Final regular season standings (11): Humber (18-2); Seneca (16-4); Mohawk (13-7); Sheridan (12-8); Fanshawe (12-8); George Brown (10-10); Centennial (9-11); St. Clair (8-12); Conestoga (6-14); Algonquin (3-17); Niagara (3-17)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Algonquin Thunder: Ken Williams, Dan Golding, Chris Wilkinson, Nino Detorre, Craig Salmon, Jamie Hass, Rick Hernandez, Irvin Mahon, Rob LaPorte, Allen Brinkert, Rob Melon, Stephen Hoilett, Luc Paquet, Ross McCullough, George McConnell, Kevin Hupe, Ron Simonson and Bob Braithwaite.
Centennial Colts: Neal Tyrell, Richard Brewster, Joseph Dotto, Wilton Grant, Michael Browne, Lincoln Brown, Bobby Adore, Conrad LaTouche, Brian Rowe, Robert Nowry, Julian Edwards, Rick Guevara, Wayne Brooks, Ray Lawrence, Terry Ressor, Richard Mullings, Greg Holder and Cleveland Bennett.
Conestoga Condors: Mark Ortelli, Greg Benson, Adrian Rombouts, Alex Yandryk, Ed Jansen, Corky Butcher, Reinhard Burow, Lennox Lewis, Trevor Thompson, Henry Yahn, Brian Priebe, Tibor Vezsenyi, coach Rob Stewart, trainer Dan Randall (Lewis quit the team during the season to focus on boxing, while Butler and Rombouts were dismissed at some point for failing to attend classes)
Niagara Knights: Fred Jashanmal, Gord Bonisteel, Scott Gifford, Larry Bone, Chris Mudjar, Rick Nalazek, C Colorocchio, Paul Blakely, Dave Horton, Bryant Werner, Randy Conlon, Bob Warren, A Humphreys, Bryan Main, Frank Napoli, coach Peter Rylander
St. Clair Saints: Tony Swift, Kris Rock, Jim Martin, Daren Haskell, Joe Gibb, Derek Hearon, Nathan Carter, Doug Reaume, Russell Wilson, Eric Blum, Mark Begin, Steve Thompson, J Dowhanuik and Craig Collins.
The Tier II champ St. Lawrence Vikings exercised their option of challenging the sixth-seeded Tier I team for the final Tier I playoff berth. The Vikings prevailed 76-67 over the George Brown Huskies. George Brown took an early 15-7 lead as the Vikings struggled to get the ball inside. “Early on, after the trip, I think we just had road legs,” said Vikings swingman Craig Johnston. “Near the end of the first half, we started hitting our jump shots.” The Vikings scored 11 of the next 13 points and Randy Lambert’s jump shot gave St. Lawrence its first lead at 18-17. The Vikings led 31-28 at the half but found themselves in foul trouble early in the second half so shifted to a 2-3 zone to protect Mike Maschi. The Vikings outscored the Huskies 8-2, sparked by a block by Andrew Harris as they built their lead to six. Andrew Harris, who scored 20, blocked a shot to set up Johnston for a transition bucket that gave the Vikings the lead for good. George Brown began shooting bricks and soon trailed by six. The Vikings iced it by hitting 10 of the last 13 points of the match. “Maybe our 1-3-1-wore them down a bit but they didn’t shoot well in the second half,” suggested Johnston. “Maybe they were looking at us and saying, they’re just a Tier II school and were getting frustrated at that.” Vikings coach Ted Batchelor said his squad got hot. “We started to hit a few jumpers in the second half. In the first 10-12 minutes, we didn’t hit the j at all. We just couldn’t find it. They were sitting back in fairly tight, so it was there but we just didn’t bury it. The other thing we did in the second half was we took away the soft layups.” Lambert added 18 for the Vikings, Johnston 13, Maschi 9, Robb 9, Veenstra 4 and Chambers 3, while Peeters, young, Allen and Atkins were scoreless. Winston Allen paced George Brown with 14. John Haslam added 11, Lemuel Martin 9, Grey 8, Rene Belliard 8, Kevin Barne 7, Leo Martin 5, Desmond Clarke 2, Joe Lewis 2 and Graeme Kelly 1. The Huskies also included Daren Holmes, Arlindo Miller, Darlos Ficko and Segundo Gazmin.
