Final regular season standings:
North (6): Grant MacEwan (16-4); Red Deer (15-5); The King’s University College (11-9); NAIT (9-11); Grande Prairie (7-13); Augustana (2-18)
South (6): Mount Royal (15-5); SAIT (14-6); Lethbridge (13-7); Briercrest (12-8); Medicine Hat (4-16); Prairie Bible (2-18)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Augustana: Neal Leman, Andy Johnston, Chris Fischer, Ryan Loney, Jason Peterson, Kirk Nelson, Kris Nelson, Scott Leman, J Neilson, R Carrick, J Green, D Schollar, coach Stacy Lorenz
Briercrest Clippers: Colin Nystrom, D Nystrom, Brad Moffat, L Rainey, Namand Payne, Galen Plett, Carson Shultz, J Shakatko, Graham Buchanan, S Johnson, M Gillett, M Harrod, Z Pauls, M Banman, Jeremy Thiessen
Grande Prairie: M Paulsen, J Dominguez, M Kildow, Steven Booth, Chris Trydal, Shawn Montgomery, D Yakimchuk, Quintin Williams, Bruce Lea, S Sawatsky, Jeffrey Cope, J Alloway, A Rossworm
Medicine Hat: B.J. Melle, Wayne Zarowny, Brett Hardy, Aaron Edlund, Jason Martin, Ryan Schindel, D Diemert, Ted Kaczynski, R Algie, A Blackwater, S Hall, Jason Young Pine, G Desjarlais, T Layton, B Given, coach Dan Vanhooren
NAIT: Rory Koska, Greg DeDeugd, Sean Wrobel, Brian Purnell, Shawn Harrington, J Morency, Cory Benedict, James Waugh, J Speisberg, Jason Harke, Mark Roblin, Steven Kennedy, L Ewasko, David Beck, coach Travis Heighington
Prairie Bible: S Nielson, Brad Kauffman, C Amendt, Stan Keim, Josh Kempe, C Axelsen, D Amendt, Kendall Kamphius, Jeff Kerns, Ryan Thompson, Ethan Bailey, Darren Andres, coach Keith Harder
In the quarterfinals of the provincial tournament, held in Edmonton, the Red Deer Kings thrashed the Lethbridge Kodiaks 113-80 as Colin Clarkson scored 30, Derek Zaharko 24, Kevin DeJonge 15 and Charlie Jorgenson 11. The Kings led 55-33 at the half and by as many as 40. Kings coach John Johnston told the Red Deer Advocate that “we got great momentum on offence and it created a number of open situations. But the whole key was that we were talking and playing with intensity. Those together equals winning basketball.” Clarkson said “today was a team effort. We came ready to play at the outset and that dictated the flow of the game. We didn’t want to allow them to gain any momentum and when we jumped on them, it took a lot out of them.” Craig McArthur led Lethbridge with 20. Glen Benjamin added 14 and Charlton Weaselhead 9. The Kodiaks (coached by Carlos Maffia) also included D Mulholland, Kevin Rudolph, Dwayne Card, Ryan Mitchell, Trevor Van’t Land, Scott Hill, C Seerup, James Spiess, G Marcoux, James Hurren and C Gilberg. Maffia said “Red Deer played a fantastic game. They came ready to play and were hot because of it. … No excuses for our play. We got beat by a better team in all aspects of the game.”
In the other quarterfinal, King’s whipped SAIT 104-77 to end the Trojans seven game winning streak. “We had the element of surprise because a lot of people were not expecting us to win,” said Eagles guard Jon Williams, who scored 35. “We were expecting to come out and have to play a very hard-fought game.” SAIT coach Ted Harrison said the bottom line was that his troops “couldn’t make any shots. It’s the same shots we were taking all year, the same shots that were going in all year.” King’s coach Bob Day called it a great victory for the school. “Until we built a gym when we took over the Capilano Hotel four years ago, we couldn’t afford to compete in the ACAC. We’re a small school but it’s exciting to be in the league.” Ian Moodle added 20 for King’s. Junior Leslie and Brandon Jopp each scored 14 to pace SAIT. The Trojans (coached by Ted Harrison) also included Shawn Kennedy, Clint Somerset, Mike Fitz, Bryan Pederson, Erhayat Ozcan, Mohamed Barahim, Dave Kostecki, Terrence Walsh, Jay Van Tournhout, Rohan Edwards, Chad Stager, Ryan Darroch, Chris Lees, Ronald Leslie and Stephen Senft.
In the semis, the Mount Royal Cougars defeated the Red Deer Kings 112-90 as Travis Korella scored 17, Jeff Hudson 16 and Troy Gedlaman 15. The Cougars broke to a 10-0 lead and romped, leading 60-46 at the half. Cougars coach Ron Wuotila told the Red Deer Advocate that “we knew they liked to penetrate and kick out to the open man. We wanted to make sure they didn’t get the open shot and I think we did a good job in preventing that. They did get some good shots away but had to work for them. …. We’ve worked the last 10 days on getting to the boards and getting second shots. I believe that was the difference in the game. That gave us the first half lead and it forced them to battle from behind all game.” James Kelly led the Kings with 20. Kevin DeJonge added 17, Steve Hardy 16 and Derek Zaharko 11. The Kings shot 17-51 from the fllor, 9-27 from the arc and 29-47 from the line. King’s coach Johnston told the Red Deer Advocate that “I can honeslty say for the first time this tournament, we were beaten by a better team. We came out flat and they were flying. We just didn’t shoot as well as we did (in the quarterfinals). But then, they played tough against us. … Most times we see a team with one top-notch guard. They have two who weren’t bothered by our defensive pressure. … We didn’t seem willing to bang with them inside.” The Kings’ Paul Guse said “we just didn’t do the job against them inside. We were going for the ball instead of making sure they weren’t getting inside on us. They flew in an consistently got second and third shots. We gave them far too many easy points.”
