Langara 58            
  John Abbott 74 John Abbott 68        
  Fanshawe 53 Fanshawe 50 John Abbott 64    
  Red River 40            
              —–JOHN ABBOTT  
  Cape Breton 64            
  Red Deer 66 Red Deer 52 Dawson 62    
  Dawson 97 Dawson 77        
  SIAST-Kelsey 21            

        In the quarterfinals, hosted by Vanier College of St. Laurent, the wildcard John Abbott Lady Islanders dumped the British Columbia champ Langara (then the Vancouver CC) Falcons 74-58. John Abbott featured an 8-man rotation, 14 players, and used its depth to great advantage. Joanne McKay paced the Lady Islanders with 22 points and 17 boards. Player of the game Carole Miller added 16. Teresa Worton added 9 pts and 5 steals. The Islanders said they were determined to avenge a loss to the Falcons in the 1983 title match. The first half was close but an early run in the second half gave John Abbott a 10-point lead which they never relinquished.

        The Ontario champ Fanshawe Falcons, led by the Colizza sisters Maria and Theresa, whipped the Manitoba champ Red River CC Rebels 53-40. Maria Colizza notched 14, while sister Theresa scored 10. Fanshawe opened with a 6-0 run and led 30-11 at the half, capitalizing on turnovers created by their full-court pressure. The Rebels rebounded more effectively in the second half and ripped off an 11-0 run to drawe within six but Fanshawe ansered with two quick buckets as they reasserted control. Naomi Collins led the Rebels with 19. Patti Shirtliffe added 16.

The Alberta champ Red Deer Queens edged Nova Scotia champ Cape Breton Capers 66-64. Trailing by two with 11 seconds to play and with a chance to knot the score, the Capers turned the ball over and sealed the Queens victory. Red Deer was led by Deana Wood and Dawn Schooler. The Queens led 36-33 at the half. Red Deer’s Wendy Anderson, Cindy Grieb and Schooler all found themselves in foul trouble, with both Anderson and Grieb fouling out. Queen’s coach Pat Rawlusyk told the Red Deer Advocate that “we can’t afford to have people of that calibre sitting on the bench. We executed so well early that I thought we should blow them out. But we took a lot of stupid fouls and put ourselves into trouble. … And we know better.”

In the last quarterfinal, the Quebec champ Dawson Blues annihilated the Saskatchewan champ S.I.A.S.T.-Kelsey Institute Beavers 97-21 as their full-court pressure wreaked havoc. The Blues opened with a 15-0 run and led 40-11 at the half. The Blues took a 15-0 lead and romped. Kelsey coach Bill Baker told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix “we were never in the game.” The Amaruks shot .230 from the field.

In the bronze quarterfinal, the Cape Breton Capers thrashed the SIAST-Kelsey Beavers 80-55.

In the other bronze quarterfinal, the Vancouver CC Falcons whipped the Red River CC Rebels 80-26. Rebels coach Steve Maitland said “I didn’t realize the level of competition was so high at the Nationals … It’ll never happen again. I don’t like to lose and nobody will ever beat (the Rebels) that badly again.”

        In semis, the John Abbott Islanders crushed the Fanshawe Falcons 68-50 as Joanne McKay scored 14 in only 19 minutes, having gotten into early foul trouble. Theresa Worton scored 13 and held Fanshawe star Maria Collizza scoreless. John Abbott led 40-24 at the half and coasted, using its superior size and tough man-to-man defence to create advantage.

In the other semi, the Dawson Blues destroyed the Red Deer Queens 77-52 with their running game, and precision passing. “We looked lethargic out there,” Blues coach Rocco Buono told the Montreal Gazette.

In the bronze semis, the Cape Breton Capers clipped the Fanshawe Falcons 64-49.

In the other bronze semi, the Vancouver CC Falcons dumped the Red Deer Queens 53-48. The Queens (coached by Pat Rawlusyk) included Dawn Schooler, Deana Wood, Wendy Anderson, Cindy Grieb, Charlene Golder.

In the bronze medal match, the Vancouver CC Falcons nipped the Cape Breton Capers 57-56.

        In all-Quebec final, the John Abbott Islanders avenged its 61-58 loss to the Dawson Lady Blues, coached by Rocco Buono, in the Quebec championship. Coach Chris Hunter’s squad had lost 3 of 4 matches against Dawson during the regular season but won 64-62 when it counted. Dawson had tied the game at 62 with 30 seconds to go when Natalie Mellillo was fouled and calmly hit both free throws. But John Abbott won on a Joann McKay tip in at the buzzer. Miller missed a desperation shot from top of key with four seconds to go as John Abbott stalled for last shot. The shot hit rim and bounced into McKay’s hands. She banked it off the boards as the buzzer sounded. Video replay showed one second on the clock when the ball left her fingers. McKay scored 21, including 16 in the second half. Dawson was up 36-26 at the half on tough defense and superior physicality, out-rebounding the Islanders 20-8. But John Abbott pulled back to tie the score at 50 with 8:50 to play, and then at 52 with 6:45 to go. The teams traded baskets until the end. “We had to come to work in the second half,” Hunter told the Montreal Gazette. “They outhustled us in the first and it nearly cost us. We were so tentative. At halftime we made one thing clear. I told McKay she had to go to the boards with the ball. Her strength is inside and she had to carry the load for us.” The Islanders picked up the tempo a bit and pushed the ball inside, while switching from a man-to-man defence to a 2-3 zone in second half. The switch rattled the Blues, who had trouble getting inside and missed their outside shots. Islanders began to control the boards and run the fast break. “When they hit us with the zone we collapsed,” said Buono. McKay hit 61% in 2nd half and 5-8 from the line. “I was looking at the clock as Carole (miller) took the shot from the foul line,” she said. “The next thing I knew I had the rebound and the ball was going through the basket.” McKay also grabbed 7 boards. Hunter said the Islanders were determined to avenge the loss in the provincial final. “There’s no question this has become a pretty intense rivalry. The biggest obstacle in the way of winning the nationals is winning the provincial. Because the tournament was held here, we benefited by being the host team. And when all was said and done you saw two different styles of play and not much difference between us. It could have gone either way.” The Blues, who were plagued by turnovers and missed several layups in the 2nd half, got away from their game plan, which was to have guard Ancil Gittens’ passing to Julieth Lewis inside. Lewis scored 16 for Dawson.

        The all-tourney team featured: MVP Joanne McKay (John Abbott); Deanna Wood (Red Deer); Lynn Clark (Langara); Ancil Gittens (Dawson); Julieth Lewis (Dawson); and Theresa Worton (John Abbott)

        The bronze medalist Langara (then Vancouver CC) Falcons: Lynn Clark; Joanne Devlin; Mary Harrower; Clair Lardner;

        The silver medalist Dawson Blues: Ancil Gittens; Julieth Lewis; Natalie Mellillo; coach Rocco Buono

        The gold medalist John Abbott Lady Islanders: Joanne McKay; Theresa Worton; Carole Miller; Lisa Tramblay; Jill Tetrault; Carole McIntyre; Maria Corbett; Andrea Smith; Annette Ronn; Cathy Fulton; coach Chris Hunter; assistant Steve Shaw