(1) Langara 104            
(8) Grant MacEwan  59 Langara 91        
(4) Red Deer  78 Humber 76 Langara 96    
(5) Humber  93            
              —–LANGARA  
(2) Dawson  89            
(7) St. Thomas  73 Dawson 97 Dawson 90    
(3) Sheridan  83 Sheridan 87        
(6) Thompson Rivers  76            

        As always, the wildcard was controversy. The Algonquin Thunder were ranked as either first or second in the nation all year but were upset in the OCAA semis by Sheridan in overtime and did not receive a wildcard. That went to the Humber Hawks.

        In the quarterfinals, held in Edmonton, all-Canadian Shane Bascoe scored 26 to pick up player of the game honors as the 3rd-seeded Sheridan Bruins defeated the 6th-seeded Thompson Rivers (formerly the Cariboo Sun Demons) 83-76. A late charge by the Sun Demons came just short as a couple of missed three-pointers down the stretch sealed their fate. Jason Eichenberger was chosen player of the game for Thompson Rivers after scoring 21 and grabbing 13 boards. The Sun Demons also included Jeff Gay,

        The Dawson Blues collected an easy 89-73 victory from the St. Thomas University Tommies after blistering the nets. The Blues hit .590 from the floor and strode to a 49-35 halftime lead over the mismatched Tommies. Player of the game Rodwins Auriantal led Dawson with 21, while Mike Bonnar earned St. Thomas player of the game honors with 19 points.

                The 5th-seeded wildcard Humber Hawks stomped the 4th-seeded Red Deer Kings 93-78. The Hawks led 50-34 at the half as they kept pilfering the ball for runout layups. The Kings never threatened thereafter. Rowan Beckford paced the Hawks with 20. Al St. Louis added 19 and Jeremy Murray 13. The Hawks hit 35-58 from the floor, 3-6 from the arc and 14-20 from the line. Hawks coach Mike Katz told The Coven that “it’s important to win this one, we’re still alive and we’re down a semifinal game and that’s good.” Troy Arnett paced the Kings with 26. Darren Zaharko added 23. The Kings hit 27-60 from the floor, 3-15 from the arc and 15-27 from the line. Kings coach John Johnstone told the Red Deer Advocate that “we went into the tournament determined to play our best and if we lost to a better team, so be it. But tonight we don’t believe they were better than us.” The Hawks led 50-34 at the half. Zaharko said “we played with a lot of emotin early and that carried us. But when that wore off, we seemed to be in a bit of awe and they took advantage.” Katz said “we were able to put pressure on them and the turnovers hurt. … If we didn’t have the edge in the first half, we would have been hard pressed to win.” The Kings narrowed the gap to eight with 1:49 to play by shifting to a four-guard offence and utilizing a full-court press. But the Hawks iced it at the line. Johnstone said “you have to be proud of these guys battled back. I honestly believe if we had a couple of more minutes, we could have pulled this out. … They shot 60 some per cent in the first half. That hurts.” Zaharko said “they couldn’t miss. We had our hands in their face and they still nailed it. They did get some easy ones on our turnovers, which we didn’t do in the second half.”

        In the last quarterfinal, the top-seeded Langara Falcons rolled over the host Grant MacEwan Griffins 104-59. The Falcons took advantage of 15 Griffin turnovers and masterful shooting to take a 52-27 lead at the half. Langara finished the game .630 from the field. Player of the game Randy Nohr scored 28. Aaron Mitchell added 22 and pulled down 6 boards. Pat Sasseville led the Griffins with 16 points. Griffin player of the game Kyle Kostyk added 11. “They had more depth, more talent and they’re older,” said Griffins coach Jim Bonin. “I give them all the credit in the world. They took it to us.” The Falcons pressure defence gave the Griffins fits all night. The Falcons were also motivated to avenge a first round defeat from Grant MacEwan a year earlier at the nationals. “We had 364 days to think about (the loss),” said Falcons coach Kevin Hanson. “As soon as we saw the draw, Aaron Mitchell, who I think was absolutely outstanding tonight, came up to me and said: coach, it’s revenge time.” The Falcons pressure defence forced 25 Griffin turnovers which led to 21 fastbreak points. “We scored off of our defence and I think that was the biggest deciding factor,” said Hanson. Donin said his Griffins were unable to make the Falcons pay for extending their defence. “When people put up pressure like that up front, you’ve got to exploit it and we didn’t do that at all.” Sasseville called the home court loss “embarrassing, to be playing in front of your home fans and to get your butt kicked.” Donin added that “it was really too bad that we got to open the national tournament with that kind of loss in front of our own fans.”

