| (1) | John Abbott | 62 | ||||||
| (8) | Langara | 47 | John Abbott | 49 | ||||
| (4) | Durham | 57 | Durham | 38 | John Abbott | 73 | ||
| (5) | Mount Allison | 50 | ||||||
| —–JOHN ABBOTT | ||||||||
| (2) | Fraser Valley | 80 | ||||||
| (7) | Lethbridge CC | 49 | Fraser Valley | 62 | Montmorency | 39 | ||
| (3) | Mount Royal | 54 | Montmorency | 65 | ||||
| (6) | Montmorency | 57 |
In the quarterfinals, held in Burnaby, 3rd-seeded Mount Royal coach Avery Harrison was incensed after his Cougars dropped a 57-54 decision to the 6th-seeded Montmorency Nomades. Cougar guard Jill Sutherin was blatantly fouled twice by Nomades guard Graziella Charles with 15 seconds to play and Mount Royal trailing 55-54. Charles dragged Sutherin to the ground twice, the second time stopping a pass to the Cougars Emily Williams for an uncontested layup in the dying seconds. Harrison was so incensed he got a technical, which the Nomades converted into insurance points. “It’s too bad the teams couldn’t decide it. It’s really too bad,” Harrison fumed to the Calgary Herald. “You work seven months to get here and end up losing because of the incompetence of an official. We’re devastated, just in shock. They couldn’t believe it. I really feel bad for our team, that a referee’s lack of courage to make the right call could cost us a game. Just pathetic.” Cynthia Levasseur led the Nomads with 15 points. Sutherin paced Mount Royal with 16. Mount Royal led by 15 at the half.
The top-seeded John Abbott Islanders thrashed the 8th-seeded Langara Falcons 62-47.
The 4th-seeded Durham Lords dumped the 5th-seeded Mount Allison Mounties 57-50. “We weren’t happy with their play,” assistant coach Gord Wallace told the Durham Chronicle. “But we don’t have to tell them that, because they weren’t happy with the way they played either.” Julie Goedhuis led the Lords with 24. Player of the game Marcy Skribe added 20 and Shantell Marsh 10.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Fraser Valley Cascades whipped the 7th-seeded Lethbridge Kodiaks 80-49 as Gillian Kirk scored 14, Martha Craig 14, Krista Harris 12, Donna Lovett 10 and Nicole Schubert 9. Kirk told the Abbotsford News that “we were all really ready. Everybody scored. Everybody got assists – it was great.” Cascades coach Sandy Chambers said “we had everybody playing and everybody contributing and that’s key for us.” Lara Hyggen paced the Kodiaks with 15. Wendy Molcak added 8 and Jennifer Halowski 8. “We just didn’t come to play,” said Kodiak coach Dawn Keith. “The whole thing of nationals was just overwhelming to the team. They’re so young and they just weren’t ready. We could have beaten this team had we played the way we’re capable of. They’re not even close to Mount Royal or SAIT. We came here with the idea of gaining experience and a medal is still possible. The pressure is off now and hopefully we can get back to playing good basketball.”
In the bronze quarterfinals, the Langara Falcons defeated the Mount Allison Mounties 66-57.
In the other bronze quarterfinal, the Mount Royal Cougars edged the Lethbridge Kodiaks 64-63. The Kodiaks (coached by Dawn Keith) included Lara Hyggen, Wendy Molcak, Jenifer Halowski, Jodi Jenson, Jill McDougall
In the semis, the John Abbott Islanders defeated the Durham Lords 49-38. Marcie Skribe led the Lords with 16. Stephanie Kassian added 12, Julie Goedhuis 8 and Shantell Marsh 7. “I counted at least eight elbows thrown at our players that weren’t called,” Lords coach Mike Duggan told the Durham Chronicle. “It takes away from the confidence of the girls, because now they don’t drive to the hole as hard.”
In the other semi, the Montmorency Nomades nipped the Fraser Valley Cascades 65-62.
