Final regular season standings (9): SAIT (16-0); Lethbridge (11-5); NAIT (10-6); Medicine Hat (10-6); Grande Prairie (9-7); Grant MacEwan (4-12); Red Deer (3-13); Camrose (0-16)
Camrose: Gray Thomson, Lloyd Grosfield, Scott Davies, Kieran McCormack, Toma Chik, Randy Wiberg, William Sinclair, Mike Berg, John Borger, Darren McDermott, Jeff Nasse, Robert Slowski
Grande Prairie Nordic Wolves: John Lewis, Peter Jackson, Leonard Henning, Brad Pack, Francis Erasmus, Clifford ‘Butch’ Fregin, Brian Calkins, Wes Jackshaw, Trevor Smart, Jeff Burns, Duane Head, Mike Allan, Harvey Backer, coach Kerry Vinson
Grant MacEwan: Cliff Rowein, Gerry Couzens, Bruce Humen, Phil Baker, Mike Williams, Rob Adams, Tony DeLuca, Harley Snow, Ira Smolkin, Daryl Rube, Marvin Fege, Dave Sullivan, Bernie Patterson
Medicine Hat; Jon Boettcher, Rob Keaster, Ray Meyer, Brad Zimmer, Graham Pelat, Terry Zachary, Mike Courchene, Richard Fox, Daryl Stepanic, Byron Draudson, Bob Poapst, Mark Winter, Darcy Berger, coach Craig Chamberlin
Mount Royal: Pat Harris, Jay Kenyon, Doug Eberhardt, Joe Petrone, Mike Kasian, Peter Bucher, Jerry Marryatt, Derek Gaume, Whit Skaug, Dave Sorenson, Glen Tinevez, Harlon McMaster, coach Greg Hess
Red Deer: Terry Finnigan, Trevor Swampy, Gary Grab, Dan Vincent, Roger Smolnicky, Todd Storme, Pat Zak, Dave Murray, Bryon Abbott, Bob Klettke, Bob Manning, Shaun Johnston, Steve Gillett, coach Wayne Lalor
In the semis, the Lethbridge Kodiaks defeated the NAIT Ooks 58-77, 82-76; 80-69 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… In game one, NAIT prevailed 77-58 as Harry Blacker scored 17. Murray Proctor and Phil Bartlett each added 12. Brent Maxwell led the Kodiaks with 19. The Ooks easily found holes in the Kodiaks 2-3 zone. “Any advantage we had in the series is now gone,” said Kodiak coach Tim Tollestrup. “It was just a matter of not reacting in our zone defence long enough. Maybe we stayed in the zone too long.” The turnover-plagued Kodiaks trailed by 10 quickly and NAIT dominated the boards while building a 42-23 lead at the half. NAIT outrebounded Lethbridge 47-30, including a 14-11 edge on the offensive glass. …………………………………………………… In game one, NAIT stomped Lethbridge 77-58 as Harry Blacker scored 17, Scott McLaren 14, Murray Proctor 12 and Phil Bartlett 12. Brent Maxwell led the Kodiaks with 19. The Kodiaks was almost entirely perimeter-oriented. …………………………………………………… In game two, Lethbridge prevailed 82-76 as Brad Karren scored 23, while nabbing 14 boards. Ian Kerr added 21. Lethbridge led 45-44 at the half. Harry Blacker led the Ooks with 18. Scott McLaren added 10, Phil Bartlett 10 and Pat Gangl 10. “We played a zone defence in the first game because we used it at NAIT and shut them down to under 50 points,” said Kodiak guard Brent Maxwell. “But they played really well and everything they shot went in. We haven’t played much man to man, but we got lots of help on defence and that’s what really won it for us.” …………………………………………………… Lethbridge took the decisive third game 80-69 (also reported as 81-70) as Curtis French scored 17, Brent Maxwell 15, along with 13 assists, Ian Kerr 12 and Doug Sheble 11. Harry Blacker was held to 7 points for the Ooks. Kodiak guard Brent Maxwell told the Endeavour that “we knew we could play with them. Our man to man defence seemed to be there and our rebounding made a big difference.” Coach Tim Tollestrup said “they destroyed our zone Friday night so after having used the zone defence through the last half of the regular season we switched back to man-to-man and it seemed to do the job for us.” The Kodiaks led 37-32 at the half. NAIT rallied to tie the score at 47 as Murray Proctor hit several critical buckets but he fouled out with four minutes to play. Scott McLaren led the Ooks with 15. Proctor added 14, Pat Gangl 12 and Harry Blacker 7. The Kodiaks outrebounded NAIT 24-23. The Ooks (coached by Dave Hoy, finished 21-15 on the campaign) also included Phil Bartlett, Jim Barnet, Luc Naccaratto, Tim Schrader, Brian Clelland, Bill Rehlau, Warren Reid, Sean Phelan, Steve Vallilee and Darryl Ziehr.
