Final regular season standings (10): Lethbridge (17-1); SAIT (15-3); Grant MacEwan (14-4); Medicine Hat (13-5); Mount Royal (8-10); Grande Prairie (8-10); NAIT (7-11); Red Deer (4-14); Olds (2-16); Camrose (2-16)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Camrose: Kevin Switzer, Fernando Fierro, Darrel MacDonald, Eric Mawer, Ken Bearo, Kevin Mines, Chris Clarke, Bruce Voelker, Stephen Johnson, Gord Henry, Geoff Greenwood, Paul Paetsch
Grande Prairie: Francis Erasmus, Clark Cronk, John Tashuda, Ken Staicesku, Brent Korte, Clifford Starr, Terry Heaney, Ron Sundt, Allan Boyd, Brian Calkins, Rob Sandberg, Darryl Calkins, Marvin Dobish, Bob Larose, Dean Tuttle
Mount Royal: Ken Whitney, Rey Tuazon, Steve Raben, Mike Dow, Maurice Basso, Babu Gill, Scott Taylor, Rene Lefranc, Rod Perrault, Artif Hussein, Jeff Marryatt, Peter Appleby, John Miller
NAIT Ookpiks: Travis Heighington, Jim Barnet, Mike Shea, Mike Klein, Chris Saunders, Powell Jones, Brian Glowinski, Darren Aughtry, Darren Oltmanns, Mike Kelly, David Whitely, Denis Dixon, coach David Hoy, assistant Mark Dobko, administrator John Randolph, manager Lyle Gordon
Olds: C Dewitt, Mel Nysten, Bernie Lastuka, Doug Hulit, D Lastuka, M Virginillo, Greg Pahl, J Bezan, J Campbell, Lionel Gibbs, Alfred Neufeld
Red Deer: Dave Murray, Dave Read, Mark May, Roy Fulop, Cliff Blackwell, John Dahl, Stan Johnson, John Moldowan, Dennis Dunlop, Brian Lizotte, Roy Hannem, Peter Barry
In the semis, the Lethbridge Kodiaks defeated the Medicine Hat Rattlers 97-82; 94-81 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Lethbridge prevailed 97-82 as Brad Karren scored 19, Greg Czech 18, Ryan Heggie 16 and Kevin Kinahan 11. “I’m not unhappy at all, we got a win,” said Kodiak coach Dave Adams. “You have to have a bad game now and then. You can’t take anything away from Medicine Hat, if they force us to play their game (run and gun); they’re doing what they want. The Kodiaks led 51-39 at the half. The Rattlers rallied within 8 but the Kodiaks countered with an 11-0 run to take command. The Rattlers were whistled for an astonishing six technical fouls and coach Craig Chamberlain was tossed early in the second half. Several flagrants were also called. “It was pretty wild.” said Adams. “We should have called the fire department. Things were getting pretty hot out there It wasn’t necessarily the game, but the tempers. It was a pretty emotional game, but they usually are when we play them.” Chad Nicholson and Darcy Draudson each scored 20 to pace the Rattlers. Rattlers coach Craig Chamberlin told the Endeavour that “they better team won. They have a lot going for them.” …………………………………………………… In game two, Lethbridge completed the sweep with a 94-81 win on the strength of a decisive 10-0 run late in the second half. The Kodiaks also dominated the boards 49-27. Rattlers coach Chris Chamberlin said “the better team won. They have a lot going for them.” Greg Czech paced the Kodiaks with 24. Kevin Kinahan added 19, Brad Karren 16 and Kevin Kovatch 11. Darcy Draudson led the Rattlers with 15. Nate Messer added 15 and Chad Nicholson 14. “That’s about the most we’ve been pushed for a quite a while,” Kodiaks coach Dave Adams told the Lethbridge Herald. “We had to play well to win.” The Kodiaks took a 10-point lead at the half on a buzzer-beating trey by Greg Czech. Although all-star centre Ryan Heggie picked up his fourth foul early in the second half, 6-8 Allan Gieske came in and dominated the boards. “Allan and Richard (French) came in and did a pretty good job off the bench,” said guard Kevin Kinahan. “You have to give them the credit for picking up the slack. With the five starters we have, we can all score. If one guy gels into foul trouble, there’s always someone else there.” Adams said Gieske “played just super. He did everything and more that was asked of him.” Adams told the Medicine Hat News that he was “impressed” with the Rattlers. “That was as tough a game as we’ve had. I’m glad it was in our gym.” Rattlers coach Craig Chamberlin said “this is the best team Medicine Hat College has ever had. Lots of the players are eligible to come back and have shown some desire to. This team will be a playoff contender for a couple of years.” Adams said “we call our team the Kodiak Attack. We had all five starters average in double figures this year. Other things open up for us (when teams try and concentrate on Heggie).” Rattler starters Dave Shockey, order by Nate Messer, Chad Nicholson and Darcy Draudsen all fouled out. “Offensive boards (by the Kodiaks) were the difference in the game,” said Chamberlin. “They were so aggressive and we didn’t keep them out. If everybody was out of foul trouble it would have been different.”
