Final regular season standings:
North (6): Red Deer (18-2); Grant MacEwan (14-6); King’s (9-11); Augustana (7-13); Grande Prairie (6-14); NAIT (6-14)
South (6): SAIT (16-4); Lethbridge (16-4); Mount Royal (13-7); Medicine Hat (10-10); Briercrest (3-17); Prairie Bible (2-18)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Briercrest Bible: Carson Schultz, Brad Moffatt, Tim Tetrud, Steven Redekop, Graham Buchanan, Trevor O’Dwyer, Jeremy Thiessen, Kent Madigan, Rod McGregor, Richard Humphrey, Ben Shamp, Andrew Quiring, Marcus Friesen
Grande Prairie: Quintin Williams, Shawn Parks, Andy MacLachlan, Sean Fitzgerald, Craig Tyler, Steven Booth, Curtis Johansson, Neil Hogan, Shawn Montgomery, Shane MacLean, Jeffrey Cope, Chris Trydal
NAIT: David Rough, Mike Garneau, Shawn Harrington, Jason Harke, David Beck, Marlon Laguerre, Cory Benedict, Dan Rosnau, Ryan Cornelius, Mike Lecavalier, Mark Roblin, Stephen Moore, Rod Phillips, Rory Koska
Prairie Bible: Ethan Bailey, Jake Didier, Jeff Kerns, Steven Quantz, Thomas McClellan, Brad Kauffman, Marcus Reed, Josh Kepe, Ryan Holukoff, Kendall Kamphius, Stan Keim, Ryan Thompson, Darren Andres
In the quarterfinals, the Mount Royal Cougars defeated Grant MacEwan 109-104; 89-68 (2g-0). The Griffins included Jason Morency, Jeremy Stothart, Tilton Reed, John Hull, Graham Michaels, Trevor Harrington, Chuma Nwobosi, Steve Moore, Pat Sasseville, Chris Hunter, Kyle Kostyk, Jeff Loomis, Jason McLester and Richard Bezooyen.
The SAIT Trojans defeated Augustana 82-69; 86-79 (2g-0). The Vikings included Cody Lowry, Scott Lemon, Darren Krecsy, Kirk Nelson, Craig Wiltse, Andy Johnston, Scott Plesuk, Ryan Loney, Kris Nelson, Darrin Horsman, Jason Peterson, Chris Fischer and Sean Hamilton.
Lethbridge defeated the King’s University College Eagles 92-80; 102-88 (2g-0). ……………………………………………………………… In game one, Lethbridge prevailed 92-80. “The guys learned the team that came down to play us was a very capable team, you can’t expect to blow a team like this out of the water and get an easy win, you have to fight for everything,” Kodiaks’ coach Carlos Maffia said. “We shot the ball extremely well and we fought for everything we got, so that was very positive.” The Kodiaks hit 9 treys as they built a 55-38 lead at the half. Eagles coach Bob Day said “I think it was just a case of where we didn’t appreciate the level of intensity we had to bring to not only play in this gym, which we talked about, but to play in the playoffs. They hit nine threes because they had open looks at the basket.” Charlton Weasel Head drained a trey to put the Kodiaks up by 20 early in the second half. “From my point of view, they came out and played more physical, more in-your-face defence and we had a little mental lapse,” Kodiak Rob said. “But some of us stepped it up a little bit, made some key shots and took it home from there.” Maffia said his troops got a trifle complacent. “That lapse cost us some point.” Still the Eagles rallied no closer than 20, including trimming the margin to 78-68 on five consecutive points by Bruce Mawer. Weasel Head paced the Kodiaks with 22. Kevin Rudoph added 19, James Spiess 14, Craig McArthur 10 and Izsak 10. Mawer led the Eagles with 15. Peter Buwalda added 14, Patrick Hutchinson 13, Jonathon Williams 11 and Michael Wagner 10. ……………………………………………………………… In game two, Lethbridge completed the sweep with a 102-88 win. “I thought we played excellent,” said Kodiaks coach Carlos Maffia. “At this point, we’re playing the best offensive game we’ve played all season long.” The Kodiaks led 31-19 early but the Eagles rallied within 48-41 at the half. Lethbridge extended its lead to 75-55 midway through the second half and romped. Craig McArthur led the Kodiaks with 25. Charlton Weasel Head added 20, Glen Benjamin 21 and Kevin Rudolph 10. McArthur “had a fantastic game today,” said Maffia. “He just played loose. Craig’s a very good athlete and when he plays loose, his talents shine through.” Peter Buwalda led the Eagles with 28. Peter Hutchinson added 13 and Phil Cahoon 10. The Eagles also included Joel Mohammed, Michael Wagner, Ian Moodie, Bruce Mawer, Brian Plantinga, Mark Vince, Mark Harvey, Neil Campbell, Jon Williams and Dan Luymes.
