| (1) | Ahuntsic | 72 | ||||||
| (8) | Briercrest Bible | 37 | Ahuntsic | 60 | ||||
| (4) | Red Deer | 64 | Red Deer | 47 | Ahuntsic | 67 | ||
| (5) | Fanshawe | 63 | ||||||
| —–AHUNTSIC | ||||||||
| (3) | Fraser Valley | 88 | ||||||
| (6) | Humber | 45 | Fraser Valley | 67 | Fraser Valley | 55 | ||
| (2) | Vanier | 67 | Vanier | 54 | ||||
| (7) | N.S. Teachers | 48 |
In the quarterfinals, held at North York’s Seneca College, the top-seeded Ahuntsic Les Indiennes, coached by Pierre Trudeau, thrashed the 8th-seeded Briercrest Bible Lady Clippers, coached by Dean Davidson, 72-37. Patricia Demers paced the Indiennes with 12. The Indiennes broke to a 25-5 lead and romped. Becky Unrau led the Clippers with 12.
The 4th-seeded Alberta champ Red Deer Queens, coached by Pat Rawlusyk, nipped the 5th-seeded Fanshawe Falcons, coached by Bill Carriere 64-63 as Tracy Henger scored 27 on 10-14 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 4-5 from the line. Nadine Traptow added 9, Laura Elgersma 6, Michelle Johnson 6 and Bev Tanner 6. Red Deer led 41-32 at the half and by 60-46 before hanging on for the win as Tracy Henger hit a pair of free throws with 38 seconds to play. Queens coach Pat Rawlusyk told the Red Deer Advocate that she didn’t recognize the team on the floor. “That wasn’t the team that got us here. That was the old Queens … Tracy just continued from where she left off in the Alberta playoffs. And we certainly needed her.” Henger said “we lost our concentration. We started looking ahead at Ahuntsic instead of making sure we had this one. We quit talking and weren’t playing with any kind of intensity at all. The Falcons hit 7-9 from the arc but twice committed turnovers in the final minute. Tracey Murray led the Falcons with 24. Marie Petter added 12. The Falcons also included Karen Campbell. Falcons coach Bill Carriere said “we did a great job of battling back. Then those turnovers did us in.”
The 3rd-seeded B.C. champ Fraser Valley Cascades, coached by Mike Hind, stomped the 6th-seeded Ontario runner-up Humber Hawks, coached by Jim Henderson 88-45 as Gillian Kirk and Tracey McLeod each scored 18 points. Humber was led by Tara Petrachenko’s 14 points. The Cascades opened the second half with a 10-1 run to take command. Tara Petrachenko led Humber with 14. Denise Perrier added 13.
The 2nd-seeded Vanier Cheetahs, coached by Rick McBrien, crushed the 7th-seeded N.S. Teachers College Hawks, coached by Ian Banks 67-48 as Josee Deloretto scored 16.
In the bronze quarterfinals, the Humber Hawks defeated the Nova Scotia Teachers College 81-79.
In the other bronze quarterfinal, the Fanshawe Falcons drubbed the Briercrest Bible Clippers 71-37.
In the semis, the Ahuntsic Indiennes clipped the Red Deer Queens 60-47 as Vicky Tessier scored 17 and Patricia Demers 12. Tracy Henger led the Queens with 12. Cindy Friesen added 8, Nadine Traptow 6 and Bonnie Plowman 6. Ahuntsic dominated the boards 43-26, including a 20-6 edge on the offensive glass. Queens coach Pat Rawlusyk told the Red Deer Advocate that “we let them have far too many second shots. We did a great job defensively, forcing them to shoot from the outside but then failed to box out. You can look at all kinds of things but that told the tale.” Indiennes coach Pierre Trudeau said “we also have really good athletes. We knew we had to rebound well. Red Deer is a very, very good team. If we didn’t play well defensively and go to the boards, we wouldn’t have won. That was a tough game.” Queens guard Bev Tanner said “some of us didn’t have much for legs left. I think we got caught standing around a little bit and they kept coming at us. We played great defence. Offensively, we seemed to be waiting for someone else to do it at times. But still there is no embarrassment losing to that team. If we’re going to lose, better be it to the best.” Ahuntsic led 29-28 at the half. With the Indiennes leading by 11, Red Deer pressed the drew within six while drawing Ahuntsic into foul trouble, but couldn’t convert at the line. Rawlusyk said “when you force those kinds of turnovers, you have to capitalize. We didn’t, then started pressing and looking at the scoreboard. … This is the first time all season we’ve played a team that big. I think some of our girls were thinking about that while shooting and rushed their shots a bit.”
