach Richie Spears; assistant Peter Merrill; manager/trainer Joey Tyrrelll; manager Jim O’Hanlon; public relations Howard Bloom