| (1) | John Abbott | 98 | ||||||
| (8) | Thompson Rivers | 61 | John Abbott | 76 | ||||
| (4) | Fanshawe | 57 | Fanshawe | 47 | John Abbott | 45 | ||
| (5) | Grande Prairie | 49 | ||||||
| —–LETHBRIDGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE | ||||||||
| (3) | Douglas | 75 | ||||||
| (6) | N.S. Teachers | 54 | Douglas | 62 | Lethbridge CC | 62 | ||
| (2) | Lethbridge CC | 74 | Lethbridge CC | 72 | ||||
| (7) | Briercrest Bible | 44 |
In the quarterfinals, held in Grande Prairie, coach Lisen Moore’s top-seeded Quebec champ John Abbott Lady Islanders clipped coach Jerry Lee’s 8th-seeded Thompson Rivers (then the Cariboo Goldrush) 98-61. The Islanders ripped off their 26th consecutive win of the season. They led 59-32 at the half. Brigette Edwards paced John Abbott with 26. Martina van der Vlist added 24, Annie Archambault 14, Allana Henderson 11 and 6-3 all-Canadian centre Tracey Hayman 4. “But she played a fine game,” Islanders coach Lisen Moore told the Montreal Gazette. “Cariboo have a lot of big wide-bodied girls on their team and she was occupied most of the time rebounding against those girls. We were a bit tentative at first but once we got our running game going, we were alright. And Tracey’s outlet passes were what got out fastbreak going. If we need to improve on anything, it’s defence. We were a little stressed at the beginning partly because of the long trip and the size of the Caribou girls.” Catherine Stewart led Thompson Rivers with 28. Devanee Peterson added 12.
The Ontario champ Fanshawe Falcons, coached by Bill Carriere and Theresa Colizza, edged coach Kelly Ohlhauser’s Alberta fourth-place finisher and host Grande Prairie Lady Wolves 57-49. Shelly Comadina led the Wolves with 12. It took Grande Prairie nine minutes to notch a field goal. Fanshawe led 14-5 early and 37-17 at the half. The Wolves rallied to within 32-27 and then within 35-32 but promptly went ice cold from the field again. Wolves coach Kelly Ohlhauser told the Grande Prairie Herald Tribune that “one the surface, everyone probably thought it was our shooting that lost it for us. But it was our defence that cost us the game. Because at critical points, we gave up some easy baskets. … We did a poor job of defending against their screens away from the ball and we did a terrible jog of closing out to the person with the ball.”
The B.C. champ Douglas Royals, coached by Richard Norman, defeated coach Ian Banks’ Atlantic champ Nova Scotia Teachers College Hawks 75-54 as Andrea Jackson scored 21. Anne Armstrong led the Hawks with 27.
In the last quarterfinal, the Alberta champ Lethbridge CC Kodiaks, coached by John Jasiukiewicz whipped coach Lori Peters’ Saskatchewan champ Briercrest Bible Lady Clippers 74-44. “This was about what we expected,” said coach John Jasiukiewicz. “We didn’t think we’d have to play too tough in our opener.” The Kodiaks opened with a 12-0 run. “After three and a half minutes it was 16-2 and the game was over. And that’s the way we played it in the second half,” said Jasiukiewicz. “We came out on fire, set the tone and then stopped it.” The Kodiaks led 38-18 at the half. “We didn’t care how badly we beat them. We didn’t want to allow 50 points against us — that was our main concern.” The Kodiaks treated the game like a practice session, experimenting with different defences and offences. “I think if you look at the shot chart, you’ll find we took as many shots from the outside as in. We showed we can shoot the ball outside as well.” Laurie Hockridge paced the Kodiaks with 28 (also reported as 24). Loretta Hatzelaar added 11, Laura Bethlehem 10 and Shelly Kormos 8. The Kodiaks hit 38% from the floor. Krista Thiessen paced the Clippers with 19. Jody Borne added 9. The Clippers hit 24% from the floor and 58% from the line. The Kodiaks led 38-18 at the half.
