| (1) | S.A.I.T. | 93 | ||||||
| (8) | U of King’s College | 87 | S.A.I.T. | 56 | ||||
| Langara | 81 | Vanier | 70 | Vanier | 80 | |||
| Vanier | 84 | |||||||
| —–VANIER | ||||||||
| (6) | Seneca | 90 | ||||||
| Sask. Technical Institute | 58 | Seneca | 61 | Dawson | 69 | |||
| (3) | Dawson | 70 | Dawson | 66 | ||||
| Sheridan | 56 |
Prior to the tourney, Humber coach Mike Katz expressed outrage that his Hawks weren’t in the draw rather than the fifth-place Sheridan Bruins, who were hosting the draw. The Tier I Ontario champ Hawks had lost the league final to Seneca. “I know Sheridan is hosting, but I’m not sure that’s a valid enough reason for them to be in the tournament. Seneca should be there because they won the Ontario title, but I just wonder why the other finalist won’t be there.”
Admitting he doesn’t like the situation, Katz says a change in the set-up is needed. Sheridan coach Wayne Allison says the rules were set up well before the Ontario tournament was played. “When we agreed to hold the tournament, months ago, we said we’d do it if we were given one of the two spots Ontario was allowed. That was agreed to, and I don’t see why anyone is complaining now.” Allison says holding a national tournament involves “a great deal of work, time and effort. If we were going to make that effort, we at least wanted our team to be a part of it.” He says he appreciates Humber’s position, but says if they wanted to participate in the tournament “they should have won the Ontario title.”
In the quarterfinals, held at Oakville’s Sheridan College, the Alberta champ S.A.I.T. Trojans, coached by rookie mentor Jamie Thomas, and again led by Ted Leslie and Brian Masikewich, edged the Nova Scotia champ King’s College Blue Devils, coached by Bev Greenlaw, 93-87. Ted Leslie and Brian Masikewich, who suffered a sprained ankle with two minutes left, paced SAIT with 24 points each. Keith Donovan had 25 for King’s College.
The Quebec runner-up Vanier Cheetahs, coached by Keith Coffin, edged the B.C. champs Langara Falcons, coached by Duncan McCallum, 84-81. The Falcons had finished the regular season in second place but knocked off regular season champ Fraser Valley in the Totem postseason playoffs. Keith Horness scored 18 to lead Vanier. Dennis Hinds scored 16 to pace the Cheetahs. Kevin Korol and Keith Horness each scored 18 to lead Langara.
The Ontario champ Seneca Braves, who’d knocked off regular season champ Humber in the postseason playoffs and coached by Ernie Armstrong, rolled to a 90-58 win over the Saskatchewan champ Saskatchewan Technical Institute Beavers, coached by Peter Lapointe. “We usually don’t get going until we get into our press,” Seneca coach Ernie Armstrong said. The Braves forced a raft of turnovers with their press. Seneca led only 29-24 midway in the first half before a pair of steals by Mark Otto resulted in easy layups to send Braves to a 46-30 halftime lead. Otto wound up with 15 points to lead Seneca, while Shane Reider had 21 for Beavers.
In the last quarterfinal, the Quebec champ Dawson Blues coached by Varouj Gurunlian, and led by Dexter John, strode to a 70-56 win over the Ontario host qualifier Sheridan Bruins, coached by Wayne Allison and led by Donovan Bailey. Astley Smith led Dawson with 19.
In the bronze quarterfinals, the Vancouver CC Falcons stomped the King’s College Blue Devils 101-81.
In the other bronze quarterfinal, the Sheridan Bruins dumped the Saskatchewan Technical Institute Beavers 75-44.
In the semis, the Vanier Cheetahs defeated the top-ranked S.A.I.T. Trojans 70-56 as Dino Perrin scored 16. SAIT coach Jamie Thomas couldn’t believe how poorly his troops shot. “I’ve never seen a team so cold.” The Trojans had averaged 100 points a game and brought a 36-1 record and the nation’s top ranking into the tournament. But frigid shooting, an ankle injury to key big man Brian Masikewich and an inspired Cheetah team conspired against them. Vanier big man Ernie Rosa and Dino Perin took advantage of Masikewich’s absence to work inside effectively as the Cheetahs broke to early leads of 8-0 and 29-15. Vanier led 36-26 at the half and 46-30 with 12 minutes left before SAIT finally made a move. The Trojans closed to within 56-51 with just under six minutes left but Perin bowled inside for a layup to make it 58-51 and the Cheetahs pulled away. “If you don’t put the ball in the hole it doesn’t matter what you do,” Thomas said of his team’s 33 per cent field goal shooting. Vanier coach Keith Griffin thought his young guard duo of Robert Ferguson and Perry Douglas, a junior national teamer, took the game away from SAIT’s all-Canadian backcourt of Trevor Hamilton and Ted Leslie. Hamilton made only one of 20 field goal tries while Leslie converted just three of 15. Kevin Cornils led SAIT with 22 points. “We have two of the best young guards in the country and they did a job on two of the best veterans,” said Griffin. He added that Masikewich’s injury crippled SAIT. “Without their big kid it’s a different ball game,” he said. “If he’s there we don’t go inside on them.”
