| (3) | Lethbridge CC | 64 | ||||||
| (6) | Fraser Valley | 51 | Lethbridge CC | 73 | ||||
| (2) | Douglas | 77 | Douglas | 67 | Lethbridge CC | 56 | ||
| (7) | N.S. Teachers | 54 | ||||||
| —–JOHN ABBOTT | ||||||||
| S.A.I.T. | 72 | |||||||
| Humber | 60 | S.A.I.T. | 60 | John Abbott | 67 | |||
| (1) | John Abbott | 87 | John Abbott | 62 | ||||
| (8) | Briercrest Bible | 49 |
In the quarterfinals, held at Saskatchewan’s Briercrest Bible College in Caronport, the Alberta champ Lethbridge CC Kodiaks, coached by Karrie Tollestrup, stunned the B.C. regular season champ Fraser Valley Cascades, coached by Sandy Chambers, 64-51. “Fraser Valley is very big, they have seven of 12 players over 5-10, and despite our lack of players with national finals experience I was surprised that we showed very little nervousness,” said Kodiaks coach Karie Tollestrup. The Kodiak guards, though, dominated. “We beat them with good defence that forced them to the perimeter despite their size, plus our transition game and drives by guards Jana Dezall and Cory Hauck were a big factor offensively,” said Tollestrup. Dezall paced the Kodiaks with 15. Lisa Ressler added 13, Karma Bohne 12 and Cory Hauck 10. Denise Rehman led the Cascades with 14.
The B.C. champ Douglas Royals, coached by Richard Norm, dumped coach Ian Banks Nova Scotia champ Nova Scotia Teachers College Hawks 77-54 as Robyn Knight scored 24. Jennifer MacDonald led the Hawks with 9.
The Alberta runner-up SAIT Trojans defeated the Humber Hawks 72-60 as Sheila Bergen scored 16. The Trojans, coached by Avery Harrison, had finished first in the ACAC regular season, while the Hawks, coached by Jim Henderson, had gone undefeated in OCAA regular season play and then captured the postseason tourney. The Trojans broke to an early 9-2 lead by dominating the post but the Hawks rallied to within 32-28 at the half. The Trojans extended the margin to 40-31 at the start of the second half and were never threatened. “Halftime we were confident because we were only down by four, we were very confident,” Luchrishua Grant told The Coven. “We go, this is our game, I mean all we had to do was go back and take over the lead. For some weird reason we just couldn’t take over the lead.” Humber shot .280 from the floor. Denise Cummings led the Hawks with 15.
In the last quarterfinal, the Quebec champ John Abbott Lady Islanders, coached by Lisen Moore, defeated coach Dean Davidson’s Briercrest Lady Clippers, Alberta’s undefeated regular season and postseason champs 87-49 as Claudia Brassard scored 24 and was chosen player of the game. Kelly Rask led the Clippers with 15.
In the bronze quarterfinals, the Fraser Valley Cascades whipped the Nova Scotia Teachers College Hawks 82-55 as Laurell Olson scored 21. Kerri McDonald led the Hawks with 17.
In the other bronze quarterfinal, the Humber Hawks smacked the Briercrest Bible Clippers 85-49 as Denise Perrier scored 18. Kelly Rask led the Clippers with 17.
In the semis, the John Abbott Lady Islanders defeated the SAIT Trojans 62-60 as Alex Lawson scored 18 and was chosen player of the game. Claudia Brassard added 18. Alyce Clark paced the Trojans with 21.
In the other semi, the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks edged the Douglas Royals 73-67 as rookie Jodi Baker scored 16 while being chosen player of the game. Kodiaks coach Karie Tollestrup said “we were flat in the first half and missing shots under the hoop, but we really cut loose and came with everything in the second half.” With the score tied 67-67, Wendy Molcak drew a pair of fouls and went four-for-four from the line in the final minute to give Kodiaks the edge. Molcak finished with 10 points. “They are a big team. In fact, everybody here seems to be very big, but we appear to have two of the best perimeter shooters here in Jana Dezal and Karma Bohne to balance it out,” said Tollestrup. “Karma made a couple of very big three-pointers in the second half at really critical limes when Douglas was making a run.” Tollestrup added that the Kodiaks 2-3 zone proved effective. “Jodi was very aggressive on the boards and defensively against Douglas, she had a great game.” Jana Dezall led the Kodiaks with 15. Bohne notched 11. Robyn Knight led the Royals with 18.
