1976-77 CCAA men

	Lethbridge CC	84
	Nova Scotia Agricultural	53	Lethbridge CC	78
			Dawson	79	Dawson	74
							—–BRIERCREST BIBLE
			Briercrest Bible	85	Briercrest Bible	80
			Seneca	70

        In the Four-West semis, the Briercrest Bible Clippers defeated the Langara (then Vancouver City College) Falcons 86-75 as Mel Fehr scored 30 before fouling out. Murray Redekop added 20. The Clippers trailed 38-34 at the half but took command with improved rebounding and defence in the second half, coach Carl Hinderager told the Regina Leader-Post. Bob Cooper scored 21 to lead the Falcons (coached by Duncan McCallum).

        In the other semi, the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks defeated the Red River CC Rebels 101-49 after leading 47-23 at the half. Bruce Hamilton paced the Kodiaks with 22. Glen Novak added 21 and Ernie Hill 13. Kodiaks coach Tim Tollestrup told the Regina Leader-Post that his troops performance was less than stellar, while Red River coach John Loewen thought his team hustled but was badly hurt by its lack of size.

        In the bronze medal match, the Langara Falcons thumped the Red River CC Rebels 83-46 as Les Husband scored 17. The Rebels were coached by John Loewen.

In the Four-West final, the Briercrest Bible Clippers defeated the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks 87-85 in overtime as Murray Redekop scored 26 and Warren Dueck 18, Mel Fehr 16, Randy Roth 15 and Frank Peters 12. Fehr scored 10 in overtime for the Clippers as they took an 85-79 lead and held on for the win. Lethbridge led 41-35 at the half but needed a 6-0 run in the final 14 seconds, including four free throws (two with 4 seconds to play) by Kodiaks player of the game Ernie Hill, to force the extra session. Hill paced the Kodiaks with 30. Glen Schuler added 16. “I thought we played well except for a lull right after the half,” Kodiaks coach Tim Tollestrup told the Lethbridge Herald. “Ernie played one of his better games, and Schuler played well defencing their big man (Redekop). Their outside shooting hurt us,” as did Briercrest’s zone. Tollestrup told The Endeavour that “Ernie (Hill) had his best game since coming to LCC. (Glenn) Schuler did a good job on the big man (Redekop) and also shot well. … We met a ball club that was ready to win. We’re lucky to have another shot at nationals. … We knew we were in for a tough game. Briercrest played better overall ball than we did. They’ve got good outside shooting and a good big man. We had a tendency to lean on the big man and let them shoot from outside.”

In the national quarterfinal, held at Lethbridge Community College Sportsplex, the host-wild card Kodiaks whipped the Nova Scotia Agricultural College Rams 84-53. The Rams were 25-4 heading into the tournament. Rams coach Ken Smyth told The Endeavour that “I never thought they could run constantly. I think we did as well as we probably could.” Smyth told Canadian Press that “I think we did as well as probably could. Lethbridge is too strong for us and would beat us nine out of 10 times.” The Rams (coached by Ken Smyth) included Allan Franey, Gerald Vermeulen, Steve Stewart, Colin Crabbe, Joe Kinney, Alf McKay, Cliff Smith, Paul Gaunce, Larry Peterson and Gerry Macdonell.

In the semis, the Dawson Blues edged the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks 79-78 on two free throws by Trevor Bennett with 20 seconds to play. “I never thought I would miss them. I’ve done it a million times in practice,” Bennett told The Endeavour. The Kodiaks broke to an early 8-4 lead but Dawson coach Andy Mozey pulled 7-4 centre Ron Crevier in a move to a quicker line-up. The Blues promptly knotted the score at 14. Lethbridge rebuilt a 38-26 lead and maintained a 48-37 margin at the half. But when Don Yuill fouled out early in the second half, the tide turned. “We’re like a chain. If one part doesn’t move, we can’t run,” said Kodiaks point guard Ernie Hill. “And we’ve got to run to win.” The Blues rallied within 73-69 and drew within one on a Trevor Bennett bucket with 1:11 to play. A Jim Ralph jumper at the buzzer bounced off the back of the rim. Bennett paced the Blues with 29.