In the other semi, the Dawson Blues defeated the Seneca Braves 66-61 as Astley Smith scored 20. David Smith led Seneca with 12. Dawson led 39-35 at halftime in the seesaw battle but Seneca went up 57-54 with five minutes left when centre Robert Heron tipped in a rebound. But Heron missed a one-and-one free throw opportunity with three minutes left that allowed a three-point basket by Dawson’s Allan Cox to put Blues up 61-59 with 1:40 left. Dexter John’s foul shot with a minute left put Dawson ahead to stay 62-61.
In the bronze semis, the Seneca Braves dispatched the Vancouver CC Falcons 83-77.
In the other bronze semi, the Sheridan Bruins edged the S.A.I.T. Trojans 83-83.
In the bronze medal match, Wayne Jones buried nine of 10 pressure free throws in the last two minutes to lead Seneca Braves to a 74-69 victory over the host Sheridan Bruins. The Ontario champion Braves rallied from a 48-34 deficit with 15 minutes remaining against Bruins, who were in foul trouble throughout the game. Sheridan centre Lyndon Lowe, forwards Rudy Donick, Lyndon Ricketts and Rodger Thomas and guard Hardley Scott all played with four fouls down the stretch. Sheridan led 37-28 at halftime and 60-53 with four minutes left before two jump shots by Seneca’s David Peach, one a three-pointer, tied the contest at 65 and set the stage for Jones’ ice-man act at the foul line. David Smith led Braves with 16 points, while Bruce Nelson paced Bruins with 15.
In the final, the Vanier Cheetahs avenged their overtime loss to Dawson in the Quebec conference finals and three regular season defeats with an 80-69 win. Dawson had been looking for its fifth victory of the year over Vanier. Vanier was down 13 at the half but rallied to outscore Dawson 58-34 in the second half. “We were hung up to dry but they forgot to nail the door shut. At half time, all we spoke about was defence – not offence. I told the guys if Dawson was going to beat us for the fifth time in a row, let them earn it,” Cheetahs coach Keith Coffin told the Montreal Gazette. “We had a big letdown in the first half because the guys had beaten (No. 1) ranked SAIT on Friday and thought they were laughing. But Dawson is a great team and they were close to burying us.” The Blues led 35-22 at the half and appeared set to hand Vanier their fifth defeat of the season in games between the two. Dennis Hinds paced the Cheetahs with 15. Tournament MVP Robert Ferguson added 14, Ernie Rosa 14, Perry Douglas 14 and Donald John 14. All-Canadian Astley Smith paced Dawson with 19. Dexter John added 13 and Garfield Glasgow 11. Perry Douglas said revenge was sweet. “We lost to them four times but this was the big one.” Douglas and backcourt mate Robert Ferguson keyed Vanier’s comeback from a 35-22 halftime deficit by going to a tried-and-true formula: Take the ball to the hoop. “We knew we had to, but for some reason we were nervous in the first half,” said Ferguson. The Cheetahs went on an 8-2 run to open the second half to close to within 37-30. It was the key to Vanier’s first title, according to coach Keith Griffin. “We knew we had a chance if we could get it under 10.” The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for Dawson coach Varouj Gurunlian. “It gets monotonous playing the same team all of the time. The odds were in their favor but they played well. We let them to the basket too easily in the second half and they shot well.”
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Robert Ferguson (Vanier); Kevin Cornils (S.A.I.T.); Hardley Scott (Sheridan); David Smith (Seneca); Perry Douglas (Vanier); and Garfield Glasgow (Dawson)
The bronze medalist Seneca Braves: Wayne Jones; David Smith; Mark Otto; Douglas Kerr; Robert Huron; Garth Faubert; David Peach; Lloyd Lawrence; Ray Maynard; Chris Wharton; Robert Smith; Gavin Abrams; Mike Lippin; Philip Cargill; A Stephenson; coach Ernie Armstrong
The silver medalist Dawson Blues: Dexter John; Astley Smith; Garfield Glasgow; Stanley Paul; Sean Deer; Ian Ployart; John Leacock; coach Varouj Gurunlian; assistant David Francis
The gold medalist Vanier Cheetahs: Billy Vourtzoumis; Dennis Hinds; Ernie Rosa; Perry Douglas; Robert Ferguson; Dino Perin; Nick Katerinakis; Donald John; Jim Hubert; Andy Wilson; coach Keith Coffin; assistant Mike Roy; assistant Henry Wong; trainer Kathy Tink; manager Attie Waxman; statistician Francois Bosse