Final regular season standings: Lethbridge (12-2); Medicine Hat (12-2); Camrose Lutheran (9-3 +2); SAIT (8-4 +2); Mount Royal (5-9); Red Deer (3-9 +2); NAIT (2-11 +1); Grant MacEwan (0-13 +1)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Grande Prairie (ACAC non-participant): Trudy Roper; Cheryl Flegel,
Grant MacEwan: Karen Boras,
Mount Royal: Diane Lawlor, Sue Barrett, Sue Schmidt, Carmen Klotz, Sandy Robertson
NAIT (changed name from Ookpikettes to Ookchicks): Rose MacMillan, Janice Rosenberger, Darcy Goodwin, Marina Blaskovits, Sandy Poole, coach Gregg Meropoulis
Red Deer Queens: Dianne Neilsen, Lorna Lentz, Nadine Bazinet, Linda Lees, Susan Woitt, Kathleen Manning, Pearl Doupe, Glenda Robinson, Marge Davidson, Brenda Kapchinsky, coach Len Tollenaar
In the semis, the top-seeded Lethbridge Kodiettes defeated the 4th-seeded SAIT Trojans 55-61; 68-63; 67-65 (2g-1). …………………………………………………… In game one, Jackie Wouters paced the Trojans with 23. Lori McNally added 22. Cathy Gorman paced the Kodiettes with 20. Peggy Norgard added 10. …………………………………………………… In game two, Lethbridge evened the series with a 68-63 win as Cathy Gorman scored 21, Peggy Norgaard 14, Cathy Bergen-Henengouwen 14 and Margo Dzuren 10. The Helenas took an early 7-2 lead but the Kodiettes rallied to within 36-35 at the half as Cathy Gorman scored 12. “They had set up a diamond-and-one zone, with one-on-one on me. The only way we could score over the zone was to hit them inside.” In the second half, Gorman kept kicking the ball back outside as Lethbridge built a 53-44 lead. But Helenas’ guards Jackie Wouters and Debbie Andres rallied SAIT within 62-61 with three minutes to play. But Lethbridge went into a stall and worked the ball inside for buckets by Cathy Bergen-Henengouwen and Gorman. Wouters, Andres and Lori McNally each scored 16 to pace SAIT. …………………………………………………… In game three, Lethbridge took the series with a 67-65 win as Cathy Gorman scored 21, Peggy Norgaard 11, player of the game Cheryl Hesse 9, Margo Dzuren 8, Malinda Hamilton 8 and Cathy Bergen-Henengouwen 8. The Kodiettes rallied from a 14-point second half deficit to pull out the win. SAIT led 37-27 at halftime and 43-29 with 12 minutes to play. But Lethbridge rallied to knot the score at 65 as rookie Barb Abe hit a bucket in the blocks and then rookie Margo Dzuren drained the winning 20-foot jumper. “It was pretty tense,” Dzuren said. “I don’t know if I should have taken the shot … I don’t know how it went in.” Coach Darrell Wall said the difference proved a switched from man to zone defence. “I just fell that maybe the key at this point was to shake them up. I knew they didn’t really want to take any more timeouts, and sometimes little changes late in the game like that can help you.” Dzuren said the Kodiettes dug themselves a hole because “we weren’t cutting like we should have been. And we were throwing some really bad passes, forcing it when it wasn’t there. At halftime we just said we have to work it around … We just have to play our kind of ball, slow it down a bit.” Wall said Norgaard’s boardwork was also critical. “Peggy came up with a lot of rebounds, particularly in the crucial part of the game. It seemed like we controlled the boards at the point where we really needed the rebounds.” Jiliane Brillon paced the Trojans with 23. Player of the game Lori McNally added 14, Debbie Andres 12 and Jackie Wouters 10. The Trojans (coached by Bill Bradley, assisted by Sandy Sexsmith, manager/trainer Cheryl Becker) also included Lori Alexander, Tracy Tarras, Roxanne Mayon, Cheri Fleming, Brenda Logelin, Cindy Libby, Claudia Hellfritz.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Medicine Hat Kudus defeated the 3rd-seeded Camrose Lutheran Vikings 54-55; 85-46; 52-45 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, the Vikings prevailed 55-54 after leading 26-24 at the half. Kathy Prochnau paced the Vikings with 17. Karen Bongaards led the Kudus with 18. Mare McConnell added 16. …………………………………………………… In game two, the Kudus pounded Camrose Lutheran 85-46. …………………………………………………… In game three, Medicine Hat took the series with a 52-45 win. “I wondered about the blowout last night,” Kudus coach Marg Sihvon told the Medicine Hat News. “I tried to tell them in the locker room before the game to watch out for a letdown. Mentally they were not up quite as much and Camrose played much better.” The Vikettes dominated the first half as their front line, Darcy Henkel, Jo-Anne Schroeder and Christine Parker, were able to work inside for the easy shot underneath. They led 28-25 at the half. “We weren’t as intense defensively, and we underestimated Schroeder and Parker,” noted Sihvon. “If they were posted inside, we had a letdown and we allowed them to get the ball. If you let them have the ball inside just about anybody can score.” Vikettes coach Gail Amort noted that “Darcy (Henkel) probably played for the best game she’s played in two weeks.” Sihvon said “we didn’t get many boards, but we were getting fast-break opportunities off steals. We weren’t finishing off many fast breaks. Last night we could put the ball inside, but today we couldn’t.” In the second half, the Kudus elevated their defensive intensity, quickly took a 31-30 lead and never gain trailed. Karen Bongaards led the Kudus with 21. Mare McConnell added 16. Debbie Biccum contained Vikings star Kathy Prochnau to 2 points. “Debbie played outstanding defence on Prochnau and Karen Bongaards came through with the points,” said Sihvon. “At half time I told Karen (Bongaards) she wasn’t shooting and attacking, and she really took me to heart.” The Vikings also included Darcy Henkel.
