Final regular season standings: Lethbridge (10-1+1); Mount Royal (x-x); SAIT (x-x); Red Deer (x-x); Grande Prairie (x-x)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Camrose Lutheran: Trish Lorenz, Lori Plontke, Laura Wesley
Grande Prairie: Michelle Johnston, Tannis Outhet, Shauna Grant, Jodi Lecher, Raelene Hanson, Bev Tanner, Marie Byrne, Alison Fedchuk, coach Kelly Ohlhauser
Medicine Hat Kudus: Rhona Davey, Robyn Oliphant, Crystal Ilg, Kathy Chapman, Lisa Kartusch, Buffy Evers, Karen Luba, Sue Yackabowski, Tricia Heggie, Patti Olsen, coach Nora Way
NAIT Ookchicks: Marj Antonio, Diana Andrews, Nikki Worrell, Carolyn Gazdewich, coach Gregg Meropoulis
In the semis, the Lethbridge Kodiaks defeated the Red Deer Queens 79-66; 81-75 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Lethbridge dusted Red Deer 79-66 as Laurie Hockridge scored 23 and Carrie Kuntz 25. Laura Anderson led the Queens with 20. Nadine Traptow added 12 and Alex Mulner 12. Queens coach Pat Rawlusyk told the Red Deer Advocate “we were right there but we couldn’t buy a basket when we really needed one. … While they sat (Hockridge), we outrebounded them but couldn’t drop a basket.” …………………………………………………… In game two, the Kodiaks took the series with an 81-75 win despite being in foul trouble. “It was a little bit frustrating,” said Kodiaks coach John Jasiukiewicz. “The fouls were 20-7 at the half and in the first half all of our five starters were in foul trouble. Our bench really won it, without a doubt. Laurie Hockridge and Carrie Kuntz sat out most of the second half with four fouls and Candice Kleibrink fouled out.” Tina Bjornsrud led the Kodiaks with 17. Jaylene Baker added 16, Hockridge 13 and Carmen Knutson 11. Alex-Ann Mulner led the Queens with 24. “Alex-Ann played unbelievable. She just played her heart out,” said Jasiukiewicz. The Queens also included Nadine Traptow, Laura Anderson, Dalan Huber, Sandra Jackson, Din Meyer, Nancy Gibson.
In the other semi, the SAIT Trojans defeated the Mount Royal Cougars 73-53; 54-43 (2g-0). …………………………………………………… In game one, Kathy Purge scored 19 as SAIT rolled to an easy 73-53 win. Celina Prete led Mount Royal with 14. …………………………………………………… In game two, Anita Briscoe scored 19 and Leah Brackenbury 17 to pace the Trojans to a 54-43 win. Liz Kufeldt notched 12 for the Cougars, while Wendy VanderSchee tossed in 11.
In the final, the Lethbridge Kodiaks defeated the SAIT Trojans 70-73; 76-66; 81-57 (2g-1).
In game one, Anita Briscoe scored 23 as SAIT nipped Lethbridge 73-70. The Kodiaks built an early 13-point lead but couldn’t put the brakes on the Trojan scorers. Anita Briscoe paced the Trojans with 23. Laura Brackenbury added 22. Laurie Hockridge led the Kodiaks with 33. Tina Bjornsrud added 11. “They had three people that did their scoring and we knew that two of them (Brackenbury and Briscoe) had to be stopped. If you can’t stop two people you aren’t going to win and we didn’t stop them,” said Kodiaks coach John Jasiukiewicz. SAIT coach Richard Foggo concentrated on shutting down everyone but post Laurie Hockridge. In the second half, Trojan point guard Chris Montfort began effectively beating Kodiaks off the dribble. “We came out strong but kind of fell apart after that,” said Jasiukiewicz. “We have had a tendency this year to camp on leads and you are going to get burned if you don’t play the entire game.”
In the game two, 6-7 center Laurie Hockridge scored 43 to lead the Kodiaks to a 76-66 win. She also blocked eight shots, helping the Kodiaks to erase an 11-point deficit midway through the second half. Carrie Kuntz added 12. SAIT coach Richard Foggo said “the game was there for the taking. We had a lead late in the game. We were in a position to take it.” Anita Briscoe led SAIT with 22, hitting 3-5 from the arc. Chris Monfort added 14 and Laura Brackenbury 10. The score was knotted at 33 at the half but the Trojans opened the second frame with an 11-0 run. Lethbridge coach John Jasiukiewicz called a timeout and “told the girls ‘it’s up to you’ and they went out and took the game away from SAIT. This was one of the most exciting, and best games I have seen played since I have been coaching at LCC. I think the key was that we rebounded as a team and that we held one of their two big shooters in check. Laura Brackenbury only had 10 for them, while Anita Briscoe got 22. Briscoe is just an outstanding offensive and defensive player and she is physical too.”
In game three, Hockridge duplicated the scoring feat, scoring 47 on 20-24 from the floor and 7-8 from the line as Lethbridge thrashed SAIT 81-57. Hockridge hit 20-24 from the field. Anita Briscoe led SAIT with 12. Laura Brackenbury added 11. Hockridge was “outstanding,” said Kodiak coach John Jasiukiewicz. “The last two games — the second half of Saturday’s game and this game — was probably the most pumped up I’ve ever seen her. She had something to prove and she proved it.” Jasiukiewicz called Hockridge’s being overlooked as an CCAA All-Canadian selection this season a “farce. She’s the most dominant player in Canada and now she’s proved that she is the best college player in Canada.” The Kodiaks led 48-25 at the half as Hockridge scored 28. “We’ve had problems with Hockridge all year,” said Trojan coach Richard Foggo. “And when it came down to it, she was there for them. She was the difference in the game.” Hockridge, who subsequently enrolled at the University of Hawaii, said “in these last few games my shots have been on and they’ve just been dropping for me.” The Kodiaks hit 56% from the field and SAIT 32%. “We got off to a good start but we thought they would come back,” said Hockridge. “We thought they would be a lot tougher but we were really pumped and I think we played our best game of the year. We played as a team.” Jasiukiewicz said “I don’t think we’ve ever played a better all-round game as we did. We came out hard and pushed them all over but at the same time we knew they could come back. SAIT has to be given credit, they have a very good team.” Jaylene Baker added 8 for the Kodiaks.
After the season, John Jasiukiewicz moves to become the men’s coach at Lethbridge. He is replaced by Karie Tollestrup, who coached the Raymond Comets to the 1989 Alberta 3A girl’s title. The Brigham Young University graduate told the Endeavour “I’ve always had a goal to coach at the college level, I just never thought it would come this fast.” Tollestrup had a 64-26 record at Raymond.
The silver medalist SAIT Trojans: Anita Briscoe; Chris Monfort; Laura Brackenbury; Kathy Purge; Penne Familusi; coach Richard Foggo;
The gold medalist Lethbridge CC Kodiaks: Carrie Kuntz; Laurie Hockridge; Jocelyn Baker; Carmen Knutson; Candice Kliebrink; Lori Matthews; coach John Jasiukiewicz