In the bronze quarterfinal, the Briercrest Bible Crusaders stomped the Nova Scotia Teachers College Hawks 63-45 as Krista Thiessen scored 22 and Jodi Bourne 21. Anne Armstrong led the Hawks with 14. Dana Decoste added 13.
In the other bronze quarterfinal, the Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves edged the Cariboo Goldrush 60-57 as Shelly Comadina scored 20 and Brenda Arsenault 13. The Wolves hit .360 from the floor and .460 from the line. Devanee Peterson led the Goldrush with 17. The Goldrush hit .340 from the floor and .590 from the line. The Goldrush took their last lead at 43-42 with 10:34 to play but Arsenault quickly countered with a bucket and although the teams were tied three times down the stretch, the Wolves took the lead for good on a Shelly Comadina drive to make it 55-53 with 3:23 to play. Wolves coach Kelly Ohlhauser told the Grande Prairie Herald Tribune that “things would be going fine at times. And then we would do some foolish things. But between the mental lapses, I saw signs that we’re starting to come out of it. … Our shooting was a little better today – not blazing hot but we weren’t nearly as uptight as last night (in the quarterfinals).”
In the semis, the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks defeated the Douglas Royals 72-62. “The way we played, everybody is thinking Abbott’s going to win the finals. Last year everybody was telling us we were going to win,” said Kodiak coach John Jasiukiewicz. “We’d just as soon have Abbott overconfident this lime.” Lethbridge led 11-4 early but Ethel Atte rallied the Royals to within 34-25 at the half. Andrea Jackson drew the Royals to within 69-62 with 1:52 to play but Kodiak reserve Laura Bethelem answered with a long jumper to quell the rally. “Before we left (a rematch against the Islanders) was our goal and I think we did overlook Douglas,” said Jasiukiewicz. “We wanted to turn it on whenever we wanted and they started getting hot and everything was going in.” Laurie Hockridge, though, maintained her focus, scoring 42, including 29 in the first half, while blocking 8 shots and nabbing 19 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass. “It was really easy inside,” said Hockridge. “They were just letting me cut through the key in the first half they would have double-teamed me.” Carrie Kuntz added 13 and Carmen Knutson 10. Ethel Atle paced the Royals with 30, while star Andrea Jackson was held to 6.
In the other semi, the John Abbott Islanders stomped the Fanshawe Falcons 76-47 as Bridgette Edwards scored 24.
In the bronze semi, the Fanshawe Falcons nipped the Briercrest Bible College Clippers 64-63. The Clippers included Jeannette Martens.
In the other bronze semi, the Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves nipped the Douglas Royals 70-68. The Royals led 45-37 at the half. Wolves coach Kelly Ohlhauser acknowledged that his troops got a host of favourable calls down the stretch. “But over the whole game, they shot 33 free throws and we shot 23. We hade some defensive adjustments at the half and made the big plays when we needed them. I thought we should have won the game by more but we shot poor from the line. We missed the front end of 6 or 7 one-and-ones.” The Royals included Andrea Jackson, Janet Gibson.
In the bronze medal match, the Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves edged the Fanshawe Falcons 48-47 as Brenda Arsenault scored 14, Shelly Comadina 10 and Alison Fedchuk 10. Grande Prairie took an early 10-2 lead but Fanshawe rallied back to a 29-23 lead. Jodi Lecher notched a lot prayer for the Wolves to knot the score at 25 at the half. Falcon Michelle Grona hit two consecutive buckets to give Fanshawe a 40-33 lead in the second half. But Wolves guard Vivian Lilje hit a trey with 5:40 to play as Grande Prairie trimmed the margin to 42-38. That was the turning point, Wolves coach Kelly Ohlhauser told the Grande Prairie Herald Tribune. “Vivian is a very determined young lady. She’s usually not known for those but I think she just kind of willed that one in.” Fedchuk and Lilje added field goals to give the Wolves a 46-44 lead with 1:20 to play as the Wolves full-court pressure yielded turnovers. Brenda Arsenault made it 48044 with 40 seconds to play. But she fouled Tunde Reti with 32 seconds on the clock. Reti hit 1-2 from the line. Fedchuk then fouled out (joining teammates Kim Pomeroy and Jessie Davies) on the bench. Liz Murphy hit two free throws to make it 48-47. Fanshawe got the ball but Falcon Tammy Alexander passed the ball out of bounds with 24 seconds to play and Grande Prairie held on for the win. Ohlhauser said “I can honestly say that I was totally convinced all along that we would finish with at least a bronze and maybe better depending on how strong Quebec was going to be. But I can also say that the Lethbridge Kodiaks are very deserving champions. We’ve been saying for years that we have the strongest and deepest conference. And this weekend would tend to verify that claim.” Murphy led the Falcons with 14. Tiveron added 12. The Falcons also included Jody Penfold.
