REGULAR SEASON
| Memorial | 16-4 | 17-8 | Glenn Taylor | |||||
| St. FX | 16-4 | 25-9 | Steve Konchalski | |||||
| Dalhousie | 13-7 | 18-11 | Tim McGarrigle | |||||
| Saint Mary’s | 9-11 | 13-15 | Ross Quackenbush | |||||
| Acadia | 8-12 | 15-17 | Dave Nutbrown | |||||
| Cape Breton | 8-12 | 12-18 | Greg Jockims | |||||
| New Brunswick | 7-17 | 10-17 | Clint Hamilton | |||||
| U.P.E.I. | 3-17 | 9-21 | George Morrison | |||||
Playoff non-qualifiers:
New Brunswick Varsity Reds: Gordon MacNeilly, Jon Kreiner, Danny Gomez, David Low, Gordon McNeilly, Jeff Tegart, Simon MacDougall, Jon Stevenson, Ryan Johnston, Dan Graf, coach Clint Hamilton, assistant Thom Gillespie
Prince Edward Island Panthers: Doug Newson, Scott Morrison, Greg Lucas, Jason MacDonald, Dennis Manning, Mike Saunders, Pete Richard, Rob Evans, Jon Love, Phil Davis, coach George Morrison
In the quarterfinals, the 3rd-seeded Dalhousie Tigers defeated the 6th-seeded Cape Breton Capers 79-70. The Tigers got big contributions off the bench from 6-10 centre Dallas Shannon and 6-7 Georgetown transfer Mike Sabol to quash a Capers rally. They’d built a 47-33 lead at the half on Brian Parker’s shooting but the Capers cut the lead to 74-70 with just over a minute to play. Shannon scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half, while Sabol broke Cape Breton’s full-court pressure, freeing Parker up to gun from the perimeter. “We had the jitters coming in, so it took us awhile to find our shots,” said Parker. “There was talk about a Metro Centre jinx, so I wanted to come out and show everybody that was just so-so.” Parker scored 28 on 7-21 from the floor but hit five treys. Dalhousie hit 22-39 from the floor. Shawn Plancke notched 10 points on 2-10 from the line and 16 rebounds. After rallying within four, the Capers got a stop and had a chance to cut the margin to a bucket but Plancke blocked a driving shot by Stephen Nelson. On the next Capers possession, Dale Jackson blocked an attempted trey by Rawle Philadelphia. Dalhousie coach Tim McGarrigle said his big men were dominant down the stretch. “We’ve certainly been waiting long enough for their contribution. We anticipated they’d be a big part of our program. Those guys were big factors in our winning that game. I thought it was over at the half but it was white-knuckle time the last six minutes.” The Tigers played without guard Darryl Baptiste who was benched because he missed the team’s pre-game meal, ostensibly as he was doing his taxes. “Maybe we have to get H&R Block on board as a sponsor so this doesn’t happen again,” said McGarrigle. Rawle Philadelphia scored 12 for Cape Breton. Terry Wright notched 9, Andy McIntyre 16, Marvin Murphy 14 and Stephen Nelson 11, while leading scorer Michael Wall was held to two after quickly getting in foul trouble.” “That was a huge factor,” said Capers coach Greg Jockims. “It’s tough when your leading scorer isn’t scoring in the game. Marvin stepped in and played with a lot of heart and emotion for us. This was a pretty tough way for Rawle and Terry to go out.” The Capers (coached by Greg Jockims) also included Ian MacDonald, Erwin Bourne, Brian Silver, Brook Day, Scott Delaney, Brian Borden, Brad Marshall, Jay Nogler, Chris Aikens.
In the other quarterfinal, Acadia defeated Saint Mary’s 65-52. Acadia used a 12-2 run late in the first half to build a 34-22 lead at the half. But Saint Mary’s countered with a 19-5 run to open the second half as they inched ahead 41-39. The teams traded the lead until Mark Headley drained a trey to give Acadia a 53-49 lead with four minutes to play. Saint Mary’s countered with a free throw but then Headley nailed another trey to give Acadia a six-point lead and they romped home. “He’s been doing that the last six weeks,” said coach Dave Nutbrown. “What stands out even more is he’s taking those shots and playing 40 minutes.” Headley finished with 22. Adam Gladwin added 12, Chris Cain 11, Jan Trojanowski 7 and Derek Cotton 7. “We had a couple of tough shots late,” said Nutbrown. “Without those, (Saint Mary’s) had as much right to win as we did. Their perimeter kids did a good job of pressuring the ball and they beat the hell out of our big kids.” Jonah Taussig led the Huskies with 12. Patrick Toulouse added 10. The Huskies (coached by Ross Quackenbush, assisted by Chris Lawrence and Shawn Mantley, managed by John Landry) also included Jermaine Fletcher, Kurt Henry, Matt Parent, Jordan McCormack, Kevin Keeler, Lloyd Thomas, Andrew Gibb, Scott Hounsome, Derek Hurdle, Wade Doucette and Jason Medford.
