Final regular season standings: SAIT (15-1); Lethbridge (15-1); Mount Royal (12-4); SAIT (14-1 +1); Red Deer (6-9 +1); NAIT (6-9 +1); Medicine Hat (6-10); Grant MacEwan (2-13 +1); Camrose (1-13 +2)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Grande Prairie Nordic Wolves: Joey Nelson, Peter Jackson, John Lewis, Butch Fregin, Leonard ‘Cam’ Henning, Steve Magusin, Brad Pack, Don Kozi, Wes Jackshaw, Calvin Flett, Jerry Vant Erve, Lee Murray, James Penner, Ambrose Pernell, coach Kerry Vinson, assistant Dave Johnson
Grant MacEwan: Rob Adams, Harly Snow, Bruce Shutz, Mike Williams, Richard Hinze, Daryl Rube, Jimmy Mills, Dick Mazure, Greg Fundytus
Medicine Hat: Robert Keaster, Pat Grisonich, Ray Meyer, Ronald Rice, Craig Weich, John Campbell, Roger Dirk, Sai Wong, Jim Garbutt, Paul Erickson, Marcel Weasel Head, Jim Plume, Flint Simpson, Darren McGregor, Don George, coach Craig Chamberlin
NAIT Ookpiks: Emanuel Bertolin, Harry Blacker, Pat Gangl, Murray Proctor, Phil Bartlett, Reid Warren, Tim Schrader, Sean Phelan, Ed Hammermeister, Ian Robertson, Al Fell, John Randolph, Bert Bertolin?, coach Dave Hoy, assistant Mark Dobko, manager Brian Mazure, administrator Kirby Bara
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Lethbridge Kodiaks defeated the 3rd-seeded Mount Royal Cougars 79-64; 80-73 (2g-0). ………………………………………………… In game two, Lethbridge completed the sweep with an 80-73 win as Rob Fiorino scored 18, Ian Kerr 15, Kevin Reiter 14 and Murray Hanna 13. Point guard Chris Kotkas delivered 10 points and 11 assists while repeatedly finding teammates on backdoor cuts. “I’ve been working on it all year, but it hasn’t clicked before like it did tonight,” he said. Lethbridge led 24-14 after one quarter before the Cougars rallied within two at the half. “Some of the guys coming off the bench didn’t get organized,” said Kodiaks coach Tim Tollestrup. “They hesitated too much. No one took over as floor general at point guard when Chris went off. When he’s in, everyone knows what to do on offence. When he’s off, people wait for something to happen.” The Kodiaks rebuilt a double-digit lead in the second half, despite the sharpshooting of Cougar Rick Abercrombie, who scored 30. Lethbridge shot 53% from the floor and 57% from the line, while the Cougars hit 41% from the floor and 79% from the line. The Cougars included Dino Gini, Rich Abercrombie, Doug Eberhardt, Dan Burden, Bill Matkin, Tim Goodridge, Paul King, Peter Bucher, Whittier Skaug, Rob Koss, Tony Bryan, Duane McMillan, Rod Heggie, John Burchill and Doug Talbot.
In the other semi, the top-seeded SAIT Trojans defeated the 4th-seeded Red Deer Kings 93-63; 86-59 (2g-0). ………………………………………………… In game one, SAIT dusted Red Deer 93-63 as Bill Durnan scored 17, David Joseph 16, David Arthurs 15 and Chris Petropoulos 11. Ken Haskins the Kings with 13. Trojans coach Phil Allen told the Calgary Herald that “we were a little in awe of how they came out. Then we went to work in the second half.” The Trojans opened the second half with a 20-6 run. ………………………………………………… In game two, SAIT took the series with an 86-59 win as Mike Cole scored 19, Frank Behrans 18, David Joseph 11, David Arthurs 10 and Les Cochrane 10. The Trojans played without all-star centre Bart deNooy (injured ankle). Cole was his replacement. Dean Cristane paced the Kings with 14, while nabbing 10 boards. Terry Finnigan added 10 and Neil McCann 10. “They just showed their depth,” Kings coach Wayne Lalor told the Red Deer Advocate. The Kings (coached by Wayne Lalor) also included David Murray, Ken Haskins, Kevin Williams, Roger Smolnicky, Dan Vincent, Trevor Swamply, Shaun Hatch, Peter Martin Gary Grab, Rick McCullough and Doug Leyen.
