Final regular season standings:
North (7): Grant MacEwan (19-5); Lakeland (19-5); NAIT (14-10); Concordia (13-11); Grande Prairie (11-13); Augustana (6-18); The King’s University College (2-22)
South (6): Mount Royal (18-2); SAIT (14-6); Red Deer (11-9); Lethbridge (9-11); Briercrest (4-16); Medicine Hat (4-16)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Augustana: David Ness, Kevin Barnes, Jesse Mckee, Brendin Huculak, Patrick Maloney, Jonathan Honey, Joshua Schofield, Mike McCorquindale, Will McInnes, Hamish Boyd, Bryn Petch, Tyler Sehn, Mike Letterio, Jeffrey Merkel
Briercrest Bible: Craig Jantzen, Keegan Larson, Sammy Whitehawk, Warren Moffat, J.J. Bowie, Josh Fawcett, Lance Fradette, Stephen Cruickshank, Chris Girvan, Mike Dell, Andrew Quiring, Justin Waddington
Grande Prairie: Adam Jones, Josh Kinvig, Graeme Ryder, Andrew Gorman, Chad Spence, Ian Dickey, Wyand Nel, Bradley Moskalyk, Craig Pellerin, Seb Aiono, Austin Mueller
King’s University College: Paul Dhillon, Jeremy Barrows, Simon Doty, Cecil Israel, Jayson Barrows, Aron Balakrishnan, Christopher Aubrey, Brendan McKay, Jordan Vollmer, Lewis Kelly, Terry Seinen, Joshua Noble, Joseph Googel, Reid Fralick, Sam Smily, Brandon Tucker
Medicine Hat: Colby Bliss, Clive Atkins, Brendan O’Brien, Connor Hewson, Lynn Gee, Kevin Tamaki, Kris Henke, Shawn Hooper, Joey Wappel, Adam Lonseth, Cameron Wuthrich, Troy Gottselig, Andre Morin, Tony Dornbusch, Marshall Price, coach Jason McLester
In the quarterfinals, NAIT d’d SAIT 68-66; 89-86 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, visiting NAIT prevailed 68-66. The Ooks jumped to an early lead as the score of the first quarter was 19-7. SAIT managed to find their groove after the slow start and narrowed the gap. Still, NAIT was ahead at halftime by a score of 33-25. “It was perhaps the best half of basketball we have put together all season and it came at the right time,” coach Chuma Nwobosi said. However, the success of the first half was short-lived. The Trojans came out of the halftime with a fierce attack, immediately closing the gap and taking the lead in the 4th quarter. The final quarter was an exciting back-and-forth affair with huge shots and huge defensive plays. It was, simply put, playoff basketball at its finest. Though the OOKS were outscored 41-35 in the 2nd half, they managed to prevail with a slim 68-66 decision. Aris Nunez-Ruiz paced the Ooks with 18 points. Steve Lamont added 13, Cam Leslie 10, Adrian Campbell 9, Sheldon Lawton 7, Morgan Gieni 5, Arash Sharghi 4 and Scott Ironmonger 3, while Madut Chol, Mark Ganes, David Kavanagh and Brent Vriend were scoreless. Josh Lovestone led SAIT with 19. Brandon Stewart added 10, Mike Linklater 10, Sean Peterson 10, Cody Hall 9, and Terrence Blake 8, while Curtis Haugan and Mitchell Rabbitt were scoreless. …………………………………………………… In game two, host NAIT swept the series with an 89-86 win. The Trojans looked poised and ready to spoil the party as they rattled off some early baskets to take the lead mere minutes into the game. The Ooks showed some poise of their own as they answered the run and edged their way back into the game to take a slim 3-point lead at the end of the quarter. Morgan Gieni was clearly the most dominant player on the court in the first quarter as he was hitting difficult shots and also anchoring the defensive attack. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarter was edge-of-your-seat entertainment once again as these rivals proved to be very evenly matched and high energy. The game ended much like the first with a slim lead and one possession deciding the fate of these teams. Steve Lamont led the Ooks with a career-high 26. Morgan Gieni added 15, Cam Leslie 11, Sheldon Lawton 10, Aris Nunez-Ruiz 9, Adrian Campbell 6, Arash Sharghi 6, Scott Ironmonger 4, Brent Vriend 1, while Madut Chol, Cale Boleski, Ryan Donaldson, Mark Ganes, David Kavanagh, Danny Lang and Clint Schmidt were scoreless. Mike Linklater paced the Trojans with 27. Sean Peterson added 19, Josh Lovestone 12, Terrence Blake 10, Curtis Haugan 5, Cody Hall 4, Brandon Stewart 4, Mitchell Rabbitt 3 and Luke Stalker-Switzer 2, while Jagdeep Aujla, Gregg Farineau and Jerome Makasiar were scoreless. The Trojans (coached by Craig Anderson, assisted by Sharon Anderson, Eddie Richardson III and Mike Stevens, managed by Ranbir Sandhu, therapists Kim Lobello and Erika Mench) also included Germain Morton, Mohamed Kassim, Terrence Blake and Curtis Haugan.
