The three Manitoba teams again participate in the NIAC.
Prior to the NIAC postseason tournament, Red River, Providence and the Canadian Mennonite Blazers met for the MCAC title.
In the semi, the 3rd-seeded Providence Pilots stunned the 2nd-seeded Canadian Mennonite Blazers 94-86. Jordan Lawson was chosen player of the game for the Pilots, while Ty Venderbos earned the laurels for the Blazers. The Blazers led 26-18, 44-36 and 63-59 at the quarters. Jordan Lawson paced the Pilots with 32 on 12-20 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc, 4-8 from the line, 8 boards and 2 assists. Kendall Perpall added 21 on 7-23 from the floor, 2-7 from the arc, 5-5 from the line, 10 boards, 4 assists and 5 steals. Cash Blanca notched 19 on 6-7 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 5-8 from the line, 4 boards and 3 assists. Waedon Dueck added 10 on 5-10 from the floor, 0-1 from the line, 6 boards and 2 blocks. Eric Klassen scored 6 on 2-4 from the floor, 1-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 2 boards. Chris Dick notched 4 on 2-10 from the floor and 8 boards. Braxton Phommarath added 2 on 1-1 from the floor, while Ian Penner, Tyler Klassen, DeMar Kraus, Zachary Hiebert and Josh Harder were scoreless. The Pilots hit 35-75 (.467) from the floor, 9-21 (.429) from the arc and 15-24 (.625) from the line, while garnering 49 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 21 fouls, 10 assists, 20 turnovers, 4 blocks and 8 steals. Ty Venderbos paced the Blazers with 22 on 8-14 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 6-10 from the line, 15 boards, 2 assists and 3 steals. Seth McKenzie added 19 on 6-13 from the floor, 3-9 from the arc, 4-7 from the line, 5 boards and 2 steals. Riley Ens notched 18 on 8-17 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 2-5 from the line, 11 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. Keegan Beer scored 14 on 4-10 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 4-4 from the line and 2 boards. Kieran Baydock added 7 on 3-11 from the floor, 0-3 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 3 boards and 3 steals. Binh Nguyen notched 3 on 1-4 from the floor and 1-3 from the arc. Kushinga Manyangadze added 3 on 1-8 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 1-2 from the line and 7 boards, while Nathan Rogalsky, Spencer Hamm, Brandon Goodman, Andrew Hutton, Erik Sinclair and Logan Nyman were scoreless. The Blazers hit 31-80 (.388) from the floor, 6-25 (.240) from the arc and 18-30 (.600) from the line, while garnering 50 boards, including 21 on the offensive glass, 26 fouls, 6 assists, 16 turnovers, 1 block and 12 steals.
In the final, the top-seeded Red River Rebels dispatched the 3rd-seeded Providence Pilots 76-68. Finals MVP Mark Ridd said “it’s a nice experience. It just feels unbelievable to win with this group of guys.” Ridd, who notched 29 boards, said “next time I’ll get thirty.” Rebels coach Scott Kirkpatrick said winning “feels unbelievable for the guys. They’ve been working since September, so it’s nice to see some success here. We’re big on winning the local championship. … It’s definitely challenging, but we have great coaches and we have so many mature players.” The Rebels led 16-12, 38-28 and 56-50 at the quarters. Ridd said “Prov is a good team, they got a lot of great shooters and they can get hot. It was nice to stop them on defense and keep chipping away.” Kyle Queijo paced the Rebels with 21 on 6-16 from the floor, 5-14 from the arc, 4-6 from the line and 4 boards. Steve Williamson added 18 on 7-11 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 2-3 from the line, 3 boards and 2 assists. Torrez McKoy notched 17 on 7-20 from the floor, 0-7 from the arc, 3-3 from the line, 7 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals. Devin Kinch scored 10 on 4-12 from the floor, 1-4 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 8 boards and 2 assists. Mark Ridd added 6 on 3-10 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 29 boards and 3 assists. Marco Valera scored 4 on 2-6 from the floor, 0-1 from the arc, 0-3 from the line and 4 boards, while Liam Soliven, Devyn Bandusiak, Aaron Backe and Jeff Abramson were scoreless. Backe nabbed 4 boards. The Rebels hit 29-79 (.367) from the floor, 8-34 (.235) from the arc and 10-17 (.588) from the line, while garnering 63 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 12 assists, 21 turnovers, 1 block and 7 steals. Kendall Perpall paced the Pilots with 19 on 6-14 from the floor, 4-8 from the arc, 3-6 from the line, 9 boards and 2 assists. Jordan Lawson added 14 on 5-20 from the floor, 0-4 from the arc, 4-4 from the line, 12 boards, 6 assists and 2 steals. Cash Blanca added 13 on 5-14 from the floor, 2-5 from the arc, 1-2 from the line, 2 boards and 4 assists. Chris Dick notched 12 on 4-16 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, 2-2 from the line, 6 boards and 3 assists. Waedon Dueck scored 10 on 5-13 from the floor, 7 boards and 3 steals, while Braxton Phommarth, Ian Penner, Tyler Klassen, DeMar Kraus, Eric Klassen, Zachary Hiebert and Josh Harder were scoreless. The Pilots hit 25-80 (.313) from the floor, 8-21 (.381) from the arc and 10-14 (.714) from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 16 assists, 13 turnovers, 2 blocks and 8 steals.