In the quarterfinals, the Fanshawe Falcons defeated the Sheridan Bruins 63-62. With two seconds to play, Sheridan’s Hardley Scott inbounded the ball to Rodger Thomas, who threw up a desperation 30-footer that hit the front of the rim and bounced away. “It was a good shot. It hit the front iron but he just didn’t get the bounce,” said Sheridan coach Wayne Allison. The Bruins also included Lyndon Ricketts, Lyndon Lowe, Rudy Donick, Dwight Laughton, Hugh Anderson, Hardley Scott, Rohan Stephens, Paul Vollebregt, Steven Johnston, Donavon Bailey, Osborne Warren, Emell Barnswell, Ken Martin and Atkinson.
In the other quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Mohawk Mountaineers dumped the 6th-seeded St. Lawrence-Kingston Vikings x-x.
In the semis, the Seneca Braves defeated the Mohawk Mountaineers 91-62. Wayne Jones, a 6-foot-1 guard pulled down 10 rebounds and line mate Mike Smith, at 5-foot-10, hit for a game high 21 points, in the Braves’ first trip to the playoffs in five years. Smith, who boasts a 3.1 grade point average in business administration, was chosen one of two all-Canadians this season. With Smith on the sidelines with two early fouls, the Braves dug the Mountaineers into an 18-point hole in the opening 10 minutes. Costly turnovers were the key to the thrashing, admitted a disheartened Richard Gaunt of Mohawk. Gaunt his twin brother, Jim, both 6-foot point guards, continued to face a barrage of Braves, forcing Mohawk to revert to long passes and hasty plays. Richard Gaunt still managed to lead Mohawk scorers with 19 points. Forward Gord Paddock led Fanshawe scorers with 14.
In the other semi, the Humber Hawks dumped the Fanshawe Falcons 78-66. All-Canadian guard George McNeil came through in the crunch for Humber, scoring six of his 24 points in the last two minutes to give the squad a bit of breathing space over the Falcons.
In the bronze medal match, the Fanshawe Falcons defeated the Mohawk Mountaineers 78-68. The Mountaineers included Manfred Hoyer, Mike Dunn, Richard Gaunt, Mike Bibby, Jim Gaunt, Al Zorro, Randy Shea, Alex Kendrick, Rick Triemstra, Nick Sevinis, Shayne Goodwin, Terry Babcock, Jim Kislinski, Henry Wroblewski and Blake Gold.
In the final, the Seneca Braves defeated the Humber Hawks 86-82. The score was knotted at 82 with 17 seconds to play when the Braves scored the final four points from the line to win it. Wayne Jones led the Braves with 26. The score was knotted at 45 at the half. Rookie 5-10 guard Mike Smith added 15. Braves coach Ernie Armstrong told The Coven that “I feel really bad for Mike (Katz, the Humber coach). He and I are very close friends and we said last night that one of us would feel bad (after the game).” Katz said “I think the better team won. They beat us three out of four times and twice on our own court. What can ya say?” Humber forward Henry Frazer said “I wanted to win this so bad, I could taste it. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Either way, we did well to get this far.” Dave Smith and Wayne Jones gunned the Braves to a 13-9 lead. Humber rallied to take a 25-17 lead but Jones knotted the score at 45 with four seconds remaining in the first half. Seneca surged ahead 66-61 in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but a four-point play by Frazer cut the lead to one. Seneca rebuilt its lead to 82-76 on the boardwork of Robert Huron with 1:34 to play. George McNeil countered with six unanswered points for Humber to knot the score at 82 with 42 seconds to play. Despite the loss, Katz said, the club has to look on this season as a success. “We went 18-2 in league play, and 34-6 overall. That’s the important thing to remember; we did have a good season. We just didn’t come up with the win when we needed it.”
The bronze medalist Fanshawe Falcons: Gord Paddock; Brian DeCaluwe; Greg Nixon; Andrew McGregor; Mike Goble; G Benjaminsen; Tom Arndt; Terry South; Bob Vansteeg; Derek Lall; Richard Redwood; David Wharton; Wayne Burey; John Mol; Thomas Edwin; Pat Juurlink;
The silver medalist Humber Hawks: George McNeil; Maurice Armstrong; Richard Walker; Henry Frazer; Lloyd Minott; Matt Carlucci; Cohen Sutherland; Justin Liddie; Allan Potts; Winston Pryce; Dwight Smith; coach Mike Katz
The gold medalist Seneca Braves: Wayne Jones; David Smith; Mark Otto; Douglas Kerr; Robert Huron; Garth Faubert; David Peach; Lloyd Lawrence; Ray Maynard; Chris Wharton; Robert Smith; Gavin Abrams; Mike Lippin; Philip Cargill; A Stephenson; coach Ernie Armstrong