Final regular season standings:
North (6): Grant MacEwan (18-2); Red Deer (15-5); The King’s U. College (12-8); Augustana (8-12); NAIT (6-14); Grande Prairie (1-19)
South (6): Lethbridge (14-6); SAIT (14-6); Mount Royal (13-7); Medicine Hat (12-8); Briercrest (6-14); Prairie Bible (1-19)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Briercrest Bible: Darren Nystrom, Gene Wolverton, David Robinson, Adam Harrison, Galen Plett, Namand Payne, Jeremy Thiessen, Neil Nystrom, Graeme Peters, Andrew Quiring, Jordan Mayer, Kent Maddigan, Bryce Gitzel, Kelly Archuleta
Grande Prairie: Bruce Lea, Peter Kardos, Craig Tyler, Neil Hogan, Nathan Sales, Andrew Boone, Sean Fitzgerald, Curtis Johansson, Andy MacLachlan, Dave Bajic, Kuldeep Billan, Trevor Kerschbaumer
NAIT: Jason Damery, Jason Harke, Greg Dedeugd, Mark Roblin, Shawn Harrington, Matt Burton, Jason Leslie, Mike Lecavalier, Mike Garneau, Matt Arnett, David Rough, Desmond McDonald, Shane Williams, Darin Broderson
Prairie Bible: Marcus Schmaling, Kendal Kamphius, Stan Keim, Marcus Reid, Mark Stetson, Mike O’Donell, Jeff Kerns, Joseph Ness, Ethan Bailey, Steve Quanz
In the quarterfinals, Grant MacEwan defeated Medicine Hat 100-111; 74-55; 79-67 (2g-1). The Rattlers included Andrew Stordeur, Phil Scherer, Tory Sealy, Dave Nowacki, Beez Lucero, Brad David, Ryan Bailey, Aaron Edlund, Steve Miller, Matt Gotselig, Shaun Bosch, Cam Fehr and Geoff Vaz.
Lethbridge defeated Augustana 97-76; 81-57 (2g-0). ……………………………………………………………… In game one, Lethbridge prevailed 97-76 after leading 46-39 at the half. Player of the game Charlton Weaselhead told the Endeavour it was a total team effort. “I think any one of our players can step up to play.” ……………………………………………………………… In game two, Lethbridge completed the series sweep with an 81-57 win. Player of the game Andrew Baird said “it was a good win for us. It was definitely our goal to get to the final four. You have to give it to this team. We were the underdogs coming into this thing.” Kodiaks coach Craig Anderson said “whoever we put out there knew they had to play. I think after you play a team more than once, you start learning the other players.” The Vikings included Scott Plesuk, Tom West, Andy Johnston, Sean Hamilton, Mike Wedman, Ken Cockshott, Ryan Loney, Jeff Berry, Mike Babcock, Darcy Lindberg, Scott Lemon, Trevor Cleveland, Barnaby Provost and Nicholas Phelan.
The Red Deer Kings defeated the Mount Royal Cougars 66-56; 55-93; 80-72 (2g-1). ……………………………………………………………… In game one, Red Deer clipped Mount Royal 66-56 as Colin Axelsen scored 21. The Kings led 33-27 at the half and by as many as 18. King’s coach John Johnstone told the Red Deer Advocate that “defence won it. We couldn’t ask for a better effort. Everyone we put there played hard. The guys banged on the boards and forced them to work hard for their shots.” Calvin Palmer led the Cougars with 14. Mike Myers added 14. Cougars coach Ron Wuotila said “they simply wouldn’t allow us to score. I thought both teams played well defensively but they were the better team tonight.” ……………………………………………………………… In game two, Mount Royal evened the series by pounding Red Deer 93-55 as Calvin Palmer scored 18. The Cougars led 50-23 at the half. Thomas McClellan led the Kings with 14. Jan Parks added 12. Kings coach John Johnstone told the Red Deer Advocate that “they jumped on us early, grabbed a 10-point lead and we panicked. We started playing as individuals, as was evident in that we had only 10 assists as a team. For us to be successful, we have to play together. … We were outworked, outrebounded (57-29) and outplayed. It was simply an old-fashioned buttkicking.” ……………………………………………………………… In game three, Red Deer took the series with an 80-72 win as Troy Arnett scored 26, Kurt Van Hollen 11 and Aaron Thiem 11. Calvin Palmer paced the Cougars with 17. Brock Peterson added 12 and Richard de la Pena 12. The Cougars (coached by Ron Wuotila) also included Sean Olsen, Mike Myers, Jason Buckley, Jason Walcott, Mike Stevens, Naby Sylla, Mike McCollister, Shawn Trusty, Sterling Hamilton and James Frank. Wuotila told the Red Deer Advocate that “I’ll probably get in trouble for saying this but we lost this game because of the officials. What they allowed definitely favored Red Deer.” Kings coach John Johnstone said “it was a tough, physical game but the calls went both ways. We had a lot of fouls as well. In fact, they were in the bonus before we were. It was just that we dictated the style of the game, while they dictated it Friday.” The Kings hit 37-50 from the line, while the Cougars were 21-42. Johnstone said “they fouled us down the stretch to get the ball back and that was the difference in the total number of free throws. So other than that, it was pretty close.” The Kings led 28-26 at the half. Johnstone said “I felt if we were within five at the half, we’d be okay. After Friday, I didn’t want them to get away on us.”
