1988-89 CCAA men

	Vanier	90
	Briercrest Bible	66	Vanier	79
	Douglas	87	Lethbridge CC	86	Lethbridge CC	73
	Lethbridge CC	91
							—–NORTHERN ALBERTA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
(1)	N.A.I.T.	73
(8)	Trinity Western	62	N.A.I.T.	92	N.A.I.T.	86
(3)	Sheridan	78	N.S. Teachers	69
(6)	N.S. Teachers	89

        In the quarterfinals, held in Edmonton at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, the Quebec champ Vanier Cheetahs, coached by Keith Coffin, defeated the Saskatchewan champ Briercrest Bible Institute, coached by Carl Hinderager, by a 90-66 count as Robert Ferguson scored 31, Mark Girgis 22 and Emerson Thomas 21.

The Alberta runner-up Lethbridge CC Kodiaks, coached by Tim Tollestrup, defeated the top-seeded B.C. champ Douglas College, coached by Steve Beauchamp, 91-87 as Lorne McKenzie scored 20. Douglas was led by Chris Schrek 23 and Sean Beasley 22. Lethbridge surrendered a late 11-0 run but held on for the win. The Kodiaks trailed 24-14 early in the first half but coach Tim Tollestrup brought Jason Valgardson off the bench and he prompted drained four consecutive treys. Andre Costa also provided a lift off the bench after starting point guard Bryan Mackenzie left the game with a bruised left thigh after a collision with Royals’ forward Glen Cote. “Our bench strength has helped us out all year long and they helped us out again tonight,” said Tollestrup. The Kodiaks took their first lead on a Bevan Hockridge took and bumped it to 32-28 on a Shawn Adams layup. The Kodiaks led 45-39 at the half. The Royals stormed back in the second half and quickly knotted the score at 59. Valgardson drained another trey to make it 64-61 with 12:40 to play. “If I hit the first one it seems to boost me a bit,” said Valgardson. “And I’ll keep trying and if they keep going in it seems to boost my confidence.” The Kodiaks built their lead to 15 and then held for the win. Tollestrup told The Endeavour that “we played a good ball game. We had some guys come off the bench and do the job for us.” Lorne Mackenzie paced the Kodiaks with 20. Valgardson added 15, Jim Kaminski 11, Shawn Adams 10. The Kodiaks hit 50% from the floor and 67% from the line. Chris Schrek paced the Royals with 23. Sean Beasley added 22 and Glen Cote 20. The Royals hit 43% from the floor and 70% from the line.

        The Alberta champion N.A.I.T. Ookpiks, coached by Dave Hoy, defeated B.C. wildcard Trinity Western Spartans, coached by Tim Teer, 73-62 as Dexter Amour scored 19 and Wayne Grant 14. Trinity Western was led by Paul Chaffee 14 and Mike Hanik 10. The Ooks shook off the early jitters, which led to a 10-2 deficit, and began playing team defence and were promptly rewarded for their efforts. With starting forward Bryan Lazariuk in foul trouble, reserves Norm Barthel and Bob Willett came off the bench to ignite the sputtering offence, while Wayne Grant shook off a 101-degree temperature to score 14 points and nab 14 boards. “That’s basically my game,” Grant said of his rebounding prowess. “When somebody slacks off, somebody’s got to fill his shoes.” Grant added the Ooks early sluggishness was a function of nerves. They fell behind 10-2 but quickly recovered. “It was probably one of the biggest crowds we’ve ever had. But once we got into the flow, we were okay,” said Grant. Coach Dave Hoy said Grant “played a helluva game.” The Ooks scored eight unanswered points to move ahead 30-21 late in the first half. They led 37-29 at the break and pulled away with a 10-0 run in the second half as they took a 52-39 lead. “We could have beat them. It was our first game at Nationals… that threw us off a little and we didn’t have fans there yet,” Kendell Kauffeldt told TWU Today. “Basically, we laid a foundation of bricks for them, we could have built them a new gym. If we could have shot better we could have beaten them.” Doug DeVries added that “they played well and we played poorly. We might have been a little hesitant although I don’t know why. We could have beaten them.”

        In the last quarterfinal, the 6th-seeded Nova Scotia Teachers College Hawks, coached by Peter Caulfield, dumped the Ontario champ and 3rd-seeded Sheridan Bruins 89-78. Cyril Veilot scored 27 to pace the Hawks. They led 47-38 at the half. Errol Clarah scored 17 of his 18 points to pace the Bruins, coached by Peter Caulfield.

        In the bronze quarterfinals, the Trinity Western Spartans dumped the Sheridan Bruins 75-57 as Kendal Kaufeldt scored 22. Errol Clarah led the Bruins with 17. The Bruins led 32-30 at the half.

        In the other bronze quarterfinal, the Douglas Royals whipped the Briercrest Bible Clippers 93-62.

