In the opening round, held in Edmonton: …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Calgary St. Francis Browns defeated the 8th-seeded Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres 75-61. The Browns, holding a 35-29 lead at the intermission, grabbed all the momentum by opening the second half on a 17-4 run. Browns coach Richard Svoboda told the Calgary Herald that it was difficult game. “They’re a very good shooting team. They’re probably the best rebounding team we’ve seen. They’re fantastic on the boards.” Leading by six after the half, the Browns switched to a zone and held the Sabres scoreless for five minutes. “We made a change in our defensive strategy and the boys worked it to perfection,” Svoboda said. “We had a real big push in the second half. That’s what did it for us.” Sabres wing Amit Mali told the Edmonton Journal that “coming into the game, we were looking forward to playing Ross Shep. We took these guys for granted. We got too caught up in … trying to prove people wrong, trying to prove that we belong. We tried too hard to impress everybody else. We got killed on the glass. They out-rebounded us terribly. They got a lot of those hustle points; usually that’s our strength.” The Sabres also included Albert Voravong. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Lethbridge Catholic Central Cougars defeated the 12th-seed Grande Prairie Tomahawks 77-52. The Tomahawks (coached by Troy Sandboe) included Ryan Tymchuk. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Cardston Cougars defeated 11th-seed Red Deer Notre Dame (formerly Camille J. Lerouge) Cougars 66-63. Tom Henley paced the Cougars with 18. Chris Capicio added 12 and Brent Hamilton 10. Cougars coach Scott Doan told the Red Deer Advocate on missing a trey that would have forced overtime: “we got the ball with 23 seconds remaining and the shot just wouldn’t drop. It was matter of them hitting their shot and us missing ours.” The Cougars (coached by Doan, assisted by Irv Sandulak) also included Matthew Donovan, Nick Pelletier, Bryan Anderson, Will Allen. .…………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Calgary Central Memorial Rams defeated the 7th-seeded Magrath Zeniths 91-55. The Zeniths (coached by Tollestrup, statisticians Megan Tollestrup and Brittanie Leavitt) included Jimmy Balderson, Jared Kilkenny, Matt Harris, Shane Bly, Brooks Blackner, Dan Swainson, Matt Harris, Booker Alston, Dan Cook, Darren Bevers, Mike Keeler and Allen Tollestrup.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds thrashed the 8th-seeded Calgary St. Francis Browns 101-52. “We played excellent, one of the best games all year,” Ross Sheppard coach Dave Youngs told the Edmonton Journal. The Browns (coached by Richard Svoboda) included Tony Fitz, Drew Taddia, Kevin Phone.
The 5th-seeded Lethbridge Catholic Central Cougars defeated the 4th-seeded Calgary William Aberhart Trojans 74-61 as Kenny Wells scored 20. “We couldn’t hit a shot,” Trojans coach Wayne Thomas told the Calgary Herald. “Catholic Central played a real smart game. They exposed all the weaknesses we had.” The Trojans included Kevin O’Reilly, Brendan Robertson, Chris Wright, David Card.
The 3rd-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans defeated the 6th-seeded Cardston Cougars 85-73. Kevin Monson led the Cougars with 24. Mike Nish added 17. The Cougars (coached by Ken McMurray) also included Justin Law, Nick Pitcher, Russ Stewart.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Edmonton Jasper Place Rebels defeated the Calgary Central Memorial Rams 81-63. The Rams (coached by Romel Raffin) included Jim Henderson, Vince Ircandia.
In the semis, the top-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds edged the 5th-seeded Lethbridge Catholic Central Cougars 81-62.
In other semi, the 3rd-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans walloped the 2nd-seeded Edmonton Jasper Place Rebels 77-57. Guard Mike Melnychuk told the Edmonton Journal that the Titans “really worked hard this week at becoming a better team and executing down the stretch. J.P.’s pressure didn’t shake us like it usually does. We really handled it well. You have to beat J.P. as a team. That’s what we did.”
