| (1) | Langara | 98 | ||||||
| (8) | Briercrest Bible | 66 | Langara | 67 | ||||
| (4) | Dawson | 67 | Seneca | 62 | Langara | 77 | ||
| (5) | Seneca | 73 | ||||||
| —–HUMBER | ||||||||
| (3) | Lethbridge CC | 68 | ||||||
| (6) | Mt. St. Vincent | 58 | Lethbridge CC | 70 | Humber | 92 | ||
| (2) | Humber | 67 | Humber | 78 | ||||
| (7) | Montmorency | 61 |
In the quarterfinals, held at North York’s Seneca College, the top-seeded and B.C. champion Langara Falcons, coached by Kevin Hanson, pasted the 8th-seed Prairie Conference champ Briercrest Bible College Clippers, coached by Stan Peters, 98-66 as Peter Rubin scored 20. Kevin Metheny added 18, Oran Walwyn 16 and Antoine Lacroix 16. Prentice Lenz paced the Clippers with 20 points, including five from the beyond the arc.
The 5th-seeded host Seneca Braves, coached by Ernie Armstrong, stunned the 4th-seeded Quebec champ Dawson Blues, coached by Olga Hrycak, 73-64. “It was a three-point game at the half (32-29 for Dawson) . . . it went back and forth, they had us down by seven at one point and down by six with five minutes to go,” Braves coach Ernie Armstrong said afterwards. A 10-0 run in the last two minutes proved the difference. “That was strange, I didn’t realize we did that until after the game,” Armstrong said. “We had used our first timeout . . . when we were in a cold spell and having trouble with their press. I didn’t want to use that second timeout. As it turned out, we got the lead and kept the ball until they started fouling us to stop the clock. We knew it was going to be a great matchup, we’re pretty much the same type of teams – not a lot of size, but great hustle and defense. That was some of the best defence I’ve seen all year.”
Wayne Gibson had 15 points for the Braves while Dwight Richards added another 12 and pulled down eight rebounds. Cordell Walters led all scorers with 25 points.
The 3rd-seeded Alberta champion Lethbridge CC Kodiaks, coached by John Jasiukiewicz, defeated the 6th-seeded Nova Scotia champion Mt. St. Vincent Mount Mystics, coached by Rick Plato, 68-58. “The first 15 minutes was ugly and we didn’t play a good game,” said Kodiaks coach John Jasiukiewicz. “I think the guys were very nervous and we made 24 turnovers, many without being heavily pressured. We had 21 fouls called against us in the second half and that took us right out of our game. Both teams were unhappy about the officiating. … The game was quite close with about seven minutes remaining when Pat (Hicks) made three perimeter shots (two for three-pointers) to break it open, and Carlos (Maffia) was very important to us in helping to break their press.” Plato said “we were 25 points better than this team but we were just horrendous. We picked the worst time in the world to have our worst game of the season.” Mark Hirsch led Lethbridge with 17. Tony Ross notched 20 for the Mystics. Mark Forward added 17. The Mystics hit 16-46 from the line and 18-51 from the field, while committing 18 turnovers.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Ontario champ Humber Hawks, coached by Mike Katz, defeated the 7th-seeded Quebec runner-up Montmorency Les Nomades, coached by Jacques LeBel, 67-61. Patrick Rhodd was chosen player of the game after scoring 20. Fitzroy Lightbody added 19 for the Hawks. “They were pressing us at the end of the game, and it took us a while to break it (the press),” said Hawks off-guard Hugh Riley.
In the bronze quarterfinals, the Dawson Blues defeated the Briercrest Bible Clippers 68-60.
In the other bronze quarterfinal, the Mount St. Vincent Mystics dumped the Montmorency Nomades 69-66.
In the semis, the Humber Hawks defeated the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks 78-70 in overtime. “That was the first overtime game we played all year,” said Hawks coach Mike Katz. “For us to win it in a national championship semifinal, well, you have to be ecstatic – a pressure situation like that. I’m happy we’ve got a chance to win this thing again.” The Hawks had a double-digit lead with 10 minutes to play but their shooting suddenly went cold. All-Canadian Fitzroy Lightbody missed a foul shot with eight seconds to play that would have given the Hawks a 69-65 lead. Instead, Lethbridge stormed back to tie the game on a Carlos Maffia off-balance, three-pointer at the buzzer. Hawks forward Larry McNeil noted that “we were waiting for it (a win) to happen and then it didn’t. The ball started dropping for them and it didn’t for us. It’s one of those things. I just have to say that they’re an excellent team. They deserve a lot of credit.” Katz noted that the Hawks lost everybody would have been “talking about the missed foul shot. But we won, and that’s all history now.” McNeil scored two buckets in overtime to lead the Hawks. He finished with 17 points despite playing the last 25 minutes with four fouls. “That was just an incredible performance in my books,” said Katz. “To play with that much control in a game like that, it was something.” Fitzroy Lightbody led the Hawks with 19 points. Patrick Rhodd added 17 and player of the game Larry McNeil 16. Forward Roland Dewey paced the Kodiaks with 19. Kodiaks coach John Jasiukiewicz said “I thought we played the best second half we have played all year. We were down 37-25 at the half, but tied it with two seconds left in regulation on a three-pointer by Carlos Maffia. We got great games today from Dewey Rowland and Paul Brown. Brown did just a tremendous job at point guard as Bruce Babiuk was so sick with the flu he just couldn’t play. “We played our game, we slowed them down and played tough defence. They average around 100 points a game but they didn’t fast break us very much.” Mike Hirsch added 12 for Lethbridge. Brown, a rookie guard from Spokane, Washington, scored 11, while Maffia notched 10 and Tyson Lybbert 10.