In the final, the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks avenged a loss in the 1988 final by whipping the John Abbott Islanders 62-45. “This is really exciting. We waited all year for this,” tournament MVP Laurie Hockridge told The Endeavour. Kodiaks coach John Jasiukiewicz said “our girls played fantastic. We’ve worked hard all year on improving things like turnovers … Everything all came together.” Hockridge paced the Kodiaks with 36. Carrie Kuntz added 10 and Laura Bethlehem 6. Tracey Hayman notched 17 for the Islanders. Kuntz noted “they’re a good team. We played the best game all year.” Hockridge said she was determined to improve on a two-point performance in the 1988 final and to demonstrate that Islander coach Lisen Moore was wrong in comments made about her following that final. She also was determined to show that Islander Tracey Hayman wasn’t the best post in the country, as some believed. “I wasn’t too worried about her. When I got out on the court, I just wanted to dominate her and I did,” said Hockridge. Kodiak coach John Jasiukiewicz said “Hawk was incredible but the key to the whole game was we took her out with 10 minutes left in the first half and the forwards came out and held that lead. This was the best game we’ve played all year — especially defensively.” Kuntz said “it feels awesome, revenge.” Lethbridge opened with an 8-0 run. John Abbot countered with an 8-0 run but Hockridge then went on a personal 10-0 run. The Islanders rallied to within 28-26 at the half. Jasiukiewicz told the Grande Prairie Herald Tribune that “we tried to do two things. The first was to play good, hard-nosed defence and the second was to contained Brigette Edwards and little Sophie (Morrin) who is usually their sparkplug and take them both out of the game. I think we succeeded in keeping either of those girls from being a factor.” Moore said Hockridge “hit a few shots early in the game that sort of frustrated us. We played her really close to the basket where we figured she’d have a tough time catching the blal. The passes were perfect early in the game and she put them in. She played a very good basketball game but I don’t think she was the reason they won though. She got the 36 but I think it was the way the others scored the points. They shot the ball from the outside and they made the baskets from the outside. That was the difference in the game.”
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Laurie Hockridge (Lethbridge); Carrie Kuntz (Lethbridge CC); Shelly Comadina (Grand Prairie RC); Tundi Reti (Fanshawe); Brigitte Edwards (John Abbott); and Tracy Hayman (John Abbott)
The bronze medalist Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves: Shelly Comadina; Alison Fedchuk; Kim Pomeroy; Jessie Davies; Tracy Housworthy; Liz Murphy; Brenda Arsenault; Jodi Lecher; Leona Tank; Vivian Lilje; coach Kelly Ohlhauser
The silver medalist John Abbott Islanders: Tracey Hayman; Brigitte Edwards; Sophie Morin; Mylisa Henderson; Linda Hazek; Alana Henderson; Anne Archambault; Anita Cugliandro; Martina van der Vlist; Julie Kinsella; Patricia Coffin; coach Lisen Moore; assistant Martha Fortier
The gold medalist Lethbridge Kodiaks: Laurie Hockridge; Carrie Kuntz; Laura Bethlehem; Carmen Knutson; Lori Mathews; Shelley Kormos; Loretta Hatzelaar; Patricia Murphy; Amber Powelson; Trish Murphy; playing assistant (torn ACL) Barb Babott; coach John Jasiukiewicz; manager Timythi Jasiukiewicz; manager Ali Jasiukiewicz; athletic director Tim Tollestrup.