Final regular season standings:
North (7): Concordia (21-3); Lakeland (7-17); Grant MacEwan (16-8); NAIT (9-15); King’s (9-15); Augustana (7-17); Grande Prairie (5-19). Note: NAIT forfeited 4 games, 2 v. Grande Prairie, 1 each v. Lakeland and Augustana
South: (6): Mount Royal (18-2); Red Deer (15-5); Lethbridge (14-6): Medicine Hat (7-13); SAIT (5-15); and Briercrest (1-19).
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Augustana: Mike McCorquindale, Shayn Bruney, Grady Gibson, Brendin Huculak, Ryan Larsen, David Ness, Kevin Barnes, David Chytracek, Bill Lee, Joseph Knight, Peter Danielson, Alex Butts
Briercrest: Garrett Fradette, Matt Dewhurst, Tyrel McLaren, William Con, Logan Herder, Caleb Klassen, Gradyn Childerhose, Kevin Larson, Brady Pullman, Obadiah Thompson, Aaron Dalman
Grande Prairie: Graeme Ryder, Jon Hanna, Josh Kinvig, Jerome Kitenge, Cory Martens, Tymon Duinker, Blake Gaguler, Caleb Rempel, Jarrett Zimmerman, Claude Germain, Khas Toker, Darcy Johnson, Cameron Wharram
King’s: Matthew Price, Jeremy Barros, Clayton price, Jeffrey McCollum, Ethan Wollmann, Duffin Zayonce, Reid Fralick, Benjamin Battjes, Joshua Noble, Anthony Skepple, Craig Batterham, Vincent Akinyode, Marshall Price, Stephen Sesink
SAIT: Giovanni Johnson, Kevan Horvat, John Lasa, Gabriel Diggs, Bryce Bowman, Keenan Milburn, Luke Stalker-Switzer, Logan Armstrong, Lucky Montierro, Caleb Dowdy, Alex Gavrilovic, Branden Stewart, Jared Laird, coach Mike Stevens, assistant Dane Morris, assistant Dwight Stewart, assistant Brent Tyler, manager Ranbir Sandhu
In the quarterfinals, Red Deer defeated Grant MacEwan 80-58, 75-69 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Red Deer prevailed 80-58 as Randy Davis scored 25. Billy McNutt added 17, Andrew Cassidy 8, Connor Fairbanks 7, Charles McLean 7, Adam Shaw 5, Justin Klein 3, Adam Weir 3, Ryan Wachter 2, Adam Jones 2, and Colton Bradford 1, while Brett Gaudreau was scoreless. Red Deer led 15-1 early and 18-8, 39-20 and 61-37 at the quarters. Davis told the Red Deer Advocate that “I didn’t expect that (early lead) for sure. I thought it would be a tough game, but everyone was excited and came out hard. … They tried fronting me early, but there was a mismatch. … It was simply a size difference, and they especially had no answer for Billy (McNutt), who’s ove 200 pounds and 6-8.” Kings coach Craig Behan said “I like our preparation and the guys did a good job on how to defend in certain situations. We were able to jump on them early and create easy baskets inside. … (Davis and McNutt are) tough to handle and we did a good job of getting the ball inside to them, which opened up the outside.” Corey Saban led MacEwan with 10, Evan Schwindt added 9, Colin James 7, Chris Aubrey 7, Matt Jerke 6, Simon Doty 6, Norbert Kanyo 5, Sheldon McKinney 3, Timothy Denbok 2, Nigel Dennis 2 and Jason Baillie 1, while Zach McKee was scoreless. Griffins coach Ryan Dunkley said “we worked hard on how to defend against them all week, trying to make their post-ups tougher and put pressure on the ball to make their passes tougher. But I didn’t see any evidence of that. Maybe we were nervous. Whatever it was that wasn’t the team we are. … We’re better than that. … We looked like a deer in the headlights. We were never in it.” …………………………………………………… In game two, Red Deer completed a series sweep with a 75-69 win as Billy McNutt scored 38, Adam Jones 12, Adam Shaw 6, Andrew Cassidy 5, Randy Davis 4, Connor Fairbanks 4, Brett Gaudreau 4 and Charles McLean 2, while Colton Bradford, Justin Klein and Tommy Watson were scoreless. The score was tied at 36 at the half. Kings coach Craig Behan told the Red Deer Advocate that “we certainly didn’t play as well as we did Thursday. But we rode Billy (McNutt’s) coat-tails. He dominated the game and hit all his free throws down the stretch when we needed them. … Wehad too many turnovers but McEwan credit as well … I found the refereeing is so involved in the north that they call so much, it’s hard to get any kind of flow going. But in the end, we were able to grind it out.” Corey Saban paced MacEwan with 17. Norbert Kanyo added 17, Simon Doty 11, Evan Schwindt 9, Colin James 7, Sheldon McKinney 6 and Matt Jerke 2, while Chris Aubrey, Jason Baillie and Zach McKee were scoreless. The Griffins also included Mike Tulk, Nigel Dennis, Timothy Denbok and Mitch Troock.