        In the bronze quarterfinals, the 6th-seeded Thompson Rivers Wolfpack dispatched the 7th-seeded St. Thomas Tommies 118-78. Wolfpack coach Nevin Gleddie told Kamloops This Week that after the quarterfinal loss to Sheridan “it took us a while to get refocused. … I don’t think any of us felt like playing, including me. … I tried to emphasize we were playing for third in the country, not third in a tournament. They bought into that.”

                In the other bronze quarterfinal, the Grant MacEwan Griffins clipped the Red Deer Kings 100-87 as Pat Sasseville scored 34 on 15-20 from the floor. Trevor Harrington added 21. The Griffins led 46-36 at the half. They hit 38-47 from the floor, 5-10 from the arc and 9-16 from the line. Jason Adams paced the Kings with 27. Darren Graham added 17 and Troy Arnett 15. Kings coach John Johnstone told the Red Deer Advocate that “our guys played today like the Alberta championship was their season and this means nothing. Overall, we just weren’t there. I believe our youth showed through more than any time down the stretch.” The Hawks rallied to within 61-58 in the second half but faltered in the final frame. “That looked like our team,” Johnstone said. “I thought we would come back all the way. But they got a couple of quick breaks and it was like our guys said, ‘oh well, we tried. And quit’.”

        In the semis, the Dawson Blues defeated the Sheridan Bruins 97-87 as 6-5 Prosper Karangwa, a Penny Hardaway lookalike dubbed by the media ‘Half a Penny’ twisted and spun to a 20-point night including 7-8 from the field and 6-8 from the line. 6-4 guard Rodwins Auriantal tossed in 21, 6-5 forward Donald Joseph 15 and Louis Vigneault 12 and Frederic Bernard 10. Kinte Ambrose pulled down 13 boards. Dawson maintained roughly a 10-point lead for most of the second half. But midway through the half Sheridan forward Andre Passley triggered a run that saw the Bruins cut the lead to 77-76. Bernard and Vigneault answered with buckets for the Blues. With all-Canadian Shane Bascoe fouled out with five minutes to play, 6-3 forward Chris Bennett tried to rally the Bruins. But Dawson nailed its free throws down the stretch to ice the victory. Chris Bennett finished with 23, while Andre Passley scored 21 and Scott Chisholm 13. Bascoe was held scoreless. “We knew Karangwa had a height advantage over whoever was guarding him and we felt we had to exploit that,” said Dawson coach Olga Hrycak. “If Karangwa’s not all-Canadian, I don’t know who is,” added Sheridan coach Jim Flack. “When all-Canadian Shane Bascoe “picked up the third foul in the first half, it took a big of wind out of our sails. He’s been our lead all year.” Karangwa said the Blue shared responsibility for the win. “One game it would be, one game it would be Kirk (Reid), another game it would be Rodwins, then Donald (Joseph). This time it was me, don’t be surprised if today it is Rodwins, Kirk or Donald.”