In the bronze medal match, the 2nd-seeded Edmonton Jasper Place Rebels dumped the 5th-seeded Lethbridge Catholic Central Cougars 94-86. The Cougars (coached by Mike Hansen, assisted by Bob White, managers Mike Scott and Brent Wandler) included Kenny Wells, Juliano de Brito, Tico Iron Shirt, Darcy Day Chief, Nick Hay, Beau Filkowski, Justin Seitz, Mike Ferraro, Mark Kreziowicz, Garrett Matteotti, Anthony Vercillo and Devin Mulder.
In the final, a rematch of 1999, the top-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds defeated the 3rd-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans 89-77. The tide turned down the stretch when Thunderbird forward Joel Allen stuffed Titan guard Mike Melnychuk on a layup and then the T-Birds got the ball up-court to Steve Sir, who hit a trey with four minutes to play to make the score 76-67. The Titans never again threatened. “That was the dagger,” Melnychuk told the Edmonton Journal. “But they’re an all-star team. They’re not your average high school team. It’s hard to beat a school like that.” Sir was elated about the trey. “That felt great. I thought: that might do it. And I saw my defender’s face. He rolled his eyes and I know that I sucked a little life out of him. That pushed us over the edge and gave us a little more energy to finish.” Sir, who scored 29, said the Thunderbirds were determined to repeat as provincial champs. “That really feels unreal. It feels great. It’s so much more difficult than someone would think. Yes, we’re a strong team. Yes, we’re the favourite coming in. It puts more pressure on us because everyone is saying, `Can’t choke.’ So it adds up in your head. But we didn’t think about repeating, we just thought about winning.” Joel Allen and Mike Melnychuk had dueled all night. Allen was pleased with the block. “Yeah, that was Mike. I made him eat the ball. We played them in regular season and he almost put an elbow through my chest. Ever since then, it’s been a little rough.” Melnychuk, who scored 31, including five from beyond the arc, said the trash-talking was “just goofing around. It’s all fun and games. We just joke around. He doesn’t get to me. We have a mutual respect. On the court, we don’t like each other but when we’re off the court, we’re friends. He knows that and I know that, no matter what happens. If I give him a shot or if he gives a shot, it adds some excitement to the game. It gets the fans kind of rowdy. It gives everyone something to look at away from the ball.” Sir told the Edmonton Journal that “this is the best feeling I’ve had in a long time. But it’s very tough. I’m going to miss everyone so much.” Joel Allen noted that the team only came together as a result of a barnstorming tour. “I was going to Ainlay, Phil was supposed to go to Scona, Brandon and Steve were probably going to McNally. We were all on this travelling team my dad started, the Edmonton Grads. We were in the States for three weeks. Chicago, Indianapolis, we went to the Hoosier Dome. All over Montana. By the time we were done, we were all going to Shep. It was like, `I’ll go to Shep if you go to Shep’.” Jermaine Bucknor, who’d broken his arm midway through the season, noted that “it was killing me inside (to watch),” he said. “This team is the best team I ever played on. The most heart. Nobody ever gave up.” Coach Dave Youngs noted that “they’ve all had really good coaching and you can tell. There’s not much for me to do. I don’t really have to coach and that’s a great thing. I know this is a very special time for myself. The other coaches and me, we’re relishing the moment.” Sir said it was great to get revenge for a midseason loss to the Rebels. “We beat them in their gym. We conducted ourselves with class after it was over. We didn’t taunt them. We won and that was satisfying.” Allen said “if you watch Steve off the court, he’s a goof. We all follow his lead. We’re all a bunch of goofs. But when it comes to basketball, people know where we’re at. We’re a lot more mature than some people think.”
The bronze medalist Edmonton Jasper Place Rebels: Andy Smith;
The silver medalist Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans: Mike Melnychuck; Riki Dhariwal; coach Rob Poole
The gold medalist Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds: Blake Milte; Tyler Steinbrenner; Phil Sudol; Adam Presslee; Lee Graham; Randy Baniuk; Joel Allen; Graeme Dickau; David Tran; Steve Sir; Jermaine Bucknor; Spencer Dorward; Brandon Park; coach Dave Youngs; assistant Powell Jones; assistant P Sir; manager Grace Morrison; manager Rebeka Sanders