Mount Royal defeated NAIT 81-71; 78-64 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Mount Royal prevailed 81-71 as Craig Jantzen scored 18, Cam Dodd 17, Brett Kobe 14, Jordan Hone 8, Nick Wiebe 9, Steve Trinidad 6, Chris Armstrong 4, Trent Offereins 3 and Kendell Boese 1, while Adrian Krsulja, Ian Tomaszewski and Nick Loewen were scoreless. Evan Eger paced NAIT with 16. Cyril Ashworth added 13, Okan Bostanei 11, Jerome Makasiar 8, Ashley Grewal 7, Jesse Denscombe 4, Marcus Bennett 3, Jonathan Honey 3, Ryan Sherman 2, Klaus Figueiredo 2 and Levi Williams 2, while Dennis Ashworth was scoreless. …………………………………………………… In game two, Mount Royal completed the sweep by dusting NAIT 78-64 as Jordan Hone scored 18, Brett Kobe 16, Craig Jantzen 13, Cam Dodo 10, Steve Trinidad 9, Ian Tomaszewski 6, Chris Armstrong 2, Kendell Boese 2 and Nick Loewen 2, while Trent Offereins and Nick Wiebe were scoreless. Dennis Ashworth paced NAIT with 10. Cyril Ashworth added 10, Evan Eger 9, Okan Bostanei 9, Jerome Makasiar 7, Klaus Figueredo 6, Marcus Bennett 5, Ryan Sherman 4, Jonathan Honey 2 and Jesse Denscombe 2. The Ooks also included Rylan Jarrett, Ryan Sherman, Levi Williams, Ashley Grewal and Gary Thomas.
Lethbridge defeated Lakeland 92-80; 82-83; 82-69 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… In game one, Lethbridge dumped Lakeland 92-80 as Ndale Philbert scored 22, Denver Corbiere 13, Logan Mendenhall 13, Brendan Blood 10, Noble Crowfoot 9, Sam Dykshoorn 9, Josh Watson 9, Redmond Crowfoot 4 and Janz Engen 2, while R Veldman was scoreless. Aubrey Chalmers paced Lakeland with 20. James Elliott added 16, Steffan Burke 15, Jermaine Toussaint 14, Ossie Hinds 13 and Colin Laplante 2, while Trent Bloch-Hansen and Tyler Orcutt were scoreless. …………………………………………………… In game two, Lakeland nipped Lethbridge 83-82 to even the series. James Elliott paced Lakeland with 26. Ossie Hinds added 21, Aubrey Chalmers 13, Jermaine Toussaint 8, Colin Laplante 8, Trent Bloch-Hansen 4 and Steffan Burke 3, while Daman Morisette and Tyler Orcutt were scoreless. Noble Crowfoot paced Lethbridge with 16. Ndale Philbert added 16, Logan Mendenhall 15, Denver Corbiere 13, Brendan Blood 10, Redmond Crowfoot 6 and Josh Watson 6, while Sam Dykshoorn and Ryan Veldman were scoreless. …………………………………………………… In game three, Lethbridge took the series by dumping Lakeland 82-69 as Ndale Philbert scored 17, Brendan Blood 14, Denver Corbiere 13, Logan Mendenhall 13, Josh Watson 10, Sam Dykshoorn 8, Noble Crowfoot 4, Ryan Veldman 2 and Redmond Crowfoot 1, while Jeff Hilliard was scoreless. Aubrey Chalmers led Lakeland with 14 points and 14 boards. James Elliott added 13, Ossie Hinds 12, Steffan Burke 11, Jermaine Toussaint 9, Colin Laplante 7 and Tyler Orcutt 3, while Trent Bloch-Hansen was scoreless. The Rustlers also included Mike Linklater, Eslam Mohammed, Kliff Kenyon and Jamie Williams.