In the other semi, Grant MacEwan edge King’s 101-99 to earn a berth at the nationals in Vancouver. “It would have been nice to go to Vancouver in our first year in the league, but we gave them everything they could handle,” said King’s University College head coach Dr. Bob Day. “They were full marks for it, but we pushed them. It was entertaining. The people got their money’s worth.” Eagles Ian Moodle had two scoring chances late in the game, including a layup with 2.7 seconds to play, but couldn’t make either shot. “We fouled him (on the layup),” admitted Grant MacEwan coach Darren Ross, who knew his crew was lucky to escape with the win after blowing a 24-10 lead 8.5 minutes into the game and having to play with three starters at four fouls during the dying minutes. `It’s going to be a tough situation for him,” Ross said of Moodle. “I can feel for him. In my fourth season at Grant MacEwan, I missed a shot to win a game and we lost. It eliminated us from the playoffs.” Grant MacEwan forward John Hull, who sank two free throws in the final minute to win it, noted that “we expected a blow-out, but it was close. Those two free throws were kind of ugly. They bounced around a bit, but they fell and that’s all that matters. They counted.” Hull and Mark Filteau each scored 18 points for the Griffins while Greg Tychan led the way with 25 points. Jon Williams had a game-high 30 points for King’s University.
In the bronze medal match, the King’s University College Eagles defeated the Red Deer Kings 92-87 as Dave Vandervelde scored 25, Jon Williams 14, Peter Buwalda 13 and Drew Dyck 10. The Eagles led 51-45 at the half. Derek Zaharko led the Red Deer with 26. Kevin de Jonge added 17 and Colin Clarkson 10. The Kings hit 21-53 from the floor, 8-25 from the arc and 21-33 from the line. The Kings (coached by John Johnstone) included Derek Zaharko, Kevin DeJonge, J Kelly, Colin Clarkson, Paul Guse, Aaron Theim, Charlie Jorgenson, Darren Graham, Ryan Akins, Stephen Hardy, Darnell Frostad, Creswell Hamilton and Stephen Pottage. Johnstone told the Red Deer Advocate that the game turned on a technical he got hit with shortly before the first-half ended when the Eagles were given the ball to inbound off a pass that came off an Eagles player. “All I did was ask him to come over and explain why he didn’t call a jump ball and he gives me a technical. After that, we never got a call from him all game. … We didn’t execute when we still had a chance to win. As well, our free throw shooting, in fact, shooting in general, let us down. … (Those percentages) just doesn’t get it done. We shoot even close to what we should and we get 100 points and win this. You know the desire was there, just not the execution.” De Jonge said “we made some mistakes handling the ball, which didn’t help.” Eagles coach Bob Cay said “I was really pleased with the effort our guys showed after the tough loss to Grant McEwan.”
In the final, Mount Royal nipped Grant MacEwan 85-82 as Ryan Mulholland scored 16 and Troy Gedlaman 14. Gedlaman, chosen tournament MVP, got the Cougars off to great start by hustling to pilfer three balls in the first two minutes. He later broke the back of a Griffins rally with a putback rebound off his missed trey. He also collected a technical in the second half that allowed Grant MacEwan to rip off a 14-4 run and trim an 11-point deficit to win. But when he returned to the floor, the Cougars regained their poise and hung on for the win. “The guy has quick hands,” said Grant MacEwan coach Darren Ross. “Quick feet, too.” Cougars coach Ron Wuotila might have added that Gedlaman had a quick tongue. “He should have controlled himself. But he has made so much progress in our program that I’m just honored to have been working with him.” Gedlaman thought the technical was unwarranted. “I didn’t think I did enough to deserve a technical. These games are emotional.” The Cougars depth was also a major factor. “We got some really important minutes, pressure minutes, from Mike McCollister and Ryan Tanner,” said Wuotila. “Our program is based on the players who do their jobs without much notice. We couldn’t win without them.” Tanner scored 2 but grabbed several critical boards in traffic. “You have to go up hard for every ball,” he said. “If you get a board or two, it helps the team.” Trevor Harrington had drained a trio from beyond the arc as MacEwan rallied to within one. He finished with 16 points. Mark Filteau led MacEwan with 22. Greg Tychon added 17. Ryan Mulholland added 16 points for Mount Royal, while Sam Salter tossed in 13. “They played great,” said Ross. “Better than us. We didn’t execute but were missing a lot too.” The Griffins played without John Hull, who was serving a one game suspension for a pair of technicals in the semis, both for hanging off the rim after dunks. His loss was felt, Ross said. “John gives us everything. Not only is he the best player in the conference but he gives us emotion, character, experience and poise. We didn’t have a lot of those things in this game.”
The bronze medalist The King’s University College Eagles: Jon Williams; Dave Vandervelde; Peter Buwalda; A. Dietz; Ian Moodie; Bruce Mawer; D. Dyck; Mark Harvey; Patrick Hutchison; Dan Luymes; B. Jager; Brian Plantinga; Neil Campbell; coach Bob Day
The silver medalist Grant MacEwan Griffins: Mark Filteau; John Hull; G. Tychan; Pat Sasseville; Trevor Harrington; M. Grand; Steve Moore; Neil Schneider; M. Annett; D. Newman; S. Birch; R. Baert; K. Horwood
The gold medalist Mount Royal Cougars: Troy Gedlaman; Ryan Mulholland; Sam Salter; Travis Korella; Jeff Hudson; C. Beaton; Ryan Clements; Ryan Tanner; M. McCallister; C. Oles; C. Spence; R. Baptist; Tyler McVicar; Jeff Landels; Kevin French; coach Ron Wuotila