| (1) | Montmorency | 75 | ||||||
| (8) | Briercrest Bible | 32 | Montmorency | 53 | ||||
| (5) | S.A.I.T. | 49 | S.A.I.T. | 47 | Montmorency | 47 | ||
| (4) | Fanshawe | 44 | ||||||
| —–MONTMORENCY | ||||||||
| (2) | Fraser Valley | 83 | ||||||
| (7) | St. Thomas | 43 | Fraser Valley | 73 | Fraser Valley | 40 | ||
| (3) | Lethbridge CC | 85 | Lethbridge CC | 56 | ||||
| (6) | Trinity Western | 69 |
In the quarterfinals, held in Lethbridge, the 5th-seeded SAIT Trojans defeated the 4th-seeded Fanshawe Falcons, coached by Bill Carriere, 49-44 as Sheila Bergen scored 16, Janette Junghans 11 and Karen Lawson 10. Becky Huntley led the Falcons with 16. Coach Avery Harrison was elated that his zone defence was effective but wondered where the offence went. “I’m not happy how we’re finishing off. If you don’t finish off at this level, it can turn into a very long night.”
The top-seeded Montmorency Nomades, coached by Pierre Trudeau, administered an 85-32 whipping to the 8th-seeded Saskatchewan champ Briercrest Bible Clippers, coached by Laura Anderson. Anne Smith paced the Nomades with 18. Valerie Dehigare added 13, Caroline Malo 12 and Veronique Pare 10. Jackie Trihardt led the Clippers with 8.
The Totem champ Fraser Valley Cascades, coached by Sandy Chambers, coasted to an 82-43 win over the Atlantic champ St. Thomas Tommies, coached by Greg Gould. Sue Parke led the Cascades with 13. Brandeo Fort added 12, Shandi Cordingley 11 and Denise Rehman 10. Heiki Wendlandt led the Tommies with 16.
In the last quarterfinal, the Alberta champ Lethbridge, coached by Karrie Tollestrup, defeated the Trinity Western Spartans, coached by Kendall Kauffeldt, 85-69. Joanne Smallbones paced the Kodiaks with 30 points and 16 boards. Jennifer Kreek paced the Spartans with 20. “My post played well.” Kodiaks coach Karie Tollestrup said. “Joanne Smallbones was excellent and Jodi Baker, coming in off the bench also played very well. We struggled a bit from the perimeter, which is usually a strength for us. But the post picked it up.” The Kodiaks outrebounded the Spartans 55-33. They led 36-32 and closed out the first half with a 17-6 run. “We played some multiple defences,” Tollestrup said. “Some zone, some man and some variations on the zone and that seemed to get us going.” Smallbones said “I felt great. We were able to get the inside game going from the start and then that began to open up the perimeter game. One of our main strengths is running the court and I thought we were able to do that well tonight and wear them down a bit.” Jodi Baker added 11 for Lethbridge and Ronna Wright 5. Jennifer Kreek the Spartans with 20. Debbie Meyer and Christa Toews each added 11 and Jen Armour 9. The Kodiaks led 53-38 at the half and 57-48 after three quarters. A trey from Jana Dezall then ignited an 8-0 run and the Kodiaks never looked back. “She hit a big three and that was a key for us. I thought Jana had a great all-around game and came up big when we needed her,” Tollestrup said. Dezall said “especially in nationals, we have to step up, because everyone is so nervous. For our rookies, this was their first game at nationals, so we had to step forward a bit and take control until they get used to all that’s going on.” Spartans coach Kenneth Kauffeldt told The Cascade “we came out really strong. We focussed on the first five minutes of the game and I felt we played a good five minutes and then Joanne Smallbones took over with her size.” Kauffedlt added that Smallbones was all but unstoppable early. “We had to wait till half time to adjust on it. We just w eren’t fast enough. She put us in a hole.” Kauffeldt added that Kreek was stellar. “I felt she battled really well against the bigger Kodiaks. She was confident enough to go after them. She proved herself tonight.”
In the bronze quarterfinals, the Fanshawe Falcons dusted the Briercrest Bible Clippers 104-47 as Wendy Hansen scored 20. Jackie Trithardt led the Clippers with 15.
In the other bronze quarterfinal, the Trinity Western Spartans whipped the St. Thomas Tommies 86-53 as Stef Reimer scored 23 and Jennifer Kreek 18. Becky Munn led the Tommies with 14. “Things went really well for us. We came out looking to attack and to take it to them,” Jennifer Kreek told The Cascade. “We wanted to improve over our last game” The Sparts led 48-30 at the half and took total command with a 15-3 run. “We look to be aggressive, put a lot of pressure on the ball,” Kreek said. Coach Kenneth Kauffeldt said “our second string had a good second half; we didn’t lose anything when they played.”
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Fraser Valley Cascades defeated the 3rd-seeded Lethbridge CC Kodiaks 73-56. The Cascades broke to a 29-19 lead before the Kodiaks rallied to within 31-28 at the half. “Watching them at times it brought tears to my eyes,” said Cascades coach Sandy Chambers. “It was a real team effort. I’m so excited. very excited. We were very intense all game and we played great defence.” Kodiaks coach Karie Tollestrup said “I’m proud regardless. I see success as a journey, not a destination. Of course, we wanted the gold medal, but a bronze medal will be better than no medal at all. We got beat by a team that was better than us tonight. We knew we had to play extremely tough defence and we didn’t.” Carol Vinson paced the Cascades with 21. “Carol is our best defensive player and she did a good job on their, number six (Lisa Ressler),” said Chambers. “Then she got going on offence.” Sue Parke added 14, Denise Rehman 14 and Danielle Moe 10. The Cascades outrebounded the Kodiaks 37-25. “It seemed like we owned every board,” said Chambers. Ressler led the Kodiaks with 13. Nicole Peterson, Ronna Wright and Joanne Smallbones each added 8.
