Final regular season standings (8): John Abbott (12-2); Montmorency (11-3); Dawson (x-x); Champlain-Lennoxville (9-5)
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Vanier Cheetahs: Shawn Villaroel, Warren Daniels, Wendel Bradshaw, Mark Spence, Kenny Stanulas,
In the semis, the John Abbott Islanders dumped the Champlain-Lennoxville Cougars 69-59.
In the other semi, the Montmorency Nomades crushed the Dawson Blues 93-72.
In the bronze medal match, the Champlain-Lennoxville Cougars edged the Dawson Blues 86-85 in overtime.
In the final, the Montmorency Nomades defended their crown by whipping the John Abbott Islanders 92-73. “You have to give their team a lot of credit,” said Islanders coach Steve Seabrooke. “They’ve got a quick explosive team and they played like true champions today. . . We always seem to run into a better team in the final. Some of our guys didn’t respond to the pressure of a big game and their big guys did. That made a big difference.” Montmorency quickly took a 27-12 lead but John Abbott clawed back to within 41-35 at the half. “We were back in the game at that point,” said guard Bill Gagne. “In the second half, we tried to force them into making some bad shots but they seemed to hit everything.” Anderson Pierre was all but unconscious for the Nomades, scoring 31 including several off-balance shots. Chris Eames led the Islanders with 18. Bill Gagne added 16, Erwin Bourne 14 and Jamie Allen 12. Seabrooke said point guard Rob Lawlor was exceptional. “I’ve been pretty hard on Rob over the past few years but I thought he played the game of his life today. Could you please mention how proud I am of his effort here today?”
The bronze medalist Champlain-Lennoxville Cougars:
The silver medalist John Abbott Islanders: Rob Lawlor; Chris Eames; Bill Gagne; Erwin Bourne; Jamie Allen; Jason Daley; Andres Salazar; Duane Woodward; Damion Lewis; Sunday Eniojukan; Kris Bowles; Jeff Craigg; Dan Lauchlan; coach Steve Seabrooke
The champion Montmorency Nomades: David Brownrigg; Marc-Leonce Volcy; Felix Desjardins; Paul Stephens; Alexandre Bougaieff; Bobby Miller; Anderson Pierre; Didier Boucard; coach Guy Pariseau