Grant MacEwan d’d Lethbridge 100-82; 103-89 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Grant MacEwan prevailed 100-82 as Blain Labranche scored 32. Jonathan Goodkey added 16, Gregg Frankson 12, Corey Saban 11, Patrick Unger 8, Andrew Bates 7, Landon Lonsberry 5, Tamer Douglas 5 and Matt Jerke 4, while Lee Martin and Ben Surby were scoreless. Allan Tollestrup paced Lethbridge with 31. Shawn Nelson added 21, Courtney Clawson 7, Gary Reimer 5, Devon Wannop 6, Alan Kennedy 5, Kevin Nelson 4, and Scott Anderson 2, while Jeremy Fischer and Mark Lootens were scoreless. …………………………………………………… In game two, Grant MacEwan swept the series by whipping Lethbridge 103-89 as Jonathan Goodkey paced MacEwan with 27. Blain LaBranche added 22, Andrew Bates 13, Corey Saban 9, Tamer Douglas 8, Gregg Frankson 8, Matt Jerke 6, Patrick Unger 6, and Lee Martin 4, while Landon Lonsberry, Roberto Pohl and Ben Surby were scoreless. Allen Tollestrup paced Lethbridge with 34. Shawn Nelson added 22, Gary Reimer 14, Kevin Nelson 11, Devon Wannop 4, Courtney Clawson 2 and Jeremy Fischer 2, while Scott Anderson, Alan Kennedy, Mark Lootens and Dan Peters were scoreless. The Kodiaks also included Steven Taylor, Jesse Brave Rock, Johnny Blood and Garret Hogarth.
Mount Royal d’d Concordia 81-70; 88-67 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Mount Royal defeated Concordia 81-70 as Jeff Price scored 20, Nick Wiebe 11, Josh Forster 10, Brett Kobe 10, Peter James 8, Tanner Mitchell 6, Dawson Eden 6, Jordan Hone 5, Chris Armstrong 3 and Hunter Jordan 2, while Cam Dodd was scoreless. Jason Smith paced Concordia with 13. Trevor Dreger added 12, Kris Raymond 12, Doron Nand 11, Justin Kelly 7, Mike Danderfer 7, Sam Sir 4, Scott Hamilton 2 and Ethan Sir 2, while Gaby Ferzli was scoreless. …………………………………………………… In game two, Mount Royal completed the sweep of the series by winning 88-67 as Josh Forster scored 16, Peter James 15, Jeff Price 14, Brent Kobe 8, Tanner Mitchell 7, Jordan Hone 6, Dawson Eden 6, Chris Armstrong 5, Nick Wiebe 5, Hunter Jordan 2, Jarrett Emery 2 and Cam Dodd 2. Trevor Dreger led Concordia with 21. Kris Raymond added 17, Mike Danderfer 10, Sam Sir 6, Jason Smith 4, Justin Kelly 3, Doron Nand 2, Ethan Sir 2 and Scott Hamilton 2, while Phil Merta, Gaby Ferzli and Brett Farquharson were scoreless. The Thunder (coached by Brian Ross) also included Jeremy Barros and Tyler Wade.