In the bronze semis, the Mount Royal Cougars clocked the Durham Lords 78-56. The Lords led 33-32 at the half but the Cougars opened the second half with a 17-0 run. “We now have a better understanding of what it takes to win at nationals,” Lords coach Mike Duggan told The Chronicle. “We’re so proud of the girls. … The bottom line is, we ran out of gas. It was a case where we played two hard-fought games back-to-back; against the number one and’
number three seed. The girls got physically beat up and mentally beat up.” Heidi Wayne said “we came in wanting gold. After we won the first game, we could see it even more. Then we had to play John Abbott. We knew what we were up against and we came up just short. We were hurt and tired.” Julie Goedhuis said “everyone wanted to play for the bronze. But we were hurt and we were tired. When you’ve only got nine bodies, you tire quicker. They kept
throwing fresh bodies at us and in the end, we were just exhausted running down the floor.” The Lords (coached by Mike Duggan, assisted by Gord Wallace) included Marcy Skribe, Julie Goedhuis, Tara Tripney, Stephanie Kassian, Heidi Wayne, Shantell Marsh, Stephanie Kassian, Nadine Wilson, Kelly Morrison and Jennifer Robinson.
In the other bronze semi, the Fraser Valley Cascades edged the Langara Falcons 59-56.
In the bronze medal match, the Fraser Valley Cascades defeated the Mount Royal Cougars 82-69 as Martha Craig scored 22. Craig told the Abbotsford News that “to be honest with you, sometimes third is better than second, because it’s nicer to finish off with a win.” Marianna Raguz led Mount Royal with 25. The teams were knotted 44-44 at the half, but the Cascades slowly pulled away in the second stanza. “To be honest with you, sometimes third is better than second, because it’s nicer to finish off with a win,” said Cascades forward Martha Craig, who was chosen player of the game after scoring 22.
After two subpar performances, the John Abbott Lady Islanders looked like champs in the final as they captured their second consecutive national title with a 73-39 win over Laval’s Montmorency Nomades. It was the Islanders 10th national crown since 1978 and it capped a 16-game winning streak for coach Rick McBrien’s blue and gold machine from Ste. Anne de Bellevue. “The coaching staff was very concerned after the first two games,” McBrien told the Montreal Gazette. “We played just well enough to beat Langara and Durham. Our players seemed to hit a wall in the second game against Durham. I think jet-lag must’ve kicked in because we seemed tired.” But they were fired up in the final, particularly after McBrien’s pep talk. He dedicated the game to the departing seniors. “I appealed to their team pride. It seemed to work. We played awesome in the final. It was like we were giving a clinic.” National player of the year Kelly Schumacher paced the Islanders with 25 points and 15 boards in her final game before enrolling at the University of Connecticut. Tournament MVP Dalya Delmar-Greenberg, a gritty point guard for Dollard des Ormeaux, added 19 points, 6 steals and 5 assists. “Dalya was simply outstanding for us in the tournament,” said McBrien. “She’s always been a money player for us. This time was no different. She shut down one of Montmorency’s top players – limiting Carolyn Levasseur to one point – and showed tremendous leadership. She definitely was our catalyst.” The Islanders finished (29-6) on the season. John Abbott led 33-18 at the half. “We thought it was going to be much tougher,” said McBrien.
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Dalya Delmar-Greenberg (John Abbott); Marcy Skribe (Durham); Amber Mytting (Fraser Valley); Kelly Schumacher (John Abbott); Marianna Raguz (Mount Royal); and Graziella Charles (Montmorency)
The bronze medalist Fraser Valley Cascades: Martha Craig; Krista Harris; coach Sandy Chambers
The silver medalist Montmorency Nomades: Graziella Charles; Cynthia Levasseur; coach Pierre Trudeau
The gold medalist John Abbott Islanders: Dalya Delmar-Greenberg; Kelly Schumacher; Cynthia Santamaria; Melanie Mattioli; Jessica Lawson; Shannon Murray; Jen MacAulay; Martine Laferrierre; Anne-Catherine Leduc; Andrea Jarosh; Marie-Pierre Veilleux; coach Rick McBrien; assistant Martina van der Vlist; assistant Steve Cochrane; assistant Chantal Guilbeault; therapist Clare Parsons