In the finals, the SAIT Trojans defeated the Lethbridge Kodiaks 111-98; 78-72 (2g-0).
In game one, SAIT outlasted Lethbridge 111-98 after leading 60-51 at the half. The Trojans hit 60% from the floor and 27-35 from the line. The Kodiaks hit 60% from the floor and 24-40 from the line. Kodiaks coach Tim Tollestrup said “we would play good for a few minutes and then SAIT would build a 10-point lead again.” David Joseph, chosen player of the game, paced the Trojans with 19. David Arthurs added 16, Bart de Nooy 15, Bill Durnin 13, Frank Behrens 12 and Joe Mackinnon 10. Murray Hanna led the Kodiaks with 24. Rob Fiorino added 16 on 8-11 from the floor, Chris Kotkas 15, Ian Kerr 12 and Kevin Reiter 12. SAIT led 38-27 in the first half when the Kodiaks committed six turnovers in three minutes, allowing the Trojans to take a 60-51 lead at the half. Lethbridge rallied to within one in the second half but David Arthurs hit three consecutive buckets as the Trojans regained a comfortable lead, which they never relinquished. “It seemed like they got all the boards,” said Tollestrup. “We pulled down 35 rebounds and normally we can pull down 66 or 67 rebounds. I’m sure SAIT got that many tonight.” SAIT coach Phil Allen said “we’ve had problems with Lethbridge all year with rebounding, so we’re flooding the top man to the boards and we rotate a guy from the wing. It makes us conscious that we’ve got three guys on the boards.” Tollestrup told the Endeavour that the loss “really puts the onus on us. We had hoped to put the pressure on SAIT so we would have an advantage on their home court. Now we’re have to try harder. … We would play good for a few minutes and then SAIT would build their ten-point lead again.” Tollestrup also lamented poor foul shooting. “We had the opportunity of scoring another 16 points from the free throw line and we just weren’t making them.”
In game two, the Trojans completed the sweep with a 78-72 win. David Joseph paced the Trojans with 18. David Arthurs added 12. Murray Hanna led the Kodiaks with 21. Kevin Reiter added 15 and Don Webb 10. The Trojans led 45-33 at the half. Lethbridge rallied to within 71-69 with two minutes to play but the Trojans responded with a 7-0 run. “We had them on the ropes three or four times in the game, but then they created some turnovers and they went up again on us,” said Kodiak coach Tim Tollestrup. “We played well enough to win at times, but we had some mental lapses.” Tollestrup told the Endeavour that “it was a disappoint finish. As a coach, I thought we could go all the way. It’s not every year that LCC has this calibre of a team. … well balanced and talented. It’s too bad to be so close, have the potential, but not win.”
The silver medalist Lethbridge Kodiaks: Murray Hanna; Chris Kotkas; Kevin Reiter; Rob Fiorino; Ken McMurray; Dave Ross; Iain Leckie; Ian Kerr; Arnie Bergen-Henengouwen; Don Webb; Orvil Smith; Allen Lunden, coach Tim Tollestrup
The gold medalist SAIT Trojans: David Joseph; Bart De Nooy; Bill Durnin; David Arthurs; Mike Cole; Chris Petropoulos; Gordon Groat; Les Cochrane; Frank Behrens; Mark Rawluk; Joe MacKinnon; Gordon Denton; Shawn Wanvig; Jerry Hochstein; David Smith; Brad Carter; coach Phil Allen; assistant Jamie Allen; manager Brad Denton; trainer Bob McKay