        In the semis, the NAIT Ookpiks dumped the Nova Scotia Teachers College Hawks 92-69 as Bryan Lazariuk scored 41 and Adrian Toppin played a great two-way game. “It’s my last season, I’ve got to go all out,” said Lazariuk, a 21-year-old computer systems student. “This was one of my career high games, offensively and defensively. I went back to the fundamentals.” Ooks Coach Dave Hoy said it was great to see Lazariuk return to form, having only playing 10 minutes in NAIT’s tournament opener because of foul trouble. “I wanted to give Bryan a lot of confidence. And he played to his potential.” A first-half injury to starting point guard gave Toppin 33 minutes of play and he responded with aplomb, scoring 15 and frequently pilfering the ball. “If we’d won a two-pointer, we’d be more pumped up right now,” said Hoy. “It’s been an uphill battle. My biggest concern (in game one) was we had a 10-day layoff and we were down 10-2 until our defensive effort kicked in.”

        In the other semi, the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks clipped the Vanier Cheetahs 86-79. The score was knotted at 79, with Cheetah Emerson Thomas at the line for a one-and-one. He missed the first and the Kodiaks came down the court and scored off a Wes Herbert putback. Brian Mackenzie pilfered the ball for a layup with 27 seconds to play to give Lethbridge an 83-79 lead. Mackenzie, who was injured in the opening game of the tournament came off the bench to score 13 on the second half. “I told the coach (Tim Tollestrup) I wanted to play in the second half, he said. “I was feeling half good and I saw what was happening in the first half. I saw that we were cracking up a bit under the pressure so I decided to come in and run the show; and I guess you could say I got the job done.” Tollestrup said “he sure did give us a lift. There was a time there when he was stealing the ball and going in for the layup. He scored about eight straight points. I thought his leg would power out on us but it didn’t.” The Kodiaks were flat early but rallied to take a 20-18 lead midway through the first half. The Cheetahs again rebuilt a five-point lead but Shawn Adams nailed a pair of treys to give the Kodiaks a 43-40 lead at the half. “We had a couple breakdowns on defence,” said Mackenzie. Tollestrup noted that “I knew they would be a salty little team to play. They’ve got a lot of players who can pressure you when you’ve got the ball.” Tollestrup wasn’t pleased with 22 turnovers, but was pleased with the balanced scoring. “We had five guys in double figures. We spread it out and didn’t rely on any one or two individuals.” Vanier coach Keith Coffin said officiating proved the difference. “We were the smallest team there and they let everything go, particularly underneath the basket.” Shawn Adams paced the Kodiaks with 17. Bevan Hockridge added 14, Wes Herbert 14 and Lorne Mackenzie 13. The Kodiaks hit 49% from the floor, 3-12 from the arc and 57% from the line. Robert Ferguson paced Vanier with 22. Emerson Thomas added 21 and Mark Girgis 14. The Cheetahs hit 36% from the floor, 67% from the arc and 60% from the line.

        In the bronze semis, the Trinity Western Spartans edged the Vanier Cheetahs 86-83 in overtime on a pair of outside jumpers from Rob Elgie and stellar play from freshman Mike Hanik, who had nailed a trey at the buzzer to force overtime. “It was debatable whether he got the shot off in time,” Cheetahs coach Keith Coffin told the Montreal Gazette. “I don’t think the officials could tell when he shot because they trailed the play badly.” Vanier led by 15 in the first half, and by as many as 18, “but then a number of things happened,” Coffin said. “And most of them were due to bad officiating.” Coffin, who is retiring, said the officiating favored the much bigger western teams. “We were the smallest team there and they let everything go, particularly underneath the basket.” Spartan Paul Chaffee told TWU Today that “our shooting started to turn around as well as our mindset. As Coach says, ‘it takes 40 minutes’. So we ignored the score and just picked away at it.”

        In the other bronze semi, the Douglas Royals stomped the Nova Scotia Teachers College Hawks 112-75 as Glen Cote scored 25. The Royals led 67-35 at the half. Cyril Veinot led the Hawks with 20.

        In the bronze medal match, the Trinity Western Spartans nipped the Douglas Royals 69-68. The Spartans led 31-20 early but the Royals rallied to a 38-33 lead at the half. Douglas led 51-37 but Trinity Western rallied to knot the score at 59 with 5:40 to play. They again tied the score at 68 with 13 seconds to play and then Paul Chaffee hit 1-2 from the line to win it. Royal Willis Parnell missed a baseline jumper at the buzzer. “It was sweet,” Chaffee told TWU Today. “It was a benchmark season for Trinity basketball.”  Dave Plenkovich paced the Spartans with 18. Mike Hanik added 15. “That’s a classic rivalry,” Doug DeVries told TWU Today. “We were up by 12 then they went ahead for awhile and it stayed close till the end. We shot less than 30% against them at Provincials but we shot better at Nationals and played more of a zone defense. We tried to force them to play outside more and keep the ball away from them inside.” Kendall Kauffeldt said “Douglas was psycho before the game… screaming and hollering. Beating them by one point away from B.C. showed who was boss… we played awesome.” Hanik said “we were pretty excited and Coach was going nuts. We went there wanting to win but didn’t play that well at first. But with all the fans there we got going and we were really happy afterwards.” The Spartans held Royal stars Glenn Cote and Sean Beasley to a combined 20.