In the finals, the Medicine Hat Kudus defeated the Lethbridge Kodiettes 52-35 (according to the Lethbridge Herald) or 57-39 (according to the Medicine Hat News); 57-64; 65-55 (2g-1).
In game one, Medicine Hat swamped Lethbridge 52-35. The Kudus shot 41% from the floor, while the Kodiaks hit 27%. The Kodiaks had twice defeated the Kudus in regular season play. But they used a triangle-and-two, playing man-to-man on Kodiette stars Kathy Gorman and Margo Dzuren. Still, Lethbridge took an early 15-10 lead on the hot hand of Malinda Hamilton, while the Kudus struggled with the jitters. “I think the tendency when you try to run is to forget the toughest thing in basketball which is to convert to reality and realize that when there is no fast break you have to back out and slow it down,” Kudus coach Marg Sihvon told the News. The Kudus tenacity soon rattled the Kodiettes, though and a Karen Bongaards steal for a runout layup by Adelene Lansing ignited a 16-0 run that gave the Kudus a 26-17 lead at the half. “I thought we had a pretty bad night from the field,” Kodiettes coach Darrell Wall said. “Midway through the first period we started forcing shots because we were stymied by that triangle and two. This late in the season we shouldn’t be getting that fatigued. When things aren’t going right mentally it sort of plays on you physically. We couldn’t get the movement we wanted on offence but it was more psychological than fatigue.” Sihvon said “they started getting tired and taking shots that were very poor. We were able to get the boards and go; that’s where conditioning started to show.” Bongaards led the Kudus with 18. Mare McConnell added 15. Gorman paced the Kodiettes with 20. “It was our second poorest game of the year,” Wall told the Lethbridge Herald. “What Medicine Hat did defensively was they threw a triangle-and-two at us. Their objective was to let Cathy (Gorman) score as many points as she could and shut everybody else down, and it was very successful for them.” Karen Bongaards paced the Kudus with 18. Marg McConnell added 15. Kathy Gorman led the Kodiettes with 20. Malinda Hamilton added 6. The Kudus led 26-17 at the half. Wall said the Kodiettes had several defensive lapses during the second half, and frustration on offence caused the Kodiettes to take questionable shots. “We forced up a lot of shots we shouldn’t have.”
In game two, Lethbridge defeated Medicine Hat 64-57 as Cathy Bergen-Henengouwen scored 19 and Cathy Gorman 18. Karen Bongaards paced the Kudus with 24. Mare McConnell added 17. The Kodiettes shot 47% from the floor. “The coach kept telling me to go for the ball more and put the shots up,” said Bergen-Henengouwen told the Lethbridge Herald. “We really worked hard on offence Wednesday and Thursday at practice. After that loss there was no way we were going down two straight.” Lethbridge built a 10-point lead in the first half, after which they led 39-33. The Kodiettes put the game away in the second half with a 10-0 run as they extended their margin to 18. “The big thing that helped us was that Bongaards cooled off,” said Lethbridge coach Darrell Wall. “Overall, they didn’t get scoring from all of their team like they have in the past against us.”
In game three, the Kudus took the series with a 65-55 win after leading 34-29 at the half. Karen Bongaards paced the Kudus with 24. Marg McConnell added 18. Cathy Gorman led the Kodiettes with 22. Cathy Bergen-Henengouwen added 13. The Kudus patiently worked the ball inside and built a 34-29 lead at the half. Medicine Hat coach Marg Sihvon said “we have a very good shooting team. Karen’s been shooting over 60 per cent all season. We were getting the good shots today and we were putting them in. That was something we really had to do. … Their big players really dominated Friday, but today we said they can’t have the ball inside and they never did.” Sihvon added that her team’s balance was equally instrumental in the win. Sihvon told the Medicine Hat News she wasn’t surprised by the win. “We had a definite chance to beat Lethbridge even though we lost twice to them (in regular season play). We’re as strong as them, I was just worried they wouldn’t be psychologically ready.”
The silver medalist Lethbridge Kodiettes: Cathy Gorman; Cathy Bergen-Henengouwen; Margo Dzuren; Peggy Norgaard; Carol McCue; Cheryl Hesse; Beth O’Fee; Malinda Hamilton; Barb Dase; Barb Abe; Connie Baxter; Deborah Tosczak; coach Darrell Wall
The gold medalist Medicine Hat Kudus: Karen Bongaards; Mare McConnell; Marina Schapansky; Adele Lansing; Karen Hagemester; Sharon Kubian; Kim Gupka; Cathy Ferguson; Debbie Biccum; Debbie Weedmark; coach Marg Sihvon; assistant Murray Sihvon