In the other semi, the Langara Falcons dumped the host Seneca Braves 67-62. The Braves defence forced 3 turnovers and had 10 steals in the first half as they stymied the Falcons. But they shot the ball like something typically found in a pasture – for the entire affair. They hit 20-103 from the floor and 17-31 from the line during the game. “But I think we have to be happy with the way we played,” said forward Wayne Gibson. Peter Rubin paced the Falcons with 25 points, while Ron Arnold pulled down 16 boards. Cedric Agard led Seneca with 17 points.
In the bronze semis, the Seneca Braves defeated the Mt. Saint Vincent Mystics 65-38 as Dean Kavanagh scored 15, Paul Evans 13 and Cedric Agard 12. “There’s only two of us back from last year. The rest are rookies who just showed up and wanted to play,” forward Wayne Gibson said.
In the other bronze semi, the Dawson Blues defeated the Lethbridge Kodiaks 89-60.
In the bronze medal match, the Dawson Blues defeated the Seneca Braves 94-66 as Gaetan Prosper scored 18. “It wasn’t the way we wanted to finish our season, but we have nothing to hang our heads about,” said Braves guard Mark Raphael. “We were the only team to beat the No. 1 team in Canada (Hawks) . . . and our first loss to them was by only five points. Teams were afraid to play us. We prided ourselves on defence and I think we had the best defence in the country. The only negative thing was that we went into a shooting slump in our last couple of games.” The Braves trailed Dawson 43-26 at the half and could never really get on track to attempt a challenge. “They were ready for us this time, and I think they wanted it more than we did,” said Wayne Gibson. “But four games in four days . . . we really ran out of gas.”
In the final, the Humber Hawks defeated the Langara Falcons 92-77 as tournament MVP Fitzroy Lightbody scored 30 on 11-22 from the floor, including six consecutive three-pointers in the second half, and 2-5 from the line. Patrick Rhodd added 20, along with 16 boards, and Larry McNeil 15, along with 13 boards, as the Hawks became the second team in CCAA history to go back-to-back. “They played as well as I’ve ever seen them. I’m very pleased, we showed a lot of patience and a lot of poise on offence, and that was great,” Hawks coach Mike Katz told The Coven. Hawk posts Patrick Rhodd and Larry McNeil dominated the paint, while Lightbody did an effective job of getting the ball to the posts. “Before the game in the change room Patrick (and I) talked, we said we’re the big guys and we got to go out and pound the boards,” said McNeil. The Hawks also effectively contained Falcons star Brian Scales as Roberto Feig banged him constantly, taking him out of his rhythm. “He (Scales) plays really physical offensively. Because of my size (6’5”), Mike chose me to guard him. Because if he bumps and grinds, I could bump and grind with him,” Feig said. The Hawks broke to a 15-6 lead and soon had the margin in double digits. They led 45-34 at the half and coasted to a comfortable win. “It’s a shame to go out like this,” Falcons coach Kevin Hanson told Canadian Press. “We had all the expectations that things would go our way and they just didn’t tonight.” Lightbody said the Hawks were determined to repeat. “To tell you the truth, we didn’t mind our ranking coming in. We felt we had a better chance to make it to the final because we didn’t have to play Seneca, the host team.” Peter Rubin, who led the Falcons with 20, said “you always hope the two best teams meet in the final. And you hope that both teams play their best. They did. But I’m disappointed because I feel we didn’t give them our best game.” Lightbody said “I’m just happy for our coaching staff and our players … It’s the first time we repeated, two for them, and two for me too.” Lightbody had been 0-4 from the arc in the first half before six straight treys in the second. “After I sank the first two (baskets) I kept shooting,” he told the Coven. Rhodd said “from the start (of the season) it was a team effort. Just like last year, everyone (who) came off the bench had to play their role and they did. The bench is important and that’s what makes us the best team in Canada.” McNeil said “every year’s better, this one’s even sweeter!” Roberto Feig said “the final was the best game we played all year.”
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Fitzroy Lightbody (Humber); Tony Ross (Mt. St. Vincent); Wayne Gibson (Seneca); Cordell Walters (Dawson); Peter Rubin (Vancouver CC); and Patrick Rhodd (Humber)
The bronze medalist Dawson Blues: Cordell Walters; Ricky Varisco; Sammy Mendolia; Jomo Mofford; Dan Furlong; Gaetan Prosper; coach Olga Hrycak; athletic director Paddie Chiara
The silver medalist Langara Falcons: Peter Rubin; Kevin Metheny; Oran Walwyn; Antoine Lacroix; Ron Arnold; coach Kevin Hanson
The gold medalist Humber Hawks: Fitzroy Lightbody; Patrick Rhodd; O’Neil Lewis; Ray Currie; Everton Webb; David Adams; Hugh Riley; Craig Wyles; Wayne Roomes; Roberto Feig; Gareth Broad; Richard Saunders; Larry McNeil; coach Mike Katz; assistant Rick Dilena; therapist Gerry Townend