        In the other semi, Langara took a quick 15-6 lead over Humber and never looked back as the Falcons romped to a 91-76 win over the Hawks. Power forward Aaron Mitchell finished with 30 points on a 12-18 night from the floor. Humber was led by guard Jeremy Murray’s 20 points. Humber player of the game forward Al St. Louis added 18. Langara led 49-42 at the half. While Humber was able to remain within seven midway through the second half, Langara’s Pete Hodson drilled a pair from beyond the arc, and forward James Maksymiw came off the bench to hit a big inside bucket to deflate the Hawks. Late in the game, Humber’s big 6-4 centre Rowan Beckford was unable to hit some open threes from his favourite spot at the top of the key. Langara dominated the boards 37-23. Humber shot .630 from the floor. The Falcons shot .389 from the arc. Falcons coach Kevin Hanson said “we’ve always needed somebody to step up and Pete Hodson got hot from the outside at the right time.” Hanson told The Coven that “after seeing Humber play last night, we knew it was going to be our best defensive challenge all year. We knew we had to shut down Al St. Louis and Jeremy Murray, who are two of the best guards at this level in Canada. … We were very confident going in the game, even though the game was within two, three and four points at times, 1 felt we were in control. We picked up the tempo when we wanted and slowed it down when we wanted to.” Hawks coach Mike Katz said “I thought we shot well, we just lost to a better team. … They were very good. They executed all phases of the game.” Hawks guard Jeremy Murray said “our defence was great, we came out to do what we had to. I think we played a very good game but we had a mental lapse in the last eight minutes.”

        In the bronze semis, the Sheridan Bruins dusted the Grant MacEwan Griffins 94-85. Griffins all-star Pat Sasseville picked up his fourth foul before halftime and that proved the difference. Sheridan hit 10 treys. Andrew Passley paced the Bruins with 16. Trevor Harrington paced the Griffins with 18.

        In the other bronze semi, the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack nipped the Humber Hawks 81-79 in overtime. Jason Eichenberger scored 6 points in overtime and blocked a shot at the buzzer as the Wolfpack (then the Cariboo Sun Demons) pulled out the win. Jason Eichenberger finished with 30 points and 18 boards. Rowan Beckford paced the Hawks with 21. The Sun Demons took an early double-digit lead but Beckford nailed a trey to ignite a Hawks rally. Rookie guard Larry Jefferson knotted the score at 21 and then Al St. Louis hit a bucket to give Humber a 38-37 lead at the half. The Hawks built a five-point lead in the second half but Eichenberger went to work in the blocks to knot the score at 72. In overtime, a long bomb by the Hawks in the final seconds bounced off the rim and Wolfpack guard Jeff Gay iced the win with 1-2 free throws with one second to play. Hawks assistant David DeAveiro told The Coven that “next year, they’ll look back to this year and they won’t look at us right away.”

The Hawks (coached by Mike Katz, assisted by David DeAveiro, athletic director Doug Fox) also included Silvio Carta.

        In the bronze medal match, Thompson Rivers (then the Cariboo Sun Demons) defeated the Sheridan Bruins 96-80. The Sun Demons looked like they were running a layup drill in the first half, while higher ranked Sheridan looked abysmal. Cariboo shot .780 from the field to take a commanding 57-34 lead at the half. Six players scored in double figures led by rookie Zac Plensky with 17. Player of the game Andrew Roy added 16 and Jason Eichenberger 14, along with 16 rebounds. Sheridan was paced by Chris Bennett’s 19 points. Player of the game Shane Bascoe and Paul Innis each added 15. Sun Demons coach Nevin Gleddie told Kamloops This Week that “the game was one and a half hours after the Humber game and we were ready to play. I couldn’t believe the energy we had and our defence did a really good job of shutting them down.” The Sun Demons also included Mike Tarry, Ryan Porter.

