Final regular season standings (9); Mount Royal (17-1); Lethbridge (15-3); SAIT (13-5); Grant MacEwan (11-7); Medicine Hat (8-8); Camrose (7-9); NAIT (4-14); Red Deer (3-15); Grande Prairie (0-12)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Camrose: Gerald Weissbach, Craig Johnson, Dave Bredy, Gary Foth, Eric Mawer, Rick Cockwill, Brian Scheelar
Grande Prairie: Wayne Welter, Jack Munch, Tony Brazeau, Brian Burkart, Ray Arlidge, Gerald O’Reilly, Gene Gagne, Brian Kuechle, Donald Wilson, Steve Blaskovits, Ken Szmata, Paul Wozniak, coach Arne Donovan, manager Bernie Gauthier
Medicine Hat: Dwight Dreger, Rob Zimmer, Tom Elwood, Randy Butterfield, Paul Leclaire, Don Miller, Bren Ennis, Bob Heggie, Doug Dirk, Kurt Anderson, Vic Hender, Rob Frank, coach Dale Schulha
NAIT: Wayne Squires, Rick Davidson, Uldis Celinski, Ron Kelly, Gene Gerwing, Doug Omichinski, John Perl, Ken Plumb, Dave Neil, Bruce MacKenzie, Brett Smith, Doug Roth, coach Dave Hoy
Red Deer: Phil Webb, Wally Grab, Dale Barr, Don Klettke, Jeff Munday, Steve Simonis, Jim Spiller, Pat Loughlin, Bob Burrell, Kevin Kubines, Bruce Motley, Glenn McLeod, Terry Espejo
In the semis, the Lethbridge Kodiaks defeated the SAIT Trojans 88-85. Kodiaks coach Tim Tollestrup said it “was a much tougher game than I really expected SA1T to come up with. I think that was one of the best games SAIT has played all year. They shot well and they used their inside strength to a big advantage. We really had a tough time trying to control their size inside.” The Kodiaks broke to a 24-12 lead but the Trojans rallied to within 47-44 at the half. The Trojans led by as many as 7 in the second half but the Kodiaks switched to a zone that seemed to befuddle SAIT and shut down their inside game. “When we were going man to man, they were trying to cut Jerry Nashman through the middle and when he does that he’s dynamite. He’s either got the two points or the foul,” said Tollestrup. The Kodiaks took a 76-66 lead with four minutes to play and all but iced the win on a pair of free throws by Barry Mehew with 19 seconds to play. Tollestrup told the Endeavour that “it would have been a shame to lose that one because they were shooting so good.” The Kodiaks hit 16-18 from the line. Paul LeClaire paced the Kodiaks with 28 on 12-16 from the floor and 4-5 from the line. John Webster added 19 and Barry Mehew 17. Jerry Nashman led the Trojans with 17. Doug Bennett added 12 and Tom Brown 10. The Kodiaks hit 36-71 from the floor and 13-18 from the line.
In the other semi, the Mount Royal Cougars defeated the Grant MacEwan Griffins 82-50. The Cougars led 46-23 at the half. Rob Kendell paced the Cougars with 15. Tim Herr added 14 and Don Janzen 13. Dale Brenneis paced the Griffins with 12. Steve Interman added 10.
In the bronze medal match, the SAIT Trojans clipped the Grant MacEwan Griffins 101-90. The Griffins included Dale Brenneis, Steve Interman, Wayne Fermaniuk, Con Dromparis, Jim Fermaniuk, Dan Loewen, Randy Gusikoski, Cary Carothers, Gordon Daykin, Peter Adams and Ouzie Osborne.
In the final, the Mount Royal Cougars defeated the Lethbridge Kodiaks 74-59 as Rob Kendell, formerly of the University of Winnipeg Wesmen, scored 18. Tim Herr added 20. Dan Janzen scored 14 and was chosen the tournament MVP. “Don has been invaluable to our team, not only as far as points and rebounds but as far as being a leader on our team,” said coach Jack Kenyon. “I would have to say this is one of my best teams’ ever. We have a happy balance between height and speed. We’re not that big up front but we make up for a lack of height with speed.” The Cougars zone and Lethbridge’s foul trouble, particularly that of Mike Smith and Paul LeClaire, proved the difference. Kodiaks coach Tim Tollestrup said “their zone caused us to rush our shots and we don’t rebound well against a zone. … We played good. It just wasn’t good enough. It’s always disappointing to let a championship slip through your hands. But when you look at it realistically, our kids played their hardest and played well.” The Kodiaks broke to a 23-16 lead but the Cougars ripped off an 8-0 run as they rallied to a 44-37 lead at the half. They quickly extended the lead to 15 as Lethbridge got in foul trouble and they switched to a zone and coasted to the easy win. “The officiating was such that we didn’t get any breaks,” Tollestrup said. “We were just getting belted around inside and the refs weren’t calling it. You just didn’t know what the refs were going to call. What really hurt us was getting Mike Smith and Paul Leclaire in foul trouble.” Leclaire led the Kodiaks with 21. Smith added 16. Kenyon said the tide turned early in the second half. “We came out in a zone, a 2-3 zone and it worked well against them. I thought we played really well in the second half. We stuck to our game plan. We thought if we could keep banging it inside, we were maybe going to draw fouls on some key people. We just felt we had to get it inside, and we did a good job of it.” Tollestrup said “we really had a tough time trying to contain them defensively. We were trying basically to beat Mount Royal with our outside threat, whereas they have a combination which is so important to a winning team, an inside and outside threat.” Tollestrup told the Endeavour “we played good. It just wasn’t good enough. … The refs weren’t calling three-second violations and some offensive fouls with any consistency.”
The all-tournament team featured: MVP Don Janzen (Mount Royal); Paul LeClaire (Lethbridge); Mike Smith (Lethbridge); Tim Herr (Mount Royal); Rob Kendell (Mount Royal) and Jerry Nashman (SAIT)
After the season, Medicine Hat announced that McCoy coach Brian Sanders would assume the helm of the Antelope.
The bronze medalist SAIT Trojans: Jerry Nashman; Frank Lilley Jr; Niegel Gainor; Brad Morrissey; Ken Crayston; Doug Bennett; Glen Leroux; Gary Harding; Ken McGinnis; Mike Sheen; Tom Brown; Dan MacDonald; Peter Scott; Greg Allan; Tate MacKenzie; Brian Toth; Ken Banister; coach Terry Kimmel; manager Pat Walsh
The silver medalist Lethbridge Kodiaks: Barry Mayhew; Paul Leclaire; Rod Schmidt; Leonard Boras; Mike Smith; Jon Webster; Al Dunbar; Kevin Rieter; Kris Kotkas; Bryce Olsen; Brian Mayzes; Vince Bouvier; Mike Day Chief; coach Tim Tollestrup, trainer Dave Kato
The gold medalist Mount Royal Cougars: Ludlow Rodney; Don Janzen; Jamie Armstead; Tim Herr; Roger Belisle; Barry Hunt; Brent Zimmer; Dave McMillan; Don Gellatly; Brent Krusel; Darrel Hawryluk; Mike Smith; Jeff Gull; Dave Kokoschke; Norm Marty; Rob Kendell; coach Jack Kenyon