Final regular season standings: Red River (11-1); Canadian Mennonite (7-5); Providence University College (6-6); University of Winnipeg College (0-12)
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Canadian Mennonite University Blazers dispatched the 3rd-seeded Providence University College Pilots 88-70. The Pilots led 21-9 early but the Blazers rallied to within 25-21 after one quarter and exploded in the second to take a 46-30 lead at the half. They extended the margin to 69-43 after three quarter as Jacob Penner dominated the paint. Jaden Harms was chosen player of the game for the Blazers, while Harold Mermita earned the laurels for the Pilots. Ridel Ebreo paced the Blazers with 24 on 10-20 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 5 boards, 3 assists and 5 steals. Sampson Kinsley added 18 on 8-11 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 5 boards and 2 assists. Jaden Harms scored 17 on 8-14 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 11 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 4 steals. Bryden Bukich added 8 on 3-3 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 4 boards. Jacob Penner scored 8 on 3-8 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 13 boards and 3 blocks. Evan Klassen notched 6 on 3-10 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 7 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Brett Friesen scored 2 on 1-2 from the floor and 2 boards. Jordan Neufeld added 2 on 1-5 from the floor and 2 boards. Josh Hebel-Allard scored 2 on 1-1 from the floor and 2 boards. Matthias Warkentin added 2 on 1-1 form the floor, while Nicolas Bueno, Zachary Stubel, Jesse Warkentin and Will Switzer were scoreless. Switzer nabbed 4 boards and Bueno 2. The Blazers hit 39-77 (.506) from the floor, 0-8 from the arc and 10-13 (.769) from the line, while garnering 61 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 18 fouls, 14 assists, 28 turnovers, 7 blocks and 14 steals. Harold Memita paced the Pilots with 16 on 5-16 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 2 assists and 4 steals. Romeo KC added 16 on 6-13 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 7 assists and 2 steals. Australian product Richard Rodgers added 15 on 5-17 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 5-5 from the line, 8 boards and 2 steals. Chris Dick scored 12 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-1 from the arc, 5-6 from the line, 2 boards and 3 steals. Braxton Phommarath added 9 on 3-4 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 2 boards and 2 assists. Ethan Kramer scored 2 on 1-4 from the floor and 2 boards, while Donovan Miller, Jeff Franks, Vladimir Suba, Clark Nachtigall, Ben Janzen, Hoeseong Min and Brayden Ayotte were scoreless. Ayotte nabbed 6 boards. The Pilots (coached by Tim Friesen, assisted by Eric Ackermann) also included Cash Blanca, Jeff Franks, Mark Dizon and Ethan Kramer.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Red River College Rebels pounded the 4th-seeded University of Winnipeg Wesmen 89-50. The Rebels led 20-18, 35-25 and 59-32 at the quarters. Taylor Brown was chosen player of the game for the Rebels, while Tyler Linklater earned the laurels for the Wesmen. Taylor Brown paced the Rebels with 16 on 6-15 from the floor, 2-6 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 12 boards and 3 steals. Jonathan Wilner added 14 on 5-13 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 4-5 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Paul Luzige scored 12 on 4-6 from the floor, 4-6 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 3 boards. Mitchell Podworny scored 10 on 4-7 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 3 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Ezekiel Lerner added 8 on 3-7 from the floor, 2-2 from the line and 9 boards. Gliff Macalua added 8 on 3-10 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc and 5 boards. Julien Nery added 7 on 3-10 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-1 from the line, 8 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals. Robel Feshasion scored 6 on 2-2 from the floor and 2-2 from the arc. Nealon Almario scored 4 on 2-3 from the floor and 2 assists. Kyle Queijo added 2 on 1-7 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc and 3 boards. Jasdeep Khangura added 2 on 1-2 from the floor, while Muhammad Zaheer, Matt Dyck, Jordan Kelly and Benjamin Thevenot were scoreless. Dyck nabbed 4 boards and dished 4 assists. The Rebels hit 34-83 (.410) from the floor, 10-25 (.400) from the arc and 11-17 (.647) from the line, while garnering 61 boards, including 22 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 16 assists, 13 turnovers, 2 blocks and 13 steals. Adam Rush paced the Wesmen with 11 on 5-8 from the floor, 0-2 from the arc, 1-3 from the line and 8 boards. Davis Kos-Whicher added 7 on 3-8 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 3 boards. Dennis Cicak added 7 on 3-10 from the floor, 1-3 from the line, 12 boards and 2 assists. Levon Enns-Kutcy scored 6 on 3-9 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 0-2 from the line and 3 boards. Dhruv Barman scored 6 on 2-15 from the floor, 1-10 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 5 boards. Chris Dyker scored 5 on 2-7 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc and 1-1 from the line. Tyler Linklater scored 5 on 2-10 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 1-4 from the line, 4 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. Chol Majur scored 3 on 1-6 from the floor, 1-5 from the arc and 3 boards, while Marcquinn Talastas, Allen Casimiro, Shehryar Asad, Brandon Amett and John Quevedo were scoreless. The Wesmen hit 21-75 (.280) from the floor, 3-29 (.103) from the arc and 5-17 (.294) from the line, while garnering 50 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 9 assists, 19 turnovers, 2 blocks and 5 steals. The Wesmen (coached by Grant Richter) also included Mark Beraki, Robert Howden and Vince Druffel.