In the last quarterfinal series, Red Deer defeated Medicine Hat 82-93; 98-80; 97-79 (2g-1). ……………………………………………………………… In game one, the Medicine Hat Rattlers clipped the Red Deer Kings 93-82 as Ryan Seeman scoreed 24, Wayne Zarowny 19, along with 19 boards, and Beez Lucero 16. The Rattlers led 51-32 at the half. Rattlers coach Dan Vanhooren told the Red Deer Advocate that “we shot extremely well in the first half and once we hit a couple early, it just carried over. … We were a little more relaxed while they looked very tight.” Derek Zaharko paced the Kings with 20. Jason Adams added 15, Troy Arnett 12 and Darnell Frostad 10. King’s coach John Johnstone said that “first half was terrible, just terrible. I’m really disappointed with our effort from our big men. They didn’t come to play at all. They weren’t running, they weren’t scoring … nothing.” ……………………………………………………………… In game two, Red Deer evened the series with a 98-80 win as Derek Zaharko scored 26, Darnell Frostad 15, Jason Adams 14, Darren Graham 13 and Aaron Thiem 8, along with 10 boards. The Kings led 54-36 at the half. Frostad told the Red Deer Advocate that “when they took (Brent) Hardy off, we changed defences and forced them into a number of mistakes (shifted to a full-court press and forced five turnovers and runouts near the end of the first half). Overall, our defence was the key tonight. We picked up the intensity right from the start and it showed on both ends of the court. … And Aaron (Thiem, returning from a knee injury) did a great job (on the boards). Just having him back gave everyone a lift.” Kings coach John Johnstone said “you have to give Aaron a lot of credit. He did a great job for us inside and didn’t make it easy for (Wayne) Zarowny.” Rattlers coach Dan Vanhooren said “we can’t turn the ball over that many times and expect to win.” ……………………………………………………………… In game three, Red Deer took the series by pounding Medicine Hat 97-79 as Derek Zaharko scored 18, Darren Graham 16, while nabbing 12 boards, and Jason Adams 13. The Kings led 44-43 at the half. Kings coach John Johnstone told the Red Deer Advocate that “our inside people woke up and did a great job. They shut down their inside game and were scoring, which opens up the whole offence. … They started to double down low and that left Troy (Arnett) open on the win and when he heats up, we just let him got. … And he was hot.” Dave Nowacki paced the Rattlers with 17. Ryan Seaman added 16, Brett Hardy 15, Beez Lucero 13 and Wayne Zarowny 5. The Rattlers (coached by Dan Vanhooren) also included Brett Hardy, Simon Pothegadoo, Cam Fehr, Aaron Edlund, Sam Bennett, Brad David, Ryan Bailey, Ryan Schindel, Dave Nowacki and Chad Riddell. Vanhooren said “we had another lapse to start the second half and when you turn over the ball like we did, it’ll do you in. Except for that spurt, we were close.”
In the semi-finals, Red Deer defeated Lethbridge 81-78 as Darren Graham scored 21, Darren Graham led Red Deer with 21. Troy Arnett added 14, Aaron Thiem 14 and Derek Zaharko 12. Graham, who hit two free throws with 40.2 seconds to play to ice the win, told the Red Deer Advocate that “the confidence I gained last week (in the quarterfinals) just carried over. I felt it all week but the thing was the whole team played hard. All in, the inside guys did what they had to and the guards did a good job of getting us the ball.” Kings coach John Johnstone said “our inside guys won that game. They’ve come a long way this season in learning to set the man up and it’s paying off. … We big big shots when we had to. … (As well, Mike Asmus) “did a helluva job when he came in to relieve Jason Adams (who’d suffered a concussion). Just what we needed from him.” Lethbridge led 43-42 at the half, although Jason Adams drilled a midcourt bomb at the buzzer for the Kings. Craig McArthur paced Lethbridge with 20. Kevin Rudolph added 12 and Trevor Van’t Land 10. The Kodiaks played most of the first half without all-Canadian guard Charlton Weasel Head, who suffered a shoulder injury after taking a hard elbow. He subsequently returned but was ejected with 14 seconds to play (and faced one-game suspension) for having clotheslined a King guard. The Kings shot 24-40 from the floor, 8-23 from the arc and 6-9 from the line, while the Kodiaks hit 30-60 from the floor, 4-12 from the arc and 9-16 from the line. Rudolph said “we had our chances late but just couldn’t connect. But we hurt ourselves with our team defence. You really couldn’t blame any one person; we just needed to be a a little tougher.” Kodiak Ryan Martin told the Lethbridge Herald that “it was a tough game. We didn’t play our best defence and that hurt us. Our strategy was to move the ball around and get open shots. It worked, but…” Kodiak coach Carlos Maffia said “we played against a really tough ball club. We ran away a little on our half-court defence. The kids fought really hard for 40 minutes, we just couldn’t come up with the baskets.”