NIAC final standings: Sisseton Wahpeton (14-0); Leech Lake Tribal (11-3); Red River College (10-4); Canadian Mennonite (6-8); Oak Hills Christian (6-8); Association Free Lutheran Bible School (5-9); Providence University College (5-9); Turtle Mountain CC (4-10); Trinity Bible (2-12)
In the NIAC quarterfinals, the top-seeded Sisseton Wahpeton College Mustangs clubbed the 8th-seeded Trinity Bible College Lions 117-97.
The 5th-seeded Association Free Lutheran Bible School Crusaders clipped the 4th-seeded Canadian Mennonite University Blazers 83-69.
The 2nd-seeded Leech Lake Tribal College Lakers dispatched the 7th-seeded Turtle Mountain CC Mighty Mikinocks 96-85.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Red River Rebels defeated the 6th-seeded Providence University College Pilots 96-85 in overtime.
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Leech Lake Tribal College Lakers edged the 3rd-seeded Red River Rebels 74-72.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Sisseton Wahpeton College Mustangs whipped the 5th-seeded Association Free Lutheran Bible School Crusaders 108-85.
In the final, the top-seeded Sisseton Wahpeton College Mustangs clipped the 2nd-seeded Leech Lake Tribal College Lakers 103-85.
The NIAC all-conference team included Red River’s Chris Demauleon-Martolay and Steve Williamson; Providence’s Jordan Lawson and Kendall Perpall; and Canadian Mennonite’s Jaden Harms. Honorable mentions included Providence’s Chris Dick, Red River’s Mark Ridd and Canadian Mennonite’s Nick Kasmik and Kneil Sullera.
After the season, Canadian Mennonite appointed Scott Martin to be the head coach, replacing Billy Isaac. Martin had been at the helm of Winnipeg Sisler High for 27 years.
The bronze medalist Canadian Mennonite University Blazers: Seth McKenzie; Keegan Beer; Nathan Rogalsky; Kieran Baydock; Binh Nguyen; Riley Ens; Spencer Hamm; Parker Davis; Patrick Estacio; Brandon Goodman; Andrew Hutton; Ty Venderbos; Erik Sinclair; Logan Nyman; Kushinga Manyangadze; coach Billy Isaac; assistant Dan Neufeld
The silver medalist Providence University College Pilots: Kendal Perpall; Chris Dick; Braxton Phommarath; Cash Blanca; Ian Penner; Jordan Lawson; Tyler Klassen; DeMar Kraus; Eric Klassen; Zachary Hiebert; Waedon Dueck; Josh Harder; coach Pierre Dubreuil; assistant Jonathan Patterson; assistant R.J. MacKenzie
The champion (and NIAC co-bronze medalist) Red River Rebels: Torrez McKoy; Joshua Charr; Garnet McLeod; Liam Soliven; Matt Dyck; Devin Kinch; Kyle Queijo; Marco Valera; Steve Willamson; Mitchel Podworny; Aaron Backe; Briton Lewis; Ser-Jordan Cruz; Israel Muserge; Mark Ridd; Devyn Bandusiak; Jeff Abramson; coach Scott Kirkpatrick