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Canadian Mennonite Blazers toppled the top-seeded Red River Rebels 77-68 to deny them a ninth consecutive provincial title. The Blazers broke to an early 16-8 lead on the marksmanship of tournament MVP Sam Kinsley. The Blazers led 25-20 after one quarter and 41-39 at the half. But the Rebels took their first lead at 47-45 on a Jonathan Wilner layup and extended the margin to 54-47. Gliff Macalua hit a trey for the Rebels but Evan Klassen notched a bomb at the buzzer for the Blazers as they rallied within 58-56 after three quarters. The Blazers clamped down on Jon Wilner in the fourth quarter and built a double-digit lead. “We needed to shut down Jonathan, because he’s obviously a big part of what Red River did, said Blazers coach Billy Isaac. Paul Luzige hit a pair of late treys to trim the margin to five but the Blazers weathered the storm. Isaac said that down the stretch, “I told them our offence still needs to attack because we can’t just stall away the game. We need to still look to attack and be at the rim.” The Blazers iced it at the line. Kinsley said “I knew it was gonna be a battle with both teams punching, making their runs, but I knew we were gonna win. The boys were peaking at the right time so I mean that might sound cocky, but I knew we had each other’s backs and I knew we were gonna play the best game we’ve played all year.” Jaden Harms paced the Blazers with 16 on 4-11 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 6-8 from the line, 13 boards, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 3 steals. Sampson Kinsley added 15 on 6-14 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 20 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Jacob Penner added 13 on 6-10 from the floor, 1-1 from the line, 7 boards and 2 assists. Evan Klassen scored 12 on 5-12 from the floor, 1-2 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 6 boards and 2 assists. Bryden Bukich notched 10 on 5-9 from the floor and 2 boards. Ridel Ebreco scored 5 on 1-7 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 3-7 from the line, 7 boards and 5 assists. Nicolas Bueno added 3 on 0-3 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 3-4 from the line and 4 boards. Matthias Warkentin scored 3 on 1-3 from the floor and 1-2 from the line, while Brett Friesen, Jordan Neufeld, Josh Hebel-Allard and Will Switzer were scoreless. The Blazers hit 28-69 (.406) from the floor, 4-11 (.364) from the arc and 17-26 (.654) from the line, while garnering 64 boards, including 24 on the offensive glass, 19 fouls, 15 assists, 33 turnovers, 6 blocks and 8 steals. Taylor Brown paced the Rebels with 22 on 7-24 from the floor, 4-13 from the arc, 4-6 from the line, 10 boards and 2 steals. Jonathan Wilner added 13 on 5-15 from the floor, 3-3 from the line, 5 assists and 3 steals. Paul Luzige scored 10 on 4-5 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc and 4 steals. Gliff Macalua added 9 on 3-9 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 2-4 from the line, 4 boards and 2 steals. Kyle Queijo added 6 on 1-8 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 3 steals. Ezekiel Lerner scored 4 on 2-6 from the floor and 4 boards. Matt Dyck scored 2 on 1-2 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2 boards and 3 steals. Mitchell Podworny added 2 on 1-5 from the floor, 0-2 from the line, 7 boards and 2 steals, while Muhammad Zaheer, Robel Feshasion, Julien Nery, Jasdeep Khangura, Jordan Kelly and Nealon Almario were scoreless Nery nabbed 2 boards. The Rebels hit 24-77 (.312) from the floor, 7-21 (.333) from the arc and 13-19 (.684) from the line, while garnering 38 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 9 assists, 18 turnovers, 3 blocks and 19 steals.
The silver medalist Red River Rebels: Jonathan Wilner; Muhammad Zaheer; Robel Feshasion; Matt Dyck; Taylor Brown; Kyle Queijo; Julien Nery; Steven Williamson; Paul Luzige; Ezekiel Lerner; Mitchell Podworny; Gliff Macalua; Jasdeep Khangura; Ryan Romaniuk; Jordan Kelly; Nealon Almario; Benjamin Thevenot; Brayden Bandusiak; coach Scott Kirkpatrick; assistant Terry Bobychuk; assistant Darcy McCallum
The gold medalist Canadian Mennonite University Blazers: Ridel Ebreo; Jaden Harms; Mohammed Elturabi; Sampson Kingsley; Nicholas Bueno; Jacob Penner; Zachary Stubel; Brett Friesen; Jordan Neufeld; Josh Hebel-Allard; Jesse Warkentin; Nick Novosel; Evan Klassen; Matthias Warkentin; Bryden Bukich; Will Switzer; coach Billy Isaac