In the last quarterfinal series, Concordia University College defeated Medicine Hat 98-90; 69-75; 94-70 (2g-1) …………………………………………………… In game one, Concordia prevailed 98-90 as Adnan Hajdarevic scored 25, Jason Burke 20, Brett Kallio 16, Jared Cornish 14, Jamaal Bucknor 10, Ethan Sir 4, Jacob Woicicki 4, Brett Melnick 3 and Sam Sir 2, while Doron Nand was scoreless. Lance Aldcorn paced Medicine Hat with 18. Kolten Solomon added 16, Colby Bliss 16, Neil Olukoya 15, Taylor Lane 9, Zlatan Cilimdzic 7, Brendan O’Brien 6, and Paul Ohlinger 3, while Nairen Duncan and Derek Tymchyna were scoreless. …………………………………………………… In game two, Medicine Hat edged Concordia 75-69 as Kolten Solomon scored 17, Colby Bliss 15, Neil Olukoya 11, Lance Aldcorn 8, Zlatan Cilimdzic 6, Nairen Duncan 6, Derek Tymchyna 4, Taylor Lane 3, Paul Ohlinger 3 and Brendan O’Brien 2. Brett Kallio paced Concordia with 14. Jamaal Bucknor added 14, Jared Cornish 13, Adnan Hajdarevic 11, Jason Burke 7, Jacob Wojcicki 4, Brett Melnick 3, Sam Sir 2 and Ethan Sir 1, while Doron Nand was scoreless. …………………………………………………… In game three, Concordia thrashed Medicine Hat 94-70 to take the series. Adnan Jajdarevic led Concordia with 25. Jason Burke added 20, Brett Kallio 16, Jared Cornish 14, Jamaal Bucknor 10, Ethan Sir 4, Jacob Wojcicki 4, Brett Melnick 3 and Sam Sir 2, while Doron Nand was scoreless. Kolten Solomon paced Medicine Hat with 17. Zlatan Cilimdzic added 16, Derek Tymchyna 11, Colby Bliss 10, Neil Olukoya 5, Brendan O’Brien 5, Rob Fry 4, Nairen Duncan 1 and Lance Alcorn 1, while Addison Docherty, Taylor Lane and Paul Ohlinger were scoreless. The Rattlers also included Craig Adamson and Andrew Giesbrecht.
In the Final Four semis, Mount Royal nipped Lethbridge 72-69 by rallying from 12 down in the fourth quarter. The Cougars hit seven free throws down the stretch to cut the margin. “We’ve been working on foul shooting since early in the year,” said Mount Royal coach Marc Dobell. “We used to be a poor free throw shooting team but the work paid off. It showed today.” Dobell added that the squad’s defence was suspect in the third quarter. “What concerned me was we were not able to stop them. But when we switched to zone, started making some stops, that gave our guys confidence. Our offence starts with our defence.” Lethbridge had led 40-32 at the half but faltered. “Give Marc credit,” said Lethbridge coach Mike Hansen. “When he went with the zone, it took away our shooting chances.” Steve Trinidad led Mount Royal with 18. Cam Dodd added 14, Brett Kobe 14, Jordan Hone 12, Chris Armstrong 6, Nick Wiebe 6 and Craig Jantzen 4, while Kendall Boese, Adrian Krsulja, Ian Tomaczyweski, and Kyle Winter were scoreless. Logan Mendenhall paced Lethbridge with 29. Sam Dykshoorn added 9, Ndale Philbert 8, Denver Corbiere 7, Redmond Crowfoot 7, Brendan Blood 6, Noble Crowfoot 2 and Ryan Veldman 2, while Sean Seastrand was scoreless.