In the other semi, the Fraser Valley Cascades stomped the Vanier Cheetahs 67-54.
In the bronze semis, the Red Deer Queens defeated the Humber Hawks 72-62 as Nadine Traptow scored 23, Tracy henger 17, along with 8 boards, Cindy Friesen 13, Laura Elgersma 11 and Bonnie Plowman 8. Denice Cummings led the Hawks with 24. Tara Petrachenko added 21 and Denise Perrier 8. Queens coach Pat Rawlusyk told the Red Deer Advocate that “we had so many fouls on our side, it looked like a Xmas tree. You know it’s easy to get upset with officials but when it’s 14-4 (in fouls), that’s unbelievable.” The Queens also lost two points on the scoreboard late in the second half. Rawlusyk said “I can’t say enough about that team. It takes a real quality team to play against all of that.” Red Deer led 31-28 at the half on a trey by Michelle Johns with six seconds to play. They led 71-59 when Denise Cummings hit a trey for the Hawks and two points came off the scoreboard. Rawlusyk said “I couldn’t believe it. then the official doesn’t even tell me there’s been a change. They tell the other team and not us. … It figured.” Henger said Laura Elgersma “was outstanding. She controlled play inside and did it down the stretch.” Elgersma said “we all contributed. It was a tough game to play. It seemed everything we did was wrong and everything was going their way. But we tried not to let it bother us. We pulled together.” Red Deer outrebounded Humber 54-18.
In the bronze semis, the Vanier Cheetahs dumped the Fanshawe Falcons 55-43.
In the bronze medal match, the Red Deer Queens defeated the Vanier Cheetahs 68-53 as Nadine Traptow scored 23, Tracy Henger 15, Michelle Johnston 13, Cindy Friesen 6 and Bev Tanner 5. Queens coach Pat Rawlusyk told the Red Deer Advocate that “the girls have to be proud of what they did today. It was a great team effort. I still honestly believe we should have been in the final if the seedings had been right.” Red Deer trailed 43-28 when Michelle Johnston pilfered the ball for a runout that ignited a 26-4 run. Rawlusyk said “Michelle’s defence picked us up at the right time.” Traptow said “I opened a fortune cookie and it said I’d have success at whatever I touched.”
In the final, the Ahuntsic Indiennes defeated Fraser Valley 67-55 after shooting .514 from the floor. The Indiennes won their second successive crown by methodically and relentlessly outplaying the Cascades through the game. They shot .514 from the floor. “We’re going to feel this one a lot more because we really, really had to work for it,” Ahuntsic coach Pierre Trudeau said. “Everyone wanted to beat us . . . every game, they wanted to be the ones to knock us out. You could see, the girls were crying this time, they knew what we did was special. We’re national champions again but we really don’t get much attention. I think on the media level, they expect us to win and they really don’t want to come out and do a story about us beating another team by 30 points. It’s hard to keep the girls’ attention throughout the year. They have to work hard all the time because at this level, you can lose on any one night, and the streak’s over. We had to be mentally prepared this time, and I think I’m most proud of that.” Ahuntsic was never really threatened on the evening, taking a 31-22 lead into the half. They kept the Cascades off the scoreboard for the first 4:45 of the second half, opening up a 37-22 lead. Isabelle Bouchard led Ahuntsic with 25. Patricia Demers added 12 and Isabelle Fortier 16. Tracy McLeod led the Cascades with 21 points. Trudeau said having the same name as the former prime minister is another personal claim to fame. “But I have more hair than he does, so people right away know the difference.”
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Vicky Tessier (Ahuntsic); Tracy Henger (Red Deer); Denise Perrier (Humber); Josée Deloretto (Vanier); Tracy MacLeod (Fraser Valley); and Isabelle Bouchard (Ahuntsic)
The bronze medalist Red Deer Queens: Tracy Henger; Nadine Traptow; Bonnie Plowman; Michelle Johnston; Bev Tanner; Cindy Friesen; Laura Elgersma; L. Taylor; K. Goodwin; J. Mitchell; Janice Stevens; D. Fouts; A. Hull; coach Pat Rawluysk
The silver medalist Fraser Valley Cascades: Tracy MacLeod; Gillian Kirk; coach Mike Hind
The gold medalist College Ahuntsic Indiennes: Vicky Tessier; Isabelle Bouchard; Patricia Demers; Johanne Gamache; Chantal Guilbault; Genevieve Gagne; Isabelle Forcier; Barbara M. Requesens; Isabelle Bernier; Marie-Helene Heroux; Anne Chamandy; Guylaine Blanchette; coach Pierre Trudeau; assistant Alain Legault; therapist Isabelle Tetreault