Final regular season standings:
East (5): Loyalist (12-1); R.M.C. (8-5); St. Lawrence-Kingston (8-5); Sir Sandford Fleming-Peterborough (2-11) and St. Lawrence-Cornwall (0-13).
West (5): Niagara (10-3); Cambrian (10-3); Lambton (8-5); Sault (5-8) and Redeemer (2-11).
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Redeemer: Rod Vellinga, Nathan Cooper, Mike Nason, Justin Cook, Wilfred Vos, Ralph Pot, Joel Dykstra, Al Vandonkeragoed, Al Meijer, Mike Vahrmeyer, Jeff Jansuen, Scott Kooy and Rob Schenk.
Sault Cougars: Kevin Healey, Brendon Taylor, Phil Tilton, Paul Menary, Boris Brundula, Eric Tekoniemi, Roger Cote, Tim Thomas, Justin Booth, Scott Gilpin, Herb McDaniel, Scott May, Tim Beek, Bob Furlong, Mike Davidson and Bob Kawulia.
Sir Sandford Fleming-Peterborough Knights: Cory Cavanaugh, Jason Baty, Tim Burke, Tom Langman, Richard Jones, Craig MacVichie, Andrew Morris, Mickey Cavanagh, Derek Atherley, Clarence Allen, Vince Giorgi and Mike Kerton.
St. Lawrence-Cornwall Sharks: Karl Green, Brian McDonald, Paul Gora, Howard Christie, Jon Hartle, James Majewski, Chad Fairfoul, Steven Govenlock, Robin Ivens, Chris McCurdy, John Watton, Russ Watton, Russ Smith, Joseph O’Malley, Simon Lynch, Kelly Boisvenue, Terry Julien, Shawn Clement, Dan Murphy, Jason Rowe and Shawn Butt.
In the postseason quarterfinals, the St. Lawrence-Kingston Vikings thrashed the Cambrian Golden Shield 87-65, handing the Golden Shield their only home court loss of the season. The Vikings outrebounded Cambrian 50-27. St. Lawrence opened with a 17-0 run, holding the Golden Shield without a field goal for seven minutes. The Vikings led 52-27 at the half and hit 16-18 from the line. Mike Flaherty led the Vikings with 25. Jeff Montgomery added 22 and Dave Norris 16. Chris Saumur led Cambrian with 20. The Golden Shield also included Derrick Hartley, John Miller, Marc Lesage, Mario Tullio, Don Muto, Tony Sgueglia, Harold Bird, Peter Campbell, Lawrence Horzempa, Merek Lehto, Derek McKinnon, Chris Pakkala and Robert Gorrie.
In the other quarterfinal, the Lambton Lions dumped the Royal Military College Paladins 85-77. The Paladins included Philippe Johnston, Barry Cross, Paul Kluchert, Jason Burt, Less Wendland, John Hersey, Jean-Marc Dumontet, Jeff Collins, Mark Lewis, Steve Glavac, Ted Middleton, Carl Dubeau and Barry Piercey.
In the semi-finals, the Lambton Lions defeated the Niagara Knights 95-93 in overtime as all-star guard Steve Tully scored 26. With the score knotted at 93 in overtime and 10 seconds to play, Niagara’s Cam Bell missed a jumper and Lambton pulled down the rebound. Lambton’s Mike Nighswander raced down court for a final shot but was fouled by Scott Currie near midcourt, sending Nighswander to the line with two seconds to play. He hit both free throws. Niagara had led 41-36 at the half and the score was knotted at 78 after regulation. Nighswander and Steve Pepper each added 16 for Lambton, Sean Allen 14, Mark Fyffe 10, Jeff Helesic 4, Al Reimer 2 and Nick Dwyer 2. Rick Sinclair led Niagara with 32, including five from beyond the arc. Paul Grummett added 30, Paul Weller 14, Merv Wrighton 6 and Cam Bell 2.
In the other semi, the St. Lawrence-Kingston Vikings dumped the top-seeded Belleville Loyalist Lancers 87-80. The Vikings rallied from a 16-point first half deficit to pull out the win. They were ignited by a Jeff Montgomery steal for a layup as half-time ended and a pair of quick buckets early in the second half. “That was a big basket Jeff hit because that got us in the right frame of mind,” said coach Ted Batchelor. “And when we came out, it was pretty important that we got the first few and not let them get the first few and open the lead up to 10. When we got the two quick baskets to start off the second half, that meant it was going to be a nailbiter.” John Besselink hit a trey and then Mike Flaherty added another as St. Lawrence took its first lead 61-60. The teams traded the lead several times before St. Lawrence edged ahead by four and maintained a slim margin until the final buzzer. Jeff Montgomery led St. Lawrence with 23. “They say the more playoff experience the better,” said Montgomery. “They’re a good team but they have some young guys and I guess they started to come unglued a little bit at the end, when we started to get things together. They forced instead of feeding inside to Paul Richard. I mean, he was just killing us inside, and they stopped doing that. They started shooting three-pointers instead.” Mike Flaherty added 19 points, John Besselink 17, David Norris 12, Gerald Chidowe 10, Jason Raymond 4 and Roger Branum 2. Alan Jones led Loyalist with 29. Paul Richard added 20, Scott Reid 17, Adam Reid 6, Paul Dier 6, Dennis Serson 2 and Terry Coe 2.