In the other semi, the SAIT Trojans defeated the Grant MacEwan Griffins 72-69; 66-49 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, SAIT edged Grant MacEwan 72-69 as Ken Pettirgew scored 16, Trevor Hamilton 13 and Wayne Gray 12. …………………………………………………… In game two, SAIT took the series by dusting the Griffins 66-49 as Trevor Hamilton scored 19. Gray Thomson led the Griffins with 12. Bryan Deneve added 11 and Darron Codwell 11. The Griffins led 23-21 at the half.
In the finals, the SAIT Trojans defeated the Lethbridge Kodiaks 83-88; 78-73; 66-62 (2g-1).
In game one, Lethbridge prevailed 88-83. “They were a lot tougher this time,” said all-star Ryan Heggie. “They came out and gave us a hell of a game. They’re a’ good team.” The score was knotted at 37 when the Kodiaks ripped off a 10-0 run, including a pair of treys by Greg Czech to take a 47-39 lead into the lockers. SAIT trailed 84-83 with 1:20 left, but a blocked shot by Kevin Kinahan and an out-of-bounds save by Kevin Kovatch gave LCC the ball back. “We got rattled a little bit by their press, but we brought it up pretty well,” said Heggie. Heggie led the Kodiaks with 21. Brad
Karren added 17, Kevin Kinahan 16 and Greg Czech 14. Trevor Hamilton led SAIT with 19 points. Ted Leslie added 16. Kodiaks coach Dave Adams “they scored lots of points off the press in the first half, but I felt we adjusted pretty well.”
In game two, SAIT prevailed 78-73. The Kodiaks led 35-33 at the half but were badly outrebounded in the second frame. Kodiaks coach Dave Adams told the Endeavour that “we lost on the defensive rebounding, letting the Trojans get second shots off the boards.” The Kodiaks were uncharacteristically undisciplined, unlike their play in the previous 19 ACAC wins. Kodiaks coach Dave Adams said “their press was effective and kept us out of our offence. We didn’t get into a disciplined game.” The Kodiaks led by 35-33 at the half and maintained a lead through the second half until the Trojans took the lead 61-60 with 7:50 remaining. Kodiaks kept within two until the final minute. There were eight lead changes in the close game, along with five ties. Alan Gieske, Kevin Kinahan, Kevin Kovatch and Greg Czech all had 13 points for the Kodiaks. Wayne Gray led SAIT with 25 points and 10 boards. Kris Moore added 12. “We shot 49 per cent from the field and they shot 31 per cent, but it was those rebounds that hurt us,” said Adams.
In the decisive contest, SAIT prevailed 66-62. The Kodiaks had rallied from an 11-point second half deficit to knot the score at 58 with four minutes to play. Trojans coach Phil Allen told the Endeavour that the difference was “luck. We just got a few breaks at the right time. … This could have been the national championship. This game was the sweetest because it was the toughest.” Kodiak coach Dave Adams said “the Trojans just beat us at the right time.” Kodiaks guard Kevin Kovatch said “number two isn’t good enough.” Mark Holland paced the Trojans with 16. Peter Olsen added 12, Trevor Hamilton 12 and Kris Moore 10. Brad Karren led the Kodiaks with 18. Greg Chech added 13 and Ryan Heggie 12.
After the season, Craig Chamberlin left the helm at Medicine Hat to pursue education studies at LSU.
The co-bronze medalist Grant MacEwan Griffins: Gray Thomson, Bryan Deneve, Dave Forest, Darren Caldwell, Tony DeLuca, Vito Disciglio, Pat De Haas, Greg Kist, Mike Badger, Thurston Burke, Jeff Morris; Steve Larsen; coach X; assistant Jim Skilling
The co-bronze medalist Medicine Hat Rattlers: Darcy Draudson; Nate Messer; Chad Nicholson; Dave Shockey; Dave Mikuliak; Nick Lazik; Terry Zachary; Mark Taylor; Ken McDougall; Rob Ennis; Lance Knodel; Dave Rozdeba; coach Craig Chamberlin
The silver medalist Lethbridge Kodiaks: Ryan Heggie, Greg Czech, Brad Karren, Kevin Kinahan, Kevin Kovatch, Rod Weik, Richard French, Allen Gieske, Shaun Adams, Craig Weich, Stacey Cook, Steven Quinton, Brian LeClaire; coach Dave Adams; assistant Dave Macdonald
The gold medalist SAIT Trojans: Trevor Hamilton; Ted Leslie; Mark Holland; Kris Moore; Wayne Gray; Peter Olsen; Bill Guevin; George Likoudis; Rae Fehr; Ken Pettigrew; Kevin Cornils; Lawrence Makortoff; Kevin Pettigrew; Brian Haynes; Brad Denton; Ken Passmore; Russ Bischoff; coach Phil Allen; assistant Jamie Thomas; assistant Avery Harrison; manager Pat Kornak