In the quarterfinals, held in Lethbridge, the Edmonton M.E. Lazerte Voyageurs dispatched the Raymond Comets 61-37. The Voyageurs led 9-7, 30-17 and 46-30 at the quarters. “We should have been able to stay closer,” Comets coach Bob Gibb said. “We only shot 21% and only, made 11 of 22 from the foul line. They are a pretty tough team though and will give anyone trouble, but they can be beaten.” The Voyageurs dominated the boards and kept the Comets to one-and-done shot opportunities. Jan Pokorski paced the Voyageurs with 14. Terry Danyluk added 11. Robert Heggie paced the Comets with 14 points and 13 boards. Jim Blumell added 10. The Comets also included Mark Kearns, Larry Prete, Dave Williams, Darrell Pack, Tom Brooks, Bruce Olson, Paul Wolsey, Scott Taylor, Gregg Baker.
The Calgary Crescent Heights Cowboys edged the Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans 47-41 as James Armstead scored 14, Bill Chabeniuk 12 and Mike Smith 8. Paul Sacuta led the Titans with 16. The Cowboys led 14-9 after one quarter. The Titans led 23-18 at the half. The Cowboys led 28-27 after three quarters. Cowboys coach Wayne Thomas told the Calgary Herald “so they thought they’d have an all-Edmonton final. Well, that’s tough. I guess you could call our win an upset but we deserved tonight’s victory. We were well in control in the second half. The Titans led early as Calgary struggled to resolve a zone. But the Cowboys rallied as Jamie Armstead and Mike Smith began dictating the tempo and Bill Cherbeniuk began hitting mid-range jumpers. Thomas said “our defence won it for us. We were tied in the first half and we did adjust to their zone. But once we got rolling, we had the game under control.” The Titans (coached by Bryan Anderson) also included Gary Watt, Murray Proctor, Pete Boyson, Dale Salmon, Mike Medwid, Conrad Penner.
The Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams dusted the Red Deer Lindsay Thurber Raiders 64-37. The Rams broke to a 10-0 lead before the Raiders hit a pair of free throws. The Rams led 14-8, 29-19 and 48-23 at the quarters. “I was pleased with the way the bench played,” Rams coach Jim Whitelaw said. “Last time out, they were real scrambly, but they held together well in this game. The junior varsity boys played nicely. Our defence was not too bad, but we were letting their tall man get inside on us. I was pleased with the way we hit the offensive boards. It helped to compensate for our average shooting. We made 16 points off 29 offensive rebounds and that’s fantastic. Their defence didn’t bother us too much, we had two ball losses in the first half and only four in the entire game. They didn’t really bother us at all.” Mike Sheen and Chris Kotkas each scored 11 to pace the Rams. Chu Jang added 10, Kim Wright 8, Dick Stephure 6 and Wade Steed 6. Stephure and Steed each nabbed 6 boards. Jang grabbed 6 and Wright 6 as the Rams outrebounded the Raiders 44-40. The Rams shot 34% from the floor and the Raiders 27%. “We had a lot of openings but
we weren’t hitting that well,” Whitelaw said. “We stopped scoring for a time in the second quarter and they closed the gap a bit with their foul shooting.” The Rams hit 8-11 from the line and the Raiders 7-10. “I am glad to see Chris
Kotkas develop like he has for us,” Whitelaw said. “He came across tonight with 62% from the field on offence. He is using his head on defence and is playing super. He thinks ahead and is helping out well. Chris still tries to steal periodically but is doing it more skillfully now.” Willie Weich led the Raiders with 17. Brian Ness added 13. The Raiders (coached by Don Tallas) also included Jim Spiller, Marvin Fege, Mac Tetley, Shannon Constable, Neil Lund, Kevin Jensen.
In the last quarterfinal, the Calgary St. Mary’s Saints clubbed the Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres 84-54. The Sabres led 20-12 but the Saints rallied to a 40-35 lead at the half and romped. Jason Gorsalitz led the Saints with 21. Chester Nagy added 13, Blaine Haines 13 and John Thoutenhoofd 11. Saints coach Frank Thoutenhoofd told the Calgary Herald “we just played a stronger defensive game in the second half and everything fell into place. We set an objective to score 80 points and we did it,” primarily by dominating the boards. Thoutenhoofd said “we can outrebound anybody in this tournament. If our shooters continue to hit the target and our defence continues to play, we’ve got as good a chance as anyone.” Miles Flexhaug paced the Sabres with 16. James Hammermeister added 12. The Sabres (coached by Ken Ford) also included Dean Dobrislein, John Hammermeister, Bruce Ouellette, Ken Rudland.