In the other semi, the SAIT Trojans defeated the Medicine Hat Antelope 101-57; 65-56. …………………………………………………… In game one, the Trojans whipped the Antelope 101-57. “This was a very good game for us,” Trojans coach Phil Allen told the Medicine Hat News. “We passed the ball well, shot it well and played good defence.” Antelope coach Craig Chamberlin said “the thing that bothered me most was lost our composure. We stopped doing the things that got us here and we let them take us out of what we wanted to do. “The middle was open, but we didn’t get the ball to Rob (Keaster) all night. They also shot the lights out and there’s nothing you can do about that.” SAIT led 30-19 after one quarter, 51-34 at the half and coasted to the win. Derrick Dell led the Trojans with 18. Tony Brown added 14 and Les Cochrane 13. The Trojans hit 45-66 (.690) from the floor. Jon Boettcher led the Antelope with 12. Rob Keaster added 11. The Antelope hit 25-69 (.360) from the floor. …………………………………………………… In game two, SAIT took the series with a 65-56 win as Derrek Dell scored 20 and Tony Brown 12. The Rattlers led 34-32 at the half.
In the final, the SAIT Trojans defeated the Lethbridge Kodiaks 77-69; 100-61 (2g-0).
In game one, the Trojans rallied from a late deficit to pull out a 77-69 win. The Kodiaks led 37-36 at the half and 65-60 with three minutes to play but Chris Petropoulos hit three buckets in the blocks and the Trojans defence stiffened. “They set some mean picks and were able to steal the ball which brought them back into the game,” said Lethbridge coach Tim Tollestrup. Trojan Derrick Dell was a shot blocking force in the paint. Terry Brown led the Trojans with 24. Bill Durnin added 14. Brad Karren paced the Kodiaks with 20. Doug Sheble added 16. Tollestrup told the Endeavour “we led by five with three minutes left to play but we turned the ball over. They set some mean picks and were able to steal the ball which brought them back into the game.” SAIT shot .430 from the floor, while the Kodiaks hit .420. Trojans post Derrick Dell gave the Kodiaks fits in the post, blocking a host of shots.
In game two, SAIT capped its undefeated season again ACAC competition by pounding Lethbridge 100-61. “SAIT came out and just destroyed us in the first half,” said Kodiak coach Tim Tollestrup. “They led 49-28 and shot 65 per cent from the field. We shot 27 per cent. They came out shooting the lights out.” Mark Rawlek led the Trojans with 18. Tony Brown added 16. Brad Karren paced the Kodiaks with 16. Curtis French added 10. Tollestrup said “with the players we had we did a very good job this year, but it’s always disappointing to make it to the big game and then lose.”
The silver medalist Lethbridge Kodiaks: Brent Maxwell, Ian Kerr, Brad Karren, Don Webb, Curtis French, Tom Demeo, Doug Sheble, Arnie Bergen-Henengouwen, Craig Shields, Steve Payne, Steve Kaupp, Brian Leclaire; coach Tim Tollestrup
The gold medalist SAIT Trojans: Les Cochrane; Mark Rawlek; Mike Cole; Chris Petropoulos; Bill Matkin; Bill Durnin; Tony Brown; Derrick Dell; Grafton Hope; Mark Holland; Andy Lawrence; Steve Hope; Ken Pettigrew; Jerry Hochstein; Tom Fugel; coach Phil Allen; assistant Jamie Thomas; manager Brad Denton; trainer Steve Wahl