In the other semi, the Montmorency Nomades defeated the SAIT Trojans 53-46. The Trojans defence was stellar but they struggled on the offensive end. “We didn’t hit the easy shots,” said coach Avery Harrison. “If we did, we’d be talking about playing in the final right now.” Montmorency, which averaged 80 ppg, led 24-19 at the half, their lowest point total of the season. The wry Harrison said “our scoring was well-balanced. No one scored. We played our game plan to a tee, except for hitting the easy shots.” Harrison also praised the defensive efforts of Sherene Stockburger and Karen Lawson. “Lawson played her best defensive game of the season.” Anne Smith paced the Nomades with 13. Roxanne Corbeil added 12. Sheila Bergen led the Trojans with 9 points and 16 boards.
In the bronze semis, the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks whipped the Fanshawe Falcons 88-64. Kodiaks coach Karie Tollestrup said “I know it was tough for me, but I have some experienced veterans who did a good job. Players like Jana Dezall and Lisa Ressler, and even rookies like Nicole Peterson came out and played well. “We talked after (Wednesday) night’s game and we felt there was a medal out there to be won. Then this morning at breakfast most of the team was pretty upbeat. Things could have gone either way after a loss like that. But I’m happy they came out with enough heart to go for that last medal.” Dezall led the Kodiaks with 15 points. Kessler added 14, Ronna Wright 12 and Lisa Walburger 12 and Amanda Reid 10. Wendy Klassen led the Falcons with 14. Jackie Morgan added 11.
In the other bronze semi, the Trinity Western Spartans clipped the SAIT Trojans 62-53. Jennifer Kreek and Stephanie Keiner each scored 14 to pace the Spartans. Sheila Bergen led the Trojans with 20.
In the bronze medal match, the Lethbridge CC Kodiaks defeated the Trinity Western Spartans 77-53. “A lot of us are upset because it’s our last year,” said Kodiak Jana Dezall, who scored 20. “This is the last game we’ll play together. Knowing that the nationals were here and that we were automatically in them, there wasn’t as much pressure. We were able to really be like a family.” Lisa Ressler said that “we’re disappointed we didn’t get the gold, but the bronze medal is exciting. It will probably mean more tonight, when we get the medals.” Kodiaks coach Karie Tollestrup said “I think it’s a lot of things, but I think the key is fatigue. These girls arc very, very tired. But it’s the last game for some of the veterans, and they’ve been important players in building the program. It is disappointing (not to play for gold), but what I stressed was that the girls had to come back hard and play their best. I’m proud with how they did that.”
In the final, the top-seeded Montmorency Nomades defeated the Fraser Valley Cascades 47-40 as tournament MVP Anne Smith scored 16 and Caroline Malo 11. Denise Rehman led the Cascades with 8. Tricia Grant added 8. The Nomades limited the Cascades to 14 second-half points with a zone defence and full court pressure, at one point holding Fraser valley scoreless for eight minutes. “You can’t win a ball game on only 14 points, when you’re in nationals,” said Cascades coach Sandy Chambers. “Hats off to Pierre Trudeau (Nomades’ coach). I told my girls that to beat them I would play a zone against us and we were too tentative, we played scared and nobody attacked with the ball.” Trudeau said “I never thought we’d be able to keep them at 40. They were just phenomenal all week but it’s like a clock, so fine-tuned that if you find that one thing, like a piece of wood and jam it in there, it breaks down.” The Nomades led for most of the first half but were outscored 8-1 in the last five minutes to fall behind 26-21 at the break. An 8-0 Montmorency run to start the second half established a lead they would not relinquish. Chambers said “we’re a very, very young team, eight of our 11 girls are first year and we have had problems executing on offence.” Smith said the Nomades changed up their offence to get things going in the second frame. “We did a different offence in the second and it worked a lot better.”
The all-tourney team featured: MVP Anne Smith (Montmorency); Tricia Grant (Fraser Valley); Denise Rehman (Fraser Valley); Jennifer Kreek (Trinity Western); Joanne Smallbones (Lethbridge CC); and Caroline Malo (Montmorency)
The bronze medalist Lethbridge Kodiaks: Ronna Wright; Lisa Ressler; Joanne Smallbones; Jana Dezall; Lisa Walburger; Coralee Hauck; Nicole Peterson; Jodi Baker; Amanda Reid; Terra Dudley; Jennifer Organ; Glory Conroy; Sue Groenenboom; coach Karrie Tollestrup
The silver medalist SAIT Trojans: Sheila Bergen; Bobbi-Joe Helle; Rhonda Dawes; Janette Junghans; Marci Dumesnil; Sue Deck; Sharene Stockburger; Jodie Sundbo; Karen Lawson; Cindy Helle; Megan Bowler; Kelly Webb; Vanessa Kruger; coach Avery Harrison
The gold medalist Montmorency Nomades: Anne Smith; Caroline Malo; Colette Chevrier; Julie Charlebois; Claudine Bisaillon; Rosane Corbeil; Valerie Debigare; Larine Leroux; Jasmine Candelon; Melanie Dumont; Veronique Pare; coach Pierre Trudeau; athletic director Michel Blanchette