        In the final, the Langara Falcons rallied from 10 down with seven minutes to play to defeat the Dawson Blues 96-90. Aaron Mitchell scored 35 points while grabbing 12 rebounds and hitting 12-19 from the line. Randy Nohr scored 38, hitting 13-13 from the floor and 10-12 from the line, while grabbing 13 boards. Prosper Karangwa led Dawson with 21, Rodwins Auriantal 17, Kirk Reid 11, Donald Joseph 11 and Frederic Bernard 10. In the first half, Langara took an eight-point lead as Aaron Mitchell hit a series from the arc. But Dawson rallied to cut the margin to five at 48-43 at halftime. Dawson took command in the second half with Donald Joseph dominating the paint. Then Prosper Karangwa hit a pair of threes. Mitchell responded with a series of perimeter jumpers. A three by Jacques Vigneault gave Dawson a 10-point lead with nine minutes to play. Langara coach Kevin Hanson instructed his squad to get the ball into Mitchell’s hands on each trip down the floor and the Falcons bolstered their defensive intensity. Dawson’s point guard Rodwin Auriantal fouled out with seven minutes to play. Langara point guard Randy Nohr streaked for a layup after a steal and cut the Dawson lead to 79-77 with 6:30 to play. Dawson turned the ball over on the inbounds play and Langara’s James Maksymiw converted a second chance rebound to tie the game. Mitchell and Karangwa traded buckets. A baseline jumper by Mitchell followed up by two free throws and Langara suddenly had an insurmountable five-point lead. It was Langara’s first title in 18 trips to the nations. “It’s a very, very emotional time,” said Hanson. “It’s been an unbelievable year with the birth of my daughter, winning and gold medal this summer at the Canada Games and winning this one. I’m extremely happy for the guys that stood with me and put up with my nonsense.” Dawson coach Olga Hrycak said Mitchell “was key.” Hanson said “I’d put Mitchell on a pedestal right now. Aaron Mitchell was the man. All day today he’s been absolutely fantastic in preparing the guys. So, his leadership played an incredible role.” Langara’s defence was also critical, forcing Dawson into a slower tempo and a perimeter game. But the Blues only hit 9-25 from the arc, while being denied the paint. Langara’s defence “slowed down our offence more than we wanted it to be,” said Hrycak. The Blues also forced Langara to the perimeter but the Falcons shot .455 from the arc. “Our outside shot had to be there because of the height advantage on their part,” Hanson said, adding that Mitchell and Nohr were phenomenal. “I think it was the best two-man performance I’ve ever seen. Those two have had interest from CIAU schools all year, but now every Canada West school is all over them. They made a statement for Langara and they made a statement for themselves.”

        The first all-tourney team featured: MVP Randy Nohr (Langara); Chris Bennett (Sheridan); Jason Eichenberger (Cariboo); Rodwins Auriantal (Dawson); Aaron Mitchell (Langara); and Prosper Karangwa (Dawson)

        The second team featured: Mike Bonnar (St. Thomas); Troy Arnett (Red Deer); Pat Sasseville (Grant MacEwan); Rowan Beckford (Humber); and Vance Verhoeven (Cariboo).

        The bronze medalist Thompson Rivers (then the Cariboo) Sun Demons: Vance Verhoeven; Dan Pearson; Mark Zaino; Jason Eichenberger; Will Blair; Joe Enevoldson; Andrew Roy; Zac Plensky; Pawlo Marcynuik; Neco Cockburn; James Dunnet; Jeff Gay; Terrance Visser; Mike Tarry; Dave DeJong; Andrew Fisher; coach Nevin Gleddie; assistant Garth Omer; assistant Joel Mueller; trainer Kristy Menzel

        The silver medalist Dawson Blues: Prosper Karangwa; Donald Joseph; Rodwins Auriantal; Jacques Vigneault; Frederic Bernard; Kinte Ambrose; Kirk Reid; coach Olga Hrycak 

        The gold medalist Langara Falcons: Randy Nohr; Aaron Mitchell; James Maksymiw; Jamie Oie; Pete Hodson; Tasso Kanavos; Richard Bell; Minko Kulic; Brent Molinski; Mark Tasic; James Derouin; Colin McDonald; Gil Cheung; Jeff Dallin; Rick Brar; coach Kevin Hanson