Prior to the tournament, the Edmonton Public School Board pulled its teams out in a dispute over eligibility. The ASAA prohibited athletes from playing on teams outside the school within the same sporting season. The tournament was held at Edmonton Ross Sheppard High.
In the quarterfinals, the Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams clubbed the Red Deer Lindsay Thurber Raiders 65-37 as Brent Maxwell scored 14, Wade Steed 13, Moway Jang 7, Rick Heyland 7. Dave Ridley led the Raiders with 19. “They are the best jumping team we’ve met this year,” said Rams coach Jim Whitelaw. “They have about three fantastic jumpers. There is a lot of potential there. Jumping is one of the measures of athletic ability. “I thought our first group of boys played well, and our second group played well in spots. It was a good type of game to start things out with. It keeps our first group rested but at the same time it was hard enough for a contest and helped to loosen up the tension a bit.” The Rams led 16-7, 35-24 and 59-31 at the quarters, while shooting 40% from the field. The Raiders (coached by Larry Stephenson) also included Lawrence Sedore, Marvin Fege, Dave Kakoschke, Andrew Hoe, Zane Hjelmeland, Terry Finnigan.
The Cardston Cougars dumped the Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres 69-53. Frank Behrens had 8 straight points, 3 steals and 4 boards in the third quarter to break open a 29-29 game. Behrens finished with 24 on 12-19 from the floor and 10 boards. Randy Russell added 16, Wendell Olsen 14 and Gordon Denton 8 boards. Dave Kakoschke led the Sabres with 26. The Cougars led 19-13 after one quarter. The score was knotted at 29 at the half. “I didn’t say anything special at half-time other than to impress upon the boys to start shooting,” Cardston coach Clark Sloan said. “Frank really got hot for us. We alternated some different kinds of pressure defences after we got ahead and from then on, they had to play catch-up ball. Also, in the second half, our fast break started working and Salisbury got rattled. They outrebounded us, 45-27, but we didn’t have that many offensive rebounds to retrieve. We wound up shooting 50 per cent. I thought all the boys played well once we got going and Frank spurred us on. Mitch Merrill played well, especially when you consider that he had four fouls going into the second half.” The Sabres (coached by Bill Ward) also included Gerry Couzens, Phil Baker, Barry Adam, Ash Rushdy, Gerry Couzens, Alaire Neufeld.
The Calgary Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs bombed the Edmonton Austin O’Brien Crusaders 77-39 as Karl Tilleman scored 34 on 14-27 from the floor. Dave Moir added 8, John Zahary 6, Bill Leavitt 6, Phil Arnett 6, Bill Walter 6, Brian Jones 5, Todd Belot 2, Kent Burkholder 2 and Cam McNichol 2, while Geoff Whitaker, Craig Paxman and Chris Turner were scoreless. The Bulldogs led 35-20 at the half. Tilleman told the Calgary Herald “we’re playing well as a team.” Bulldogs coach Skip Morgan said “this was sort of a letdown” after the Calgary playoffs. Pat Gangl paced the Crusaders with 18 on 12-14 from the line. Wayne Lavery added 6, Paul Wozney 4, Kevin Crowe 3, Sheldon Weinkauf 2, Russ Schepens 2, Simon Tang 1 and Dennis Diedew 1, while Paul Secker and Gerry Nash were scoreless. The Crusaders (coach Rick Mooney) included Dennis Diediw, Jerry Mash, Pat Gangl, Kevin Crowe. Mooney told the Edmonton Journal that “we shouldn’t have even been there (and would not have qualified were it not the eligibility dispute). … Our guys gave it everything they had but they were too good for us.”
In the last quarterfinal, the Calgary Crescent Heights Cowboys stomped the Edmonton Archbishop O’Leary Spartans 61-23 after leading 16-2, 33-6 and 47-14 at the quarters. Greg Dell led the Cowboys with 10. Laur Jacques added 9, Joe MacKinnon 9, Rich Abercrombie 9, Keith Cameron 6, Rob Fisher 6, Kevin Brown 4, Iain Leckie 4, Less Cochrane 2 and Jeff Schellenberg 2, while Tim Tavern was scoreless. Cowboys coach Jim Yurashak told the Calgary Herald “the kids played hard in the first half … really good defence. … It was a really good team game. Everybody played well defensively. There were not really outstanding efforts in the game except maybe the passing of Keither Cameron on fast breaks which broke down their zone. … Everybody got to play. They all worked hard to get here, so they deserve it.” Peter Sekulic paced the Spartans with 7. Dave Gerdun added 6, Pasquale Deluca 4, Neil McGonigle 2, Greg Greschuk 2, Darren Pool 2 and Mike Wilk 1, while Tony D’Andrea, Dave Rudanek and Mike Schrijuers were scoreless. The Spartans hit 7-56 from the floor.
In the semis, the Calgary Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs defeated the Cardston Cougars 92-78 as Karl Tilleman scored 49, including 20-34 from the floor and 9-13 from the line. Bill Leavitt added 14, Phil Arnett 12, Dave Moir 8, Jones 5 and Todd Belot 4, while Burkholder, Whittaker, Targett, Paxman, Zahary, McNichol, Turner and Walter were scoreless. The Cougars led 40-37 at the half and outshot the Bulldogs 52% to 47% from the field. But Calgary hit 23-32 from the line, while Cardston was 10-13. Frank Behrens paced the Cougars with 22. Randy Russell added 16, Wendell Olsen 15, Gordon Denton 12, Mitch Merrill 9 and Ron Low 4, while Wolsey, Smith, Leavitt, French and Jones were scoreless.