In the semis, Acadia stunned the top-ranked Memorial Sea Hawks 85-75 as Jan Trojanowski scored 22 and grabbed 11 boards. “That’s a great game for him,” said Acadia coach Dave Nutbrown. “He’s got great athletic ability.” Memorial had swept Acadia during the regular season but the Axemen jumped ahead early and took a 38-25 lead into the lockers. The Seahawks looked nervous, hitting only 9-29 from the floor in the first half. Coach Glenn Taylor said his team was feeling the jitters as they played their first ever game in the Metro Centre. “I think that was the case in the first half. We didn’t play well as a team at all. As a result, we dug a big hole for ourselves and we just couldn’t get out.” Acadia hit its open jumpers and dominated the offensive glass as they stretched their lead to 19 with four minutes to play. Memorial’s John Devereaux and Peter Benoite began heaving threes to spur a 15-5 Seahawks run which closed the gap to 10. Trojanowski was named player of the game. Mark Headley added 20 for St. FX, while Adam Gladwin came off the bench to score 12 and grab 9 boards. Point guard Chris Cain had 11 points and 7 assists. John Devereaux led Memorial with 20. Peter Benoite added 16, 8 rebounds and six assists. Leon Peddle scored 12. But Nutbrown said the late spurt masked a sub-par performance by Memorial’s fifth-year seniors. “I thought we did an exceptional job on Devereaux and Benoite. We held them to single digits until the last five minutes.” Nutbrown noted that “I think we did a pretty good job of taking away most of their sets. I think we did an exceptional job on Devereaux and Benoite, until they made the run right at the end. I was happy to get production from anybody down low after the first night. Our post guys had a tough night against Saint Mary’s and, to say the least, they heard about it today. I thought it would go down to the buzzer. I didn’t expect to be up that big against the top team.” Taylor noted that “we struggled, but we were prepared. We just didn’t do a very good job of executing our offence. Our perimeter people didn’t have good patience in getting the ball into the post. The frustrating part is to know you didn’t play well and you could’ve done better.” The Sea Hawks (coached by Taylor, assisted by Paul Byrne and Mike Woods) also included Jermaine Bruce, Shawn Harle, Loren Kielly, John Coaker, Marc Wood, Matthew Woods, Glen Squires, Darren Payne and David O’Keefe.
In the other semi, St. FX defeated Dalhousie 66-65 as guard Jeff Piers drained a pair of free throws with seven seconds to play. Dal’s Brian Parker bounced a layup off the rim as time expired and the X-Men escaped with the win. St. FX jumped out to an 11-2 lead just two minutes into the game as forward Mike Clarke scored 7. “We realized that we got off to a good start,” said Clarke. “If the game was five minutes long that would be nice but unfortunately there’s 35 minutes to play.” But Clarke was forced to the bench with two fouls and the Tigers stormed back. A pair of free throws by Dal guard Darryl Baptiste tied the game at 24 midway through the half. The X-men maintained the tempo and defensive pressure, however, and slowly wore the Tigers down. With Marc MacKay scoring 10 and grabbing five boards, St. FX took a 40-35 lead into the lockers. Tigers forward Ray Fountain scored six straight points early in the second half to close the gap to 48-47 and the teams kept it close til the end. A free throw by Tiger guard Tremayne Howe tied at 62 with 90 seconds to play. MacKay then hit a layup but with 20 seconds to go, Tiger point guard Brian Parker drained a three from the corner to give Dal the lead. On the next possession, with Piers driving to the hoop, Parker was called for a foul on a minimal contact play. Piers hit both free throws to restore the Xavier lead. With seven seconds left, Parker took the inbounds pass the length of the court and drove to the hoop only to have his layup bounce off the rim. Shawn Plancke rebounded and appeared to be fouled but no whistle blew and St. FX escaped. Dalhousie coach Tim McGarrigle wouldn’t discuss the officiating but said the play was what he called for. “We executed it exactly the way we wanted to. But if you’re going to rely on special plays, sometimes you’re going to make them and sometimes you’re not. I designed the final play for a make. We got exactly what we wanted but when you rely on special situations, sometimes you’re going to lose. Shawn had a tough night but he had the flu and was actually falling asleep at our pre-game meal. I told him I was proud of him. His mother sent us a boy and she’s getting back a man.” X-men coach Steve Konchalski noted “Dal ran a beautiful play. But the Good Lord was on our side and the ball didn’t drop in.” Mackay, who led St. FX with 16 points and eight rebounds was chosen player of the game. Mike Clarke and Fred Perry each scored 14. Brian Parker led Dal with 17 points and 9 assists. Dallas Shannon added 15 and 11 boards, while Tremayne Howe had 13. Shawn Plancke hauled down 16 rebounds but didn’t score, finishing 0-7 from the floor. Piers noted, with regard to the winning free throws: “I just wanted to clear my mind. Some people wanted to talk to me, but I’m the type of person that wants everybody to stay away and not say anything.” Asked if he was fouled, Piers looked at Konchalski and smiled. “I’ll say yes, I guess so.” Konchalski quickly interjected: “They blew the whistle.” The Tigers (coached by Tim McGarrigle, assisted by Mark Parker and Jim Charters) also included Tim Elliott, Stanleigh Mitchell (before being booted off the team), Dwayne Hopkinson, Tim Maloney, Kannin Osei-Tutu, Blair Pallopson, Mike Sabol, Ray Fountain, Dale Jackson, Jesse Brothers, Dennie Oliver and Darryl Baptiste.