Red Deer d’d Lakeland 87-83; 61-59 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, the Red Deer Kings defeated Lakeland 87-83 in overtime as Nathan Dixon scored 39, Charles McLean 14, Adam Shaw 9, Brock McMillan 9, Evan Holstein 8 Tim Siad 4, Brett Gaudreau 2, Lloyd Peterkin 1, Randy Davis 1 and Justin Klein 0. The Kings trailed by 14 in the fourth quarter but ripped off a 14-0 run. Kings coach Craig Behan told the Red Deer Observor that “we were awful at times and played well in spurts. … We were in foul trouble all game. It seemed like the officials wanted to run the show tonight and that sucked. There’s wasn’t a lot of flow to the game and that’s not our style of play.” Ossie Hinds paced Lakeland with 20. Clarence Smith added 19, Trevor Assels 18, Darcy Hammond 10, Todd Labbe 10 and Tim Rossy 5, while Craig Penniston, Mike Smalley, Trevor Winter and Eric Zimmerman were scoreless. …………………………………………………… In game two, Red Deer completed the sweep by nipping Lakeland 61-59 as Adam Shaw scored 15, Evan Holstein 11, Nathan Dixon 10, Charles McLean 8, Brock McMillan 8, Justin Klein 6 and Brett Gaudreau 3, while Tim Siad, Randy Davis and Lloyd Peterkin were scoreless. The Rustlers led 29-19 at the half. Kings coach Craig Behan told the Red Deer Advocate that “we had a little talk at the half and emphasized using our post players more and sharing the ball. The first half everyone was trying to do it by themselves and go one-on-five.” Clarence Smith paced Lakeland with 19. Ossie Hinds added 17, Trevor Assels 8, Darcy Hammond 5, Todd Labbe 4, Tim Rossy 3 and Eric Zimmerman 2, while Craig Penniston, Chris Rowan and Mike Smalley were scoreless. The Rustlers also included Kyle Owen, Trevor Winter, Connor Norman and Stephen Olivier-Job.
In the Final Four semis, the Mount Royal Cougars whipped the Red Deer Kings 101-82 after leading 28-20, 51-40 and 76-65 at the quarters. Jeff Price led the Cougars with 32. Josh Forster added 13, Hunter Jordan 11, Tanner Mitchell 11, Brent Kobe 8, Nick Wiebe 8, Dawson Eden 6, Jordan Hone 5, Peter James 4 and Chris Armstrong 3, while Cam Dodd was scoreless. The Cougars led 41-30 at the half. Charles McLean paced Red Deer with 21. Nathan Dixon added 18, Adam Shaw 14, Evan Holstein 13, Brock McMillan 6, Randy Davis 4, Brett Gaudreau 4 and Justin Klein 2. Kings coach Craig Behan told the Red Deer Advocate that “the whole game, we didn’t play any defence. Because of that, they shot the lights out.”
In the other semi, Grant MacEwan defeated NAIT 82-73 after leading 35-30 after one quarter, trailing 53-45 at the half and 66-63 after three quarters. Jonathan Goodkey paced the Griffins with 19. Gregg Frankson added 15, Patrick Unger 12, Corey Saban 10, Andrew Bates 8, Blain LaBranche 7, Colin Hoehne 6, Landon Lonsberry 3 and Tamer Douglas 2, while Matt Jerke was scoreless. Cam Leslie and Aris Nunez-Ruiz each scored 12 to pace the Ooks. A Sharghi added 11, S Lawton 10, Steve Lamont 10, Morgan Gieni 9, A Campbell 6, and B Vriend 3, while M. Ganes and S Ironmonger were scoreless.
In the bronze medal match, the NAIT Ooks won over the Red Deer Kings 70-63. Steve Lamont paced the Ooks with 20 points on 7-9 from the floor, 6-10 from the line and 3 boards. Scott Ironmonger added 11 on 2-6 from the floor, 7-9 from the line and 4 boards. Arash Sharghi scored 8 on 3-12 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc and 6 boards. Sheldon Lawton notched 7 on 2-11 from the floor, 3-3 from the line and 5 boards. Brent Vriend scored 7 on 3-7 from the floor. Aris Nunez-Ruiz added 6 on 1-4 from the floor, 4-4 from the line, 6 boards and 5 steals. Adrian Campbell scored 5, Morgan Gieni 4 and Madut Chol 2, while Mark Ganes and Cam Leslie were scoreless. NAIT shot 23-62 (.371) from the floor, 2-16 (.125) from the line and 22-29 (.759) from the arc, while garnering 42 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 19 assists, 17 turnovers and 9 steals. NAIT led 19-12 after one quarter. Red Deer led 35-32 at the half and 51-46 after three quarters. Nathan Dixon paced Red Deer with 18 points on 3-18 from the floor, 12-16 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Adam Shaw added 11 on 4-10 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc and 3 assists. Randy Davis scored 11 on 4-7 from the floor, 3-5 from the line, 6 boards and 3 assists. Charles McLean notched 8 on 4-9 from the floor and 11 boards. Brett Gaudreau scored 6 on 2-6 from the floor and 2-3 from the line. Justin Klein added 5 and Evan Holstein 4, while Brock McMillan, Errol Peterkin and Tim Siad were scoreless. The Kings hit 21-62 (.339) from the floor, 4-16 (.250) from the arc and 17-24 (.708) from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 15 assists, 24 turnovers, 2 blocks and 5 steals. The Kings also included Nick Wissick, Cory Dixon, Jon Jeysman and Jordan Reiter. Kings coach Craig Behan told the Red Deer Advocate that “I’m sick of just getting here and the guys not showing up. The guys imploded on themselves in the fourth quarter. We were outscored 24-12. The whole weekend, there was no team concept. It was always ‘all about me’. It was one of the worst demonstrations of teamwork I’ve ever seen. … It was a complete embarrassment.”