        In the other semi, Briercrest Bible Clippers defeated the Seneca Braves 85-70. The Braves dominated the first half with their full court pressure and led 38-36 at the break. But the Clippers dominated the boards in the second half and slowly pulled away. Murray Redekop scored 17 in the second half for Briercrest before fouling out. “We have real team unity,” Redekop told The Endeavour. “The Lord keeps us together. He was a big factor in our win.” Clippers coach Carl Hinderager said “we’re all Christians. It pulls us together.” Redekop finished with 31. Frank Peters added 18.

Clippers coach Carl Hinderager said that his troops were affected by the pressure early” but “in the second half, we started to play our game and broke it.” Braves guard Steve Leahy said Seneca had to hope that its conditioning and quickness proved the difference because the lacked the size needed to compete on the boards. “As a team, we believe in rebounding at midcourt. … We have to be in better shape than the other teams to win. We have to play the game as fast as it can be played. The coach emphasized putting out 100 percent and it’s this effort that brings us through in a lot of close games. We’re almost always behind for most of the game but it seems that no matter how far behind we get, we always have a little extra stamina at the finish and can pull through.” But Redekop dominated the boards, while guards Warren Dueck and Randy Roth easily handled the press. “We’re not used to playing guards like them,” Leahy said.

        In the bronze medal match, the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks whipped the Seneca Braves 99-72 as Brian Hamilton scored 22, Don Yuill 16 and Larry Simpson 15. Leonard Noel led the Braves with 18. Raffi Der-Doghassian added 15. The Kodiaks hit 40-80 from the field and 19-31 from the line, while the Braves hit 26-92 from the field and 20-31 from the line. The Braves (coached by Neil William) included John Melchiori, Leonard Noel, Raffi Der-Boghassian, Nino Paulucci, Frank Leahy, Raphael Harris, Peter Klein, Rick Lostracco, George Bisolchi, George Pastalian and John Morachi.

        In the final, the Briercrest Bible Clippers defeated the Dawson Blues 80-74. Clippers star Murray Redekop fouled out with the score tied at 47 in the second half. But his teammates rallied to a 58-49 lead which they never relinquished as reserve Ralph Magnus did an admirable job in his stead. Clipper John Barkman told the Regina Leader-Post that “we really didn’t know what to expect. In the past, Western teams didn’t usually do very well, so our hopes were not that high. It was the first time for us at the national final and we didn’t know what to expect … We built the team around Murray and things didn’t look to good when he left the game. But Frank really came on and took command.” Clippers coach Carl Hinderager told the Lethbridge Herald that “I think they figured they’d bomb us off the court with Murray out. By half-time, I realized they weren’t as tough a team as they thought they were. Everybody wanted to win for Murray. The good Lord helped pull us together and we just hustled a lot.” Tournament MVP Frank Peters, who scored 35, said “I had to rely on God. Somehow, it all worked out. As a team, you have to know each other well. Our Christianity helps us get along better.” Mel Fehr paced the Clippers with 12. Murray Redekop added 10 and Randy Roth 10. Trevor Bennett paced the Blues with 22. The Clippers hit 35-79 (.440) from the floor and 10-15 from the line, while the Blues hit 32-74 (.430) from the floor and 10-18 from the line.

        The all-tourney team featured: MVP Frank Peters (Briercrest Bible Institute); Murray Redekop (Briercrest Bible Institute); Trevor Bennett (Dawson); Eddie Pomykala (Dawson); Jim Ralph (Lethbridge CC); and Leonard Noel (Seneca)

The bronze medalist Lethbridge CC Kodiaks: Glen Novak; Bruce Hamilton; Don Yuill; Ernie Hill; Larry Simpson; Frank Willis; Glen Schuler; Jim Ralph; Rod Schmidt; Ted Rutherford; Del Rube; Walt Zobell; Gary Merrian; coach Tim Tollestrup

        The silver medalist Dawson Blues: Trevor Bennett; Eddie Pomykala; Ron Crevier; Harley Lawrence; coach Andy Mozey

        The gold medalist Briercrest Bible Institute Clippers: Frank Peters; Murray Redekop; Ken Epp; Mel Fehr; Daryl Pullman; Dale Sorell; Ralph Magnus; Warren Dueck; Randy Roth; Brent Reilly; John Barkman; coach Carl Hinderager; manager Allan Foster; manager Stacey Meginbir