        In the final, the N.A.I.T. Ookpiks overcame a first half deficit to register an 85-73 victory over the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks in the all-Alberta final. For seniors Bryan Lazariuk and 5-10 guard Adrian Toppin, it was the end of a long journey. “Four dry years for me and Adrian,” said Lazariuk, who was selected tournament MVP. “We got kicked and we got kicked. This year, we kicked.” NAIT trailed 31-25 late in the first half on its home court but rallied to take a 37-35 lead at the half and pulled away in the late stages for the win. The 6-8 Lazariuk overcame early foul trouble to score 22 points, including 6-6 from the line. “I was really relaxed this game,” he said. “I didn’t let (the foul trouble) bother me. When I came back, I kicked.” Lazariuk heaped praise on his teammates, saying “one guy can’t do it.” The Ooks were coach Dave Hoy’s best-balanced team in 11 years at the helm. “We’ve got five, seven, nine guys (contributing in every game,” Lazariuk added. “That’s what did it.” Norm Barthel and Bob Willett gave the Ooks excellent minutes in relief of Lazariuk while he was on the bench in foul trouble. Dexter Amour stepped up down the stretch after 20 of Lazariuk’s points had given NAIT a 71-61 edge with just over six minutes to play. Amour hit a pair of buckets and twice converted one-and-one opportunities at the line, scoring 8 of his 23 points down the stretch. Wayne Grant added 15 points. Lazariuk said he just the kept pounding the ball in the paint. “They were calling everything, so I knew if I went up inside, I could draw fouls. Lethbridge had taken an 18-15 lead in the first half with Lazariuk on the bench and then built the lead to 31-25 with four minutes to play in the first half. Hoy forecast the win would have an enormous impact on Edmonton hoops. “I don’t know if Edmonton, in men’s basketball, has ever won a national championship. Certainly, the University of Alberta Golden Bears have never won anything. So, it’s a pretty significant point in the history of basketball in the school and in Edmonton. And really, we won it with Edmonton kids, except for Chris Mantley (from Halifax). We really didn’t win this championship with imported players. It’s Edmonton guys that made the difference. Hopefully, that’ll have some spinoff effect for the development of basketball in our program.” Hoy added that his troops were patient, on both ends of the floor, using the shot clock to great advantage. “All 13 of our losses came because we didn’t execute. Either we were too lazy on defence or failed to move the ball well enough on defence. What was going to win us the championship was something I preached to them all year – team defence. They finally decided that was something maybe they wanted to do in games, so we did it. We need this system to win. It was a long hard sell. They finally understood what it took. We sat in the locker room toasting each other and Dexter said, ‘you’ve put up with so much B.S. with us. We didn’t do what you wanted us to do. We really appreciate it. We finally put it together for you.’ Sometimes I wondered, are we ever going to react to the coach’s philosophy of team defence?” N.A.I.T. finished (31-13) on the campaign. Shawn Adams paced the Kodiaks with 17. Jim Kaminsky added 12, Bryan Mackenzie 12, Bevan Hockridge 10 and Wes Herbert 8. Lethbridge guard Bryan Mackenzie told The Endeavour that “we got more pride, more guts on our team than I’ve seen on any team for a long time.” Kodiaks forward Jason Valgardson said “I think we played some really good ball but we had a few mental lapses and that cost us. NAIT played a really good game. I think we are capable of beating them but we just didn’t put 40 minutes together.” Tollestrup said “we’re a little disappointed we didn’t get the gold but what these kids have done is a real tribute to themselves. They came home with the silver.” Bevan Hockridge said “I think we were prepared for them both mentally and physically. We had an off night.”

The all-tourney team featured: MVP Brian Lazariuk (N.A.I.T.); Wayne Grant (N.A.I.T.); Brian MacKenzie (Lethbridge CC); Mike Hanik (Trinity Western); Sean Beasley (Douglas); and Robert Ferguson (Vanier)

The bronze medalist Trinity Western Spartans: Paul Chaffee; Mike Hanik; Dale Forney; Fraser McCulloch; Nevin Gleddie; Rob Elgie; Doug DeVries; Bob Hoy; Dave Plenkovich; coach Tim Teer

The silver medalist Lethbridge Kodiaks: Lorne McKenzie; Shawn Adams; Jason Valgardson; Jim Kaminski; Wes Herbert; Bryan MacKenzie; Bevan Hockridge; Keith Limber; Rob Kruger; Andre Costa; Bruce Orr; Doug Doram; Guy Rook; Shawn Balog; Craig Stocker; coach Tim Tollestrup

        The gold medalist Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Ookpiks: Brian Lazariuk; Wayne Grant; Adrian Toppin; Chris Mantley; Lyndon Campbell; Derek Toppin; Bob Willett; Dexter Amour; Rajko Djurisic; Norm Barthel; Rob Molnar; coach Dave Hoy; assistant Darren Aughtry; assistant Mark Bosworth; manager Rich Wamboldt; athletic director Justin Dahlen