In the last quarterfinal series, the King’s University College defeated SAIT 76-81; 88-75; 66-58 (2g-1). Eagles star Mike Wagner severely sprained his ankle shortly before the series commenced. He missed game one but returned, heavily taped in games two and three to lead King’s to the quarterfinal series victory. “He’s an outstanding kid,” said King’s coach Bob Day. “I would take him as my son in a minute.” Wagner thought his chances of playing in the series were “slim to none. I’ve rolled by ankles before and that was a pretty bad sprain. I was on the bench doing my best to cheer them on. Coming down to the wire, it was so nerve-wracking.” But he logged 32 minutes in game two and 40 in game three. “I didn’t know how much I was going to play. It was a surprise to me that I could go that well.” The Trojans (coached by Ted Harrison, assisted by Peter Sambu and managed by John McIssac and trained by Mike Murray) included Junior Leslie, P.J. Robertson, Jay Van Tornhout, Colin Jones, T.C. Franklin, Mike Fitz, Jeff Wright, Shay Yellowhorn, Bryan Pederson, Rohan Edwards, Leo Morrison, Rob Baptist, Rod Barnett, Rob St. Denis, Scott Klassen, Tim Whitehead, Ian Spriggs and Sonny Price.
In the Final Four semis, host Lethbridge defeated Red Deer 78-67 as Andrew Baird scored 20. Troy Arnett led the Kings with 18. Cresswell Hamilton added 15, Mike Asmus 11 and Colin Axelson 10. Kings coach John Johnstone told the Red Deer Advocate “we had the jump on them early because our inside game was effective. But then, midway through the half, we started standing around and they got a run going. We had to play catchup from there. We had to foul them near the end and they were hitting their free throws.”
In the other semi, Grant MacEwan defeated King’s University 90-85 in overtime. King’s led by three with 18 seconds to play and had possession of the ball. They were fouled but missed both free throws. With eight seconds on the clock, Grant MacEwan’s Tom Coyne launched a trey. It missed but he was fouled and hit all three free throws to knot the score at 77 and force overtime. “We felt relieved to get into overtime,” said Griffins coach Jim Bonin. In the extra session, Grant MacEwan opened with an 8-0 run and King’s never recovered. Jeff Loomise led the Griffins with 26. “I still can’t believe we lost that ball game,” said Eagles coach Bob Day. “We were in perfect position. But they’re kids, you know, and those kinds of things happen. It was a classic case of stealing defence out of the jaws of victory. We really blew it. We had it in our hands. We thought we were in the gold medal game and all of a sudden, a couple of brain cramps. And that was it. It was huge disappointment for us.” Russell Devries led King’s with 28.
In the bronze medal match, Red Deer defeated King’s 103-95. The Eagles (coached by Bob Day) included Russell Devries, Josh Badegriff, Graham Michaels, Mark Harvey, Peter Buwalda, Phil Cahoon, Michael Wagner, Tilton Reed, Kyle Kostyk, Patrick Hutchison, Jonathan James, Mark Vince and Graeme Douglas.
In the final, Grant MacEwan defeated Lethbridge 80-72 as Trevor Harrington scored 20. The Griffins capitalized on a seven-point swing in the second half when the Kodiaks were tagged with a technical after complaining about a foul. Grant MacEwan hit all four free throws and then pilfered the ball and drained a trey to set the Kodiaks on their heels. “That was very key,” said coach Jim Bonin. “I thought we took control of the second half and kept it.”
The bronze medalist Red Deer Kings: Troy Arnett; Mike Asmus; Thomas MacClelland; Kurt Van Hollen; Colin Axelson; Joe Soungie; Creswell Hamilton; Tim Sharpe; Jan Parks; Shelby Sawatzky; Aaron Thiem; Richard Hammond; Colin Gustafson; coach John Johnstone
The silver medalist Lethbridge Kodiaks: Charlton Weaselhead; Craig MacArthur; Andrew Baird; Rob Izsak; Dustin Miller; Andy Beres; Trevor Van’tLand; Rob Stirling; A.J. Jeannotte; Colin Sheen; Tyler Tanner; Jan Nibler; coach Colin Anderson; assistant Brad Karren
The gold medalist Grant MacEwan Griffins: Tom Coyne; Chuma Nwobosi; Mark Knoppers, Trevor Harrington; Jeff Loomis; Dan Rosnau; Jeremy Stothart; Greg Bourne; Kevin Petterson; Scott Dedels; Shelly Williams; Quincy Man In’tVeld; Dave Brown; Graham Michaels; coach Jim Bonin