In the bronze medal match, the Loyalist Lancers defeated the Niagara Knights 81-67. Loyalist trailed 36-30 at the half but got its offensive game going in the second frame. “It was difficult for our guys losing on Friday night but after the first half ended against Niagara, I think they felt that going home with the bronze medal was better than nothing at all,” said Lancers coach Jim Buck. “We had such a good season. I know Kingston was ranked fourth in this tournament but I felt our teams were the two best teams here and we should have played each other for the gold but the seedings didn’t work that way.” Alan Jones led Loyalist with 24, including 18 in the second half. Scott Reid added 21, Adam Reid 11, Paul Richard 9, Paul Dier 6, Mike Barnett 4, Terry Coe 4 and Ed McKenney 2. Rick Sinclair paced Niagara with 22. Scott Currie added 14, Paul Grummett 12, Merv Wrighton 9, Mike Mercier 6, Rick Depietro 2 and Brady Fitzgerald 2. The Knights also included Paul Weller, Mark Lindsay, Cam Bell, Ken O’Brien, Pat Inneo, Kevin Main and Gerald Ferguson.
In the final, the St. Lawrence-Kingston Vikings defeated the Lambton Lions 89-81. Coach Ted Batchelor noted that it had been a long season for the Vikings, who struggled with injuries. “We’ve come together as a team since the start of the month. We had a season of three months with injuries and frustration. We had three good weeks to finish the season and it took us from the outhouse to the penthouse.” Gerald Chidowe notched an old-fashioned three-point play as St. Lawrence took an early lead. But Lambton started bombing from the perimeter and rallied to a 13-5 lead on a series of jumpers. St. Lawrence took command in the second frame before Lambton rallied down the stretch, hitting a pair of treys to cut the margin to four with just over a minute to play. “They didn’t die and they never game up,” said Batchelor. “We knew we’ve been playing a strong second half lately so getting to the end of the first half with a lead was important. Our main concern was staying out of foul trouble. We had a few players get into trouble early but they had the composure to stick it out and not get any fouls down the stretch.” Batchelor added that containing Lambton guard Steve Tully was key. “We felt playing a 1-3-1 zone that he couldn’t go down the lane and he couldn’t shoot the J’s from the top. We didn’t realize No. 44 (Steve Pepper, who scored 17) would shoot as well as he did.” Lambton coach Brian Pavey said his troops were unable to penetrate. “We had a little trouble getting shots against that 1-3-1 defence. Early, we hit some threes, then there was a big swing after that. We weren’t doing anything different. We just started missing our shots. We didn’t penetrate the seams of the zone as much as I had hoped. We were relying on the three-point shot too much. We hit it early and got too confident with it. We didn’t go back to the inside where we should have.” Tournament MVP Mike Flaherty led the Vikings with 21. David Norris added 21, Jeff Montgomery 20, John Besselink 16 and Gerald Chidowe 11. “Jeff and Mike each played super games and Gerald was a tower of strength on the boards,” said Batchelor. “Our goal was to outrebound them and we did that by eight.” Sean Allen led the Lions with 19. Steve Pepper added 18, Steve Tully 13, Mike Nighswander 11, Lino Aguiar 7, Mark Fyffe 7 and Nick Dwyer 6.
The bronze medalist Loyalist Lancers: Alan Jones; Paul Richard; Scott Reid; Adam Reid; Dennis Serson; Paul Dier; Terry Coe; Ed McKenney; Mike Barnett; Andrew Clements; Brent Fisher; Scott Holtz; Glenn Hayes; co-coach Jim Buck; co-coach Bruce Collins
The silver medalist Lambton Lions: Steve Tully; Mike Nighswander; Steve Pepper; Sean Allen; Mark Fyffe; Nick Dwyer; Al Reimer; Chris Cadman; Jeff Helesic; Nan Churchman; Lina Aquiar; Gerry Kakko; Kerron Adamson; Jok Tuskan; Daren Brown; Ken Paterson; Chad Hagen; Kevin Dipietro; Jim Nixon; Greg Nornett; Daiichiro Tonaka; Leo Villamak; Mardy Franich; coach Brian Pavey
The champion St. Lawrence-Kingston Vikings: John Besselink; Jeff Montgomery; Mike Flaherty; David Norris; Gerald Chidowe; Jason Raymond; Shawn Hollywood; Wayne Bedford; Isaac Williams; Roger Branum; Barry Ellerbec; Mark Walcott, Rob Street; Alain Dignum; coach Ted Batchelor; assistant Randy Lambert