In the other semi, the Mount Royal Cougars clipped the SAIT Trojans 76-61 as Ryan Mulholland scored 15 and Mike Myers 12. “I think we came out real hard, competitive and wanting to win,” said Myers. “Tonight was mainly based on who wanted it more.” The Cougars took command when they took control of the boards in the second half. Colin Jones led SAIT with 19. Junior Leslie added 18.
In the bronze medal match, SAIT defeated Lethbridge 85-73 as Junior Leslie scored 31, while nabbing 14 boards, and Brendan Jopp 24. The Kodiaks led 46-36 at the half but wilted in the second half. “It’s not the way it should have ended,” said Craig McArthur, who was LCC’s player of the game with 14 points and seven rebounds. “It’s a disappointing end to a great year.” Kevin Rudolph led the Kodiaks with 16. Ryan Martin added 15. Kodiak coach Carlos Maffia told the Lethbridge Herald that “we lacked intensity. We didn’t play as tough and exciting as we did in the first half. We allowed them back in the game. It’s hard to get a game plan any time any of our players aren’t in the game.” The Kodiaks played without all-Canadian guard Charlton Weasel Head, who was suspended after an ejection late in Friday’s loss. “With Charlton a kid that plays a lot of minutes, it’s very difficult, but that’s not the reason we lost,” said Maffia. “We lost because we didn’t execute well.” Maffia told the Endeavour that “we played against a really tough ball club. We ran away a little from our half-court defense in the second half.” Point guard Ryan Martin said ‘we didn’t play our best defense and that hurt us. Our strategy was to just work the ball around and get open shots. It worked but …” The Kodiaks also included Brad Wall, Glen Benjamin, Rob Izsak, Shawn Heggie, James Spiess, Clint Knopp, Craig McArthur, Trevor Vantland, Jamie Newman, Grayson Bahniuk, Mark Yagos and Wes Gurney.
In the final, Red Deer defeated Mount Royal 83-81 to earn their first ACAC title. Mike Asmus hit 1-2 from the line with 22 seconds to play to give Red Deer an 83-80 lead. Cougar Naby Sylla was 1-3 from the line with 1.1 seconds to play. Troy Arnett paced the Kings with 22. Derek Zaharko added 19 and Darren Graham 10. Zaharko told the Red Deer Advocate that “if I could still frame this moment, I would. This truly something to remember.” Kings coach John Johnstone said “we just about did ourselves in my missing those (free throws down the stretch). It’s not often you win shooting 33% (9-27) from the line but I’ll you this team never game up. They won this with guts and heart and someone up there was looking down on us … It’s something to be a part of history. These guys did a great job all season. … We struggled offensively all weekend, not just from the line. But the guys hit the big shots when they needed them and played great defence. They won this with guts and heart and someone up there was looking down on us. I’m also a firm believer in fate.” Troy Arnett hit a late trey to rally Red Deer within 44-42 at the half. Sylla paced the Cougars with 10. The Cougars were 19-26 from the line. Cougars coach Ron Wuotila said “I don’t foucs on these little things (like Sylla’s missed free throws), just the bigger picture, and we missed several key shots earlier. It’s disappointing but I’m extremely proud of this team. We cam from nowhere to a team which could have won the championship.”
After the season, Lethbridge replaces Carlos Maffia at the helm with assistant Craig Anderson. A graduate of Caribou College who was completing his phys ed degree at the University of Lethbridge, Anderson coached high school basketball in Vancouver for six years.
The bronze medalist SAIT Trojans: Mark Slade; Jay Van Tornhout; Scott Klassen; P.J. Robertson; Colin Jones; Brandon Jopp; Rod Barnett; Jeff Wright; Dave Kostecki; Shawn Kennedy; Rob Skierka; Junior Leslie; Ryan Russell; Chad Stager; coach Ted Harrison; assistant Peter Sambu; manager John McIsaac
The silver medalist Mount Royal Cougars: Clayton Peterson; Tyler McVicar; Jason Wolcott; Dave Lee; Ryan Clements; Naby Sylla; Kevin French; Ryan Mulholland; Brock Peterson; Mike Myers; Calvin Palmer; Jeff Landels;
The gold medalist Red Deer Kings: Troy Arnett, Mike Asmus; Jason Adams; Stephen Pottage; Kurt VonHollen; Derek Zaharko; Creswell Hamilton; Ryan Akins; Darnell Frostad; Darren Graham; Aaron Thiem; Colin Clarkson; Brent Anderson; Joe Soungie; coach John Johnstone