In the other semi, Concordia edged Red Deer 81-80 as Jared Cornish hit a putback rebound with 28 seconds to play. “We needed someone to make a play and Jared did it,” said Concordia coach Paul Sir. “He’s a great basketball player who makes plays. But our whole team never quit.” From the start of the second quarter until the final minutes, no team had a lead larger than four. Jason Burke paced Concordia with 19. Jamaal Bucknor added 16, Brett Kallio 16, Adnan Hajdarevic 13, Jared Cornish 12, Brett Melnick 3 and Ethan Sir 2, while Jordan Chyzowski, Jordan McKenzie, Doron Nand, Sam Sir and Jacob Wojcicki were scoreless. Adam Jones paced Red Deer with 22. Randy Davis added 18, Billy McNutt 15, along with 18 boards, Adam Shaw 14, Thomas Pearson 4, Andrew Cassidy 4, Connor Fairbanks 2 and Brett Gaudreau 1. Kings coach Craig Behan told the Red Deer Advocate that “a one-point loss is probably a little harder than anything else. … I thought we got homered a little bit tonight with the officiating. You’re trying to adjust to the officiating as you go, not adjust to the opponent. That’s what really kind of hurts. It’s not the way it should be and that’s one of the reasons why I’m considering not coaching.”
In the bronze medal match, Lethbridge clocked Red Deer 91-62 after lead 21-16, 54-19 and 64-47 at the quarters. Ndale Philbert paced Lethbridge with 25 on 6-14 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 12-14 from the line, 10 boards and 7 assists. Brendan Blood added 22 on 7-11 from the floor, 3-3 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 10 boards and 5 assists. Denver Corbiere scored 21 on 6-13 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 5-6 from the line and 7 boards. Logan Mendenhall added 11 on 1-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc and 8-10 from the line. Redmond Crowfoot added 5, Ryan Veldman 2, Sam Dykshoorn 2 and Janz Engen 2, while Noble Crowfoot, Tico Iron Shirt, Sean Seastrand and Josh Watson wee scoreless. Lethbridge shot 24-61 (.393) from the floor, 11-17 (.647) from the arc and 32-38 (.842) from the line, while garnering 49 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 21 fouls, 4 blocks, 10 steals and 18 turnovers. Adam Shaw paced Red Deer with 21 on 8-17 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards. Billy McNutt added 10 on 4-13 from the floor, 2-4 from the line and 9 boards. Randy Davis added 7 on 3-9 from the floor and 7 boards. Connor Fairbanks scored 6 on 1-3 from the floor and 4-4 from the line. Andrew Cassidy scored 5 on 2-5 from the floor and 4 boards. Adam Jones notched 3 on 3-4 from the line, 5 boards and 4 assists. Thomas Pearson scored 3 on 1-2 from the arc. Colton Bradford added 3, Brett Gaudreau 2 and Adam Weir 2, while Justin Klein and Ryan Wachter were scoreless. The Kodiaks hit 22-68 (.324) from the floor, 7-23 (.304) from the arc and 11-18 (.611) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, 19 fouls, 2 blocks, 12 steals and 27 turnovers. The Kings also included Daniel Etoroma, Charles McLean and Tommy Watson. Kings coach Craig Behan was tossed in the second quarter, leaving assistant Paul Rabel and Lee Sprunger in charge. “it just turned into a debacle, the whole game was a farce,” Behan said. “We were all in good spirits heading into the game. We were all looking forward to it. A couple of things didn’t go our way early and it was kind of like ‘okay, this again’. And so the frustrations boiled over early. I ened up getting thrown out but the guys played hard. … We had a good laugh afterward. It’s like ‘what can you do?’. You practice so hard for one year. … The problem is (the refs) aren’t accountable for anything.”