In the semis, the Calgary Crescent Heights Cowboys dusted the Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams 60-45. The Rams led 14-11 after one quarter. The score was knotted at 25 at the half. The Cowboys led 40-35 after three quarters and pulled away down the stretch as the Rams went cold. James Armstead led the Cowboys with 23. Cam Colvin added 11 and Mike Smith 10. Mike Sheen led the Rams with 11. Chu Jang added 10 and Chris Kotkas 8. “Colvin scored 10 points off rebounds against us,” Rams coach Jim Whitelaw said. “They played real well, and more important they were scoring off their offensive rebounds.”
In the other semi, the Edmonton M.E. Lazerte Voyageurs dumped the Calgary St. Mary’s Saints 64-54 after leading 23-15, 35-29 and 51-42 at the quarters by effectively utilizing its size advantage. Ken Haak paced the Voyageurs with 12. Chester Nagy led the Saints with 17. John Thoutenhood added 13 and Gerry Lang 12.
In the bronze medal match, the Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams dispatched the Calgary St. Mary’s Saints 56-49. The score was knotted at 12 after one quarter. The Saints led 25-24 at the half. The Rams led 42-34 after three quarters. Mike Sheen paced the Rams with 21 points and 7 boards. Chu Jang scored 8. Chester Nagy and John Thoutenhoofd each scored 10 to pace the Saints. “Well, if you can’t be first or second, then third place is the next best,” said Rams coach Jim Whitelaw. “I’m not content with third, I honestly thought we could have won it all. I still feel, that under different circumstances we could have won. I thought the Crescent Heights’ defence did a good job, but if we had moved our offence better, we could have won. In the St. Mary’s game, they got inside on us like Crescent did. I blame myself for not working more on boxing out. I had it on my practice plan twice and scrapped it, and I shouldn’t nave. Coaching is a guessing game at this stage. You try to cram into two weeks, training for the playoffs a whole year’s program.” The Saints (coached by Frank Thoutenhoofd) also included Gerry Lang, Tom Czechowskyj, Jason Gorsalitz and Blaine Haines, Gary Lange
In the final, the Calgary Crescent Heights Cowboys captured its second title in three years by defeating Edmonton M.E. Lazerte Voyageurs 46-39. The Cowboys led 10-6 after one quarter, 18-8 at the half and 28-19 after three quarters, largely by dominating the boards. But the Voyageurs rallied to within 43-39 down the stretch before Mike Smith stole the ball for a transition layup to ice the Cowboy win. Cowboys coach Wayne Thomas told the Edmonton Journal “we played way over our heads today. We’ve never grabbed a lead all year. … We were pretty surprised when we jumped out front. Our teams didn’t feel any pressure … They went after our guard Jamie (Armstead) and that was good. But if they would have put their size up to the boards, we would have been in trouble.” Thomas told the Calgary Herald “it was a tremendous effort by the whole team. We shut Lazerte off so effectively that they lost their confidence around the basket. I don’t think they could believe what was happening to them. … The team doesn’t appear to be stacked with talented individuals but believe me, the talent’s there. It’s just that the kids would rather plan the system than stand out as individuals.” Voyageurs coach Joe Danyluk said “the play selection was good, we just couldn’t score. Crescent just had a tremendous defence. We’ve never had an eight-point half before.” Thomas said his “team doesn’t appear stacked with talented individuals but believe me the talent is there. It’s just the kids would rather plan the system than stand out individually.” James Armstead led the Cowboys with 17, including eight free throws in the fourth quarter. Bill Chabeniuk added 7. The Cowboys hit 24% from the floor and the Voyageurs 22%. Ken Haak led the Voyageurs with 17. Terry Danyluk added 6. James Armstead totaled 569 points on the season: Crescent Heights finished (27-7) on season.
The bronze medalist Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams: Mike Sheen; Chu Jang; Chris Kotkas; Darrel Steed; Glade Roberts; Kim Wright; Mo Jang; Wade Steed; Dick Stephure; Brent Maxwell; coach Jim Whitelaw
The silver medalist Edmonton M. E. Lazerte Voyageurs: Ken Haak; Terry Danyluk; Jan Pokorski; Verne Yonkers; Bob Engels; Rick Browatzke; Curtis Blair; Al Speers; Ludwig Ernst; coach Joe Danyluk; assistant Thom Elniski; assistant Wayne Shacker
The gold medalist Calgary Crescent Heights Cowboys: James Armstead; Jeff Markert; Abercrombie; Schellenberg; Mah; Mike Smith; Brown; Patterson; Iverson; Cam Colvin; B. Armstead; Bill Chaberniuk; coach Wayne Thomas; assistant R. Teshima; manager P. Teshima