In the final, Mount Royal’s All-Conference players, Jeff Price and Brett Kobe showed their dominance going up as much as 13 points in the first half. The MacEwan Griffins missed key shots during the game, but clawed their way back in the second half for an exciting finish. All-Conference players Jonathan Good key and Blain LaBranche led the charge for the upstart Griffins. Mount Royal hung on and preserve a well-deserved win, 81-77. The Cougars got clutch free throw shooting down the stretch. They’d broke to an 11-point lead early in the second half but the host Griffins rallied to cut the margin to two. “They made it interesting,” said Cougars coach Marc Dobell. “They got some big shots from Blain LaBranche and their defensive pressure gave us a little trouble in the fourth quarter. It was a good thing we had a strong first half and a good lead.” MacEwan had cut the margin to two with a minute to play but the Cougars dropped five consecutive free throws. Hunter Jordan hit a pair to ice it. Dobell said his troops maintained their composure. “I tell my guys, you’re not going to win every battle. All teams go on these runs.” Jeff Price paced Mount Royal with 29 points on 7-12 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 14-17 from the line, 8 boards, 7 assists and 3 steals. Nick Wiebe added 18 on 7-9 from the floor, 4-10 from the line and 8 boards. Brett Kobe scored 9 on 4-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 10 boards. Hunter Jordan notched 8 on 3-9 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 3 boards. Josh Forster scored 8 on 3-10 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 9 boards and 6 assists. Dawson Eden added 4, Peter James 3 and Jordan Hone 2, while Tanner Mitchell and Chris Armstrong were scoreless. The Cougars hit 28-59 (.475) from the floor, 3-15 (.200) from the arc and 22-35 (.629) from the line, while garnering 52 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 22 assists, 22 turnovers and 9 steals. Blain Labranche paced MacEwan with 27 points on 8-20 from the floor, 5-14 from the arc, 6-9 from the line and 6 boards. Johnathan Goodkey added 15 on 5-17 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 9 boards, 6 assists and 3 steals. Andrew Bates notched 9 on 2-6 from the floor, 5-8 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Corey Saban scored 8 on 4-7 from the floor. Tamer Douglas added 7 on 3-9 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc and 4 assists. Gregg Frankson added 5, Patrick Unger 4 and Matt Jerke 2, while Colin Hoehne and Landon Lonsberry were scoreless. The Griffins hit 26-71 (.361) from the floor, 10-32 (.313) from the arc and 15-25 (.600) from the line, while garnering 34 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 20 assists, 14 turnovers and 7 steals.
The bronze medalist NAIT Ooks: Sheldon Lawton; Aris Nunez-Ruiz; Morgan Gieni; Scott Ironmonger; Adrian Campbell; Mark Ganes; Ryan Donaldson; Arash Sharghi; David Kavanagh; Cale Boleski; Steve Lamont; Brent Vriend; Cam Leslie; Madut Chol; Danny Lang; Clint Schmidt; coach Chuma Nwobosi; assistant Jason Harke; assistant Tom Coyne; assistant Rob Killen
The silver medalist Grant MacEwan Griffins: Jonathan Goodkey; Gregg Frankson; Patrick Unger; Corey Saban; Andrew Bates; Blain LaBranche; Colin Hoehne; Landon Lonsberry; Tamer Douglas; Matt Jerke; Simon Widerkehr; Ben Surby; Roberto Pohl; Lee Martin; Carlo Caputo; coach Erhayat Ozcan; assistant Matt Bogda; assistant Robbie Valpreda; manager Joe McLeod
The gold medalist Mount Royal Cougars: Jeff Price; Josh Forster; Brett Kobe; Nick Wiebe; Hunter Jordan; Dawson Eden; Tanner Mitchell; Peter James; Chris Armstrong; Jordan Hone; Mark Skermer; Cam Dodd; Martin Matovich; Jarrett Emery; coach Marc Dobell; assistant Richard Foggo; assistant Ty McVicar; assistant Rollie Petrowitsch; assistant Hidesh Bhardwaj; therapist Gary Sikkes; athletic director Karla Karch