In the final, the Mount Royal Cougars dumped the Concordia Thunder 81-68 after leading 19-15, 36-32 and 55-44 at the quarters. Cam Dodd said the Cougars were focused. “Coming back after last year’s semifinal loss was huge. Last year, I watched a lot from the bench, so to be part of this is just amazing.” Cougars coach Mark Dobell said Dodd “had a great game. He has been great for us all year. He struggled a bit to learn the (point guard) position last year but he was really come into his own for us this year. I thought we executed very well. It’s so awesome. Our guys did exactly what we wanted them to do.” Concordia coach Paul Sir said “I’m as proud as can be of the guys on my team. We were only down four points with four minutes to play. Then Mount Royal hit a bunch of threes. We had a chance to do the same but four in a row were in and out for us.” Cam Dodd paced Mount Royal with 26 on 10-15 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 3 assists. Jordan Hone added 17 on 7-13 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 10 boards. Brett Kobe added 17 on 8-15 from the floor, 1-6 from the line and 12 boards. Chris Armstrong added 7 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-2 from the line and 3 boards. Steve Trinidad notched 6 on 2-10 from the floor and 2-3 from the line. Craig Jantzen scored 5 on 2-4 from the line, 1-1 from the arc and 4 boards. Kendall Boese scored 3 on 1-1 from the arc. Ian Tomaszeweski, Nick Wiebe and Kyle Winter were scoreless. The Cougars hit 33-69 (.478) from the floor, 10-13 (.769) from the arc and 5-12 (.417) from the line, while garnering 42 boards, including 8 on the offensive glass, 10 assists, 14 fouls, 3 blocks, 6 steals and 18 turnovers. Adnan Hajdarevic paced Concordia with 24 on 7-16 from the floor, 4-7 from the arc, 6-8 from the line and 5 boards. Jason Burke added 11 on 4-9 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 3 boards. Jared Cornish notched 10 on 4-8 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 4 boards. Jamaal Bucknor added 9 on 4-8 from the floor, 1-1 from the line, 6 boards and 5 assists. Ethan Sir added 6 on 2-10 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 3 assists. Brett Kallio notched 5 on 1-7 from the floor, 3-4 from the line and 4 boards. Brett Melnick scored 3, while Sam Sir and Jacob Wojcicki were scoreless. The Thunder hi 23-61 (.377) from the floor, 11-23 (.478) from the arc and 11-15 (.733) from the line, while garnering 30 boards, including 2 on the offensive glass, 18 assists, 11 fouls, 6 blocks, 4 steals and 13 turnovers.
The bronze medalist Lethbridge Kodiaks: Brendan Blood; Denver Corbiere; Noble Crowfoot; Redmond Crowfoot; Sam Dykshoorn; Janz Engen; Alex Frey; Jeff Hilliard; Logan Mendenhall; Ndale Philbert; Eric Procee; Sean Seastrand; Ryan Veldman; Josh Watson; coach Mike Hansen
The silver medalist Concordia Thunder: Jamaal Bucknor; Jason Burke; Spencer Campbell; Jared Cornish; Jordan Chyzowski; Adnan Hajdarevic; Mat Jones; Brett Kallio; Jordan McKenzie; Brett Melnick; Doron Nand; Fuad Osman; Ethan Sir; Sam Sir; Jacob Wojcicki; coach Paul Sir
The champion Mount Royal Cougars: Jordan Hone; Stephen Trinidad; Craig Jantzen; Brett Kobe; Cam Dodd; Nick Wiebe; Chris Armstrong; Ian Tomaszeweski; Kendall Boese; Trent Offereins; Nick Loewen; Adrian Krsulja; Kyle Winter; Rondell Roberts; Norman Connor; coach Marc Dobell; assistant Tyler McVicar; assistant Hidesh Bhardwaj; assistant Richard Foggo; assistant Peter James; manager Ronan Blake; therapist Craig Pangindan; athletic director Karla Karch