Final regular season standings: Mount Royal; Medicine Hat (14-4); Grande Prairie; Camrose Lutheran (x-x); Lethbridge (10-8)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Grant MacEwan: Bernie Smandych, Terri Burkhard, Debbie Barkley, Wendy Schroeder,
Lethbridge Kodiettes: Darcie James, Peggy Hester, Denise Heibert, Terri Kariatsumari, Cindy Stewart, Billi Robinson, Donna Thurlow, Lorraine Daw, Jackie Kress, coach Darrell Wall
NAIT Ookpikettes: Joanne Reinbold, Cindy Oleskiw, Dallas Hurlburt, Denise Young, Jean Powers, Charlene Schroeder, Bev Freeman, Violet Stamp, Anita Borys, Denise McCrae, Debbie McVee, Tana Small, coach Greg Meropoulis, manager Donna Heidel
Red Deer Queens: Bev Freeman, Sheila Manning, Lori Chomik, Leslie Meikle, Hilda Duffield, Marie Fobert, coach Terry Burns
SAIT: Ronda Wallace, Ruth Katchmar, Margo Althen, Gabe Magas, Judy Seidel, Helen Peters, Sherry Gardin, Delores Schwartzenberger, Deanna Bruce, Claudia Hellfritz, Sharon Mann, coach Terry Burke, manager Shelly Drever
In the semis, the Medicine Hat Kudus edged the Grande Prairie Nordic Cubs 51-48 as Darla Anderson scored 10, Jill Herchuk 8, Shelly Cranston 6 and Evelyn Dreilich 6. Tammie Gragg nabbed 13 boards. Colleen Williams led the Wolves with 17. Kudus coach Doug Kempt said his troops didn’t deserve the win. “Our defence was ghastly. We could not get our game going and we almost got burnt when we settled down to play. I told the girls after the game to loosen up and have some fun. They were putting too much pressure on themselves. In the first half Grande Prairie was forcing us into shots that couldn’t possibly go in. The girls got a bit too emotional to play well.” Grande Prairie coach Hideo Fukushima said “we knew they were taller than we were and that they played a disciplined man-to-man Defence. I was surprised they weren’t more aggressive defensively. In the game itself, I think we contained them very well.” Kudus led 29-22 at the half. Fukushima noted that in the first half, “we were doing things like travelling and having a lot of trouble getting the ball to the post position. The situation was corrected in the second half. You might say we were run out of time by the clock as we were getting hot towards the end of the game.” The Kudus led 27-22 at the half. Grande Prairie found themselves in foul trouble but hid in a 1-3-1 zone and trimmed the margin to 51-48. But they were unable to overcome the hump. “One of the key things in the game,” said Kempt, “was that they missed 43 shots and we rebounded 35 of them. The place we got into trouble was our defence which they were able to penetrate for their sure shots.” The Kudus hit 20-52 (.385) from the floor and 11-16 (.690) from the line, while the Cubs hit 22-65 from the floor and 4-11 from the line.
In the other semi, the Mount Royal Cougars thrashed the Camrose Lutheran Vikettes 77-41 as Tracey Lehman scored 13, Sue Scott 13 and Linda Scott 12. Sherri Knutsvig led the Vikettes with 13. The cougars led 42-28 at the half.
In the bronze medal match, the Grande Prairie Wolves (then the Nordic Cubs) edged the Camrose Lutheran Vikettes 57-54. The Vikettes included Lynn Graftas, Sherri Knutsvig, Marilyn Riski, Maureen Cragg, Shannon Maloney, Kelly Stephens, Fran Stewart.
In the final, the Mount Royal Cougars smacked the Medicine Hat Kwahommies (then the Kudus) 52-41 after leading 25-20 at the half. Kwahommies star Darla Anderson fouled out midway through the second half. “It’s too bad there had to be a loser,” Cougars’ coach Bob Rose told the Medicine Hat News. “Medicine Hat didn’t quit. They played better against us (in the final) than they did during the season.” Kudus’ coach Doug Kempt said his troops “did try hard. We had people diving on the floor for loose balls tonight that have never dived after them before. It’s gratifying to get so much mileage from your athletes.” Rose said “Medicine Hat’s defence was ready for us tonight. We have been putting up 70 shots in our worst games all season.” Mount Royal hit 17-46 from the floor and 18-30 from the line, while the Kudus were 17-47 from the floor and 7-17 from the line. Kempt said “Rose outsmarted us again. He knew how much time we spent working on ways to break his press. That’s the reason. Then he didn’t even us the press we expected.” The Cougars took a 6-0 lead before Tammie Bragg got the Kudus on the board. They led 25-20 at the half. “Their fire never went out,” said Rose. “With the three minutes left and us ahead by 11 points. Medicine Hat came out strong to give themselves a fighting chance at the start of the second half.” The turning point of the game came in the first two minutes of the second half. “We had the ball in their court for two minutes and couldn’t score,” said Kempt. But Cougar Heather McKay sank a jumper and the Kudus soon found themselves in foul trouble. They’d rallied within 37-32 when Kempt fouled out and four seconds later, Daral Anderson followed her to the bench. Lethbridge answered with a 5-0 run. Linda Gates hit a bucket and Cranston a pair of free throws to trim the margin to six but an 8-2 run put the outcome of reach. Heather McKay led the Cougars with 14. Linda Scott added 10 and Maureen Jaques 9. Tammie Smith and Bragg paced the Kwahommies with 14 apiece. Herchuk added 6 and Kempt 5. The Kudus subsequently received a wild card berth to the Four-West playoffs.
After the season, Medicine Hat coach Doug Kempt resigned to accept a teaching position at Lethbridge Collegiate Institute.
The bronze medalist Grande Prairie Wolves: Jill Nichols; Colleen Williams; Maureen Walker; Marie Yurychuk; Laurie Bunn; Mary Schofield; Cathy Rode; Gayle Hughes; Barb Jones; coach Hideo Fukushima; assistant Linda Cleeve; manager Bernie Thibeault, manager Ingrid Bose
The silver medalist Medicine Hat Kwahommies: Darla Anderson; Debbie Kempt; Bonnie Gilchrist; Tammie Bragg; Evelyn Drielich; Jill Herchuk; Linda Gates; Shelley Cranston; Mary Lou Vine; Dorothy Gill; Ava Wallsch; coach Doug Kempt
The gold medalist Mount Royal Cougars: Heather McKay; Susan Scott; Linda Scott; Tracy Lehman; Maureen Jaques; Robette Pearson; Pat Slipp; Colleen McGimpsey, Lynn Whan, coach Bob Rose