In the bronze semis, the Douglas Royals defeated the Humber Hawks 71-56 as Penee Familusi scored 23. Denie Perrier led the Hawks with 20. The Hawks (coached by Jim Henderson) included Janetta Paris, Luchrishua Grant, Denise Cummings, Colleen Gray, Tara Petrachenko
In the other bronze semi, the SAIT Trojans nipped the Fraser Valley Cascades 62-60 as Janette Junghans scored 14. Danielle Moe led the Cascades with 21.
In the bronze medal match, the Douglas Royals dumped the S.A.I.T. Trojans 71-63 as Penne Familusi scored 19 and Robyn Knight 17. Sheila Bergen led the Trojans with 11.
In the final, the John Abbott Lady Islanders defeated the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks 67-56. Coach Lisen Moore told the Montreal Gazette that the Islanders biggest obstacle was the flu bug. “Quite a few of our players really weren’t feeling well. In the warmup prior to the final, Alex Lawson, one of our key players, was feeling quite sick. She was sitting on the bench with an ice pack on her head and the back of her neck for the fever. But she battled through it and played. The flu probably cost her a spot on the all-star team but she scored five points and got some big rebounds for us. … We got a solid effort from everyone.” Claudia Brassard led the Islanders with 25. Stella Martin scored 11 and was chosen player of the game for John Abbott. Janet Geddes paced the Kodiaks with 14. Lisa Ressler added 11 and Jana Dezall 10. Kodiaks coach Karie Tollestrup said “I’m very pleased with the effort. We were down 13 points at the half. … We had a hard time putting anything in the hoop. It was definitely a case of nerves. We hadn’t shown any nerves all weekend, then we missed our first couple of shots and they hit three in a row arid that threw us off. At the half the girls could have said they were going to lay down and die, but they didn’t. They came out and won the second half. We couldn’t have asked for anything more.” The Kodiaks led by four with 11 minutes to play. “It was a tight game all the way and the score wasn’t indicative of the play,” said Tollestrup. “We had to foul them at the end. It was a four- or five-point game most of the way. Janet missed some tuck-ins, but she had a real good game defensively. She came to play.” Wendy Molcak told The Endeavour that “we had a bad first half. They shots just weren’t falling for us, and the perimeter game was pretty cold. They team had a better second half, it showed that we didn’t give up.” Jodi Baker said “the competition at nationals was way more intense than the competition during the season. We just didn’t know what to expect from teams at first.”
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Claudia Brassard (John Abbott); Lisa Ressler (Lethbridge CC); Sheila Bergen (S.A.I.T.); Danielle Moe (Fraser Valley); Penne Familusi (Douglas); and Jennifer Stacey (John Abbott)
The bronze medalist Douglas Royals: Penne Familusi; Robyn Knight; Tilly Woods; Celeste Rivet; coach Steve Todd
The silver medalist Lethbridge CC Kodiaks: Janet Geddes; Jana Dezall; Wendy Molcak; K. Bohne; C. Hauck; Lisa Ressler; Jaylene Baker; S. Groenboom; L. Sprinkle; C. Helle; W. Draper; K. Nelson; A. Fraser; coach Karrie Tollestrup
The gold medalist John Abbott Lady Islanders: Claudia Brassard; Jennifer Stacey; Danielle Vadnais; Sylvia Aviles; Jill Eccles; Tina Snelgrove; Jenny Smith; Stella Martin; Nancy Gallant; Beth Robertson; Alexandra Lawson; coach Lisen Moore; assistant Carole McIntyre; manager Cathy Millar