In the final, St. FX defeated Acadia 59-54 as Michael Clarke scored 17 points and tournament MVP Marc MacKay added 13. MacKay, a fourth-year senior from Antigonish, said “it means the world to me, especially coming from Antigonish and watching since I was a little kid. I still can’t believe it. I feel amazing. I can’t describe the feeling. This has been my goal since I first put on a pair of shoes.” Acadia tried to slow the tempo and control Xavier’s running game. Clarke noted that the presence of former X-Men on the sidelines inspired the team “because all the guys who played here are just one big family. Marc (McKay) went through a slump a couple of weeks back and he really stepped it up today, last night and the last couple of games and that’s what we needed.” Coach Steve Konchalski said the game demonstrated “how value Mike Clarke is to our lineup. Even if he isn’t scoring, he’s rebounding and creating for us inside. He’s our spiritual leader. … They won the battle of the tempo but we won the battle of the game. I was afraid today was going to be a battle like this. But with the quality of our team, we can play a variety of styles.” St. FX opened with a 6-2 run, but Acadia responded with its own 13-2 run to pull ahead 15-8 after 10 minutes of play. But when Acadia forward Jan Trojanowski was forced to the bench with his second foul, St. FX responded with 16 unanswered points to pull ahead 24-15 with five minutes to play. Trojanowski returned to trigger a 10-2 Acadia spurt. St. FX led 29-27 at the half. The second half was a tight defensive affair. Acadia forward Colin Poponne hit a bucket to tie the game at 52 with 4:29 to play. But Danny Stone and Isaac King scored on Xavier’s next two trips down the floor to give St. FX the lead for good. Acadia missed five three-point attempts, including two potential game-tying shots in the final minute and St. FX iced it from the line. Clarke also nabbed 7 rebounds for St. FX while MacKay ripped down 8 boards. Fred Perry scored 7 but held Mark Headley to 1-10 from the floor. Trojanowski led Acadia with 12 points and six boards. Poponne scored 8. Derek Cotton added 7 and 7 boards. Acadia’s guards, Cain and Headley shot a mere 3-21 from the floor and 2-15 from the arc. Axemen coach Dave Nutbrown said it was the product of playing three games in as many days. “It’s a bit of a problem. Fatigue hurt our shooting a little bit.” Nutbrown added that he was pleased with his team’s effort, particularly knocking off top ranked Memorial to reach the final. “There’s victories on the scoreboard and there’s victories in effort. We got one of those victories today. Athletically, we can’t match up with them. Our big problem is we don’t have a thug, for the lack of a better word. The way the game is called in this league, you need a couple of thugs. Our kids take it, but we don’t give out enough because we’ve got these 200-pound post kids.”
The runner-up Acadia Axemen: Colin Poponne; Jan Trojanowski; Derek Cotton; Chris Cain; Mark Headley; Adam Griffin; Jim O’Grady; Adam Gladwin; Colin Popone; Richard Brenton; Ryan Dolan; Marcus Goch; Michael Goch; Victor Herbert; Murray MacLeod; Mark Seaborn; Everton Thomas; coach Dave Nutbrown; assistant Steve Pound; assistant Sean Smith
The champion St. Francis Xavier X-Men: Michael Clarke; Danny Stone; Fred Perry; Isaac King; Marc MacKay; Jeff Piers; Andrew Tyler; Marc Chisholm; Tom Kennedy; Jason Dayman; Krzysztof Stach; Kingsley Robinson; Jason Hirtle; Merrick Palmer; Chris Clarke; Sean McLean; Jason Dayman; coach Steve Konchalski; assistant Kelsey Stewart; assistant Ron MacDonald; manager Simon Thauvette; trainer Mark MacDonald