In the other semi, the Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams defeated the Calgary regular season champ Crescent Heights Cowboys 52-50 as Wade Steed hit a 25-foot jumper from the corner with two seconds to play. The Cowboys had led by as many as 10 in the third quarter as Rams guard Brent Maxwell suffered a hand injury and was playing at half speed. The Cowboys led 12-10, 24-23 and 42-36 at the quarters. Wade Steed led the Rams with 28, including 12 in the final quarter. J.D. Forsythe added 10, Brent Maxwell 6, Moway Jang 4, Murray Low 3 and Rick Heyland 1, while Don Webb, Bobby Moore, Wes Steed, Todd Nelson and Darren Tagg were scoreless. The Cowboys were paced by 6-9 post Greg Dell and Rich Abercrombie, each of whom scored 12. Keith Cameron added 9, Les Cochrane 6, Kevin Brown 6, Jacques 3 and Leckie 2, while Schellenberg, Taven, Fisher and MacKinnon were scoreless.
In the bronze medal game, the Cardston Cougars edged the Calgary Crescent Heights Cowboys 68-67. The Cowboys led 20-15, 39-32 and 50-48 at the quarters. But the Cougars won it as Wendell Olsen and Randy Russell each scored a pair of free throws in the final minute. They also benefited from a 16-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters. Russell finished with 23, Olsen 21 and Frank Behrens 10. Gordon Denton added 8, Mitch Merrill 4 and Ron Low 2. Rich Abercrombie scored 21 to pace the Cowboys (coached by Jim Yurashak). Greg Dell added 17, Keith Cameron 8, Laur Jacques 8, Iain Leckie 5, Joe MacKinnon 4, Les Cochrane 2 and Jeff Schellenberg 2, while Kevin Brown, Rob Fisher and Jim Tavern were scoreless. Cardston coach Clark Sloan called a time out with his trailing by 10 in the final quarter and told them “score every time you go down the floor and deny them the ball.” They did. “We just couldn’t find the handle,” Sloan said. “I told the boys we had to play fast, but they were going a bit too fast. But Calgary couldn’t put it away on us. Our boys played well when they had to and I’m really happy for them. Most are graduating, the only one of the first seven that I keep is Wendell Olsen. He’ll be super next year. This was the best game I’ve ever seen Wendell play. He was leading the fast break and we went to him. We peaked at the right time this year. We’ve had good mental effort and concentration in our last 10 games. As coach I’m very pleased. Coach Jan Atwood helps me a lot, keeping that positive attitude. We had the parents behind us too, as well as the school administration. It was a good win. Gordon Denton’s rebounding sparked us in the second half, getting the boards when we were making our comeback. Handy started rebounding too, and they set up our fast break. Ron Low sparked us as well, coming off the bench when Frank got in foul trouble. Mitch Merrill also played well. I must compliment all the bench, they had a positive attitude and were really behind us.” Yurashak told the Calgary Herald that “those 16 points in a row definitely was our worst defence all year. We lost the game when we refused to play good basketball. The same thing happened in the afternoon when we had an 8-point lead. We don’t play consistently for a whole game. We let up. It was there physically but we just didn’t have the mental toughness at the end of the year.”
In the final, the favored Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams prevailed over the Calgary Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs 70-68. But it took double overtime to do it. LCI took the strategy that it would give star Bulldogs guard Karl Tilleman his 30 points (which he averaged on the season) and shut down the rest of the squad. Tilleman and the Bulldogs exploded to an early 14-point lead, forcing Rams coach Jim Whitelaw to double Tilleman. By the half, LCI had cut the margin to five. The second half was a see-saw battle. The Rams took a one-point lead with 10 seconds to play. Bill Leavitt heaved a fallaway 20-foot jumper at the buzzer and Rams’ Wade Steed was called on a foul and Dave Moir went to line with chance to win it and no time on the clock. He hit the first but missed the second, leaving the score knotted at 62. . In the overtime, Tilleman picked up his fifth foul, which hampered the Cowboys attack. Tilleman finished the game with 26 points. In the second session, LCI ripped off a quick 6-0 run and hung on for the win. J.D. Forsyth led the Rams with 23. The Rams finished (39-1) on the season. After the season, Whitelaw retired at 27 years at the helm, in which he won five provincial titles. “As far as I know I’m leaving. This is probably my last year coaching the LCI,” Whitelaw said. “I want to keep coaching, to do something with a team that is worthwhile. The records mean something to me in a sense; they are an inner thing with me. We won because we had real good boys. Myself, and my assistants, Don Firth and Joey Shackleford, helped develop this team, and that is satisfying. But, also, you think of the games you let go at the provincials as well as the ones you won.” Whitelaw put Bobby Moore on Tilleman in the second half, and the hustling Ram held Tilleman to seven points in the final half of the third quarter, all through the fourth quarter and into the first overtime before forcing the Bulldog star to foul out. Wade Steed hit two buckets in overtime to wrap the win and finish with 14 points. Rick Heyland added 12, Brent Maxwell 11, Bobby Moore 4, Moway Jang 4 and Ron Low 2, while Don Webb, Wes Steed, Todd Nelson and Darren Tagg were scoreless. Bill Leavitt added 18 for the Bulldogs, Dave Moir 11, Jones 6, Todd Belot 4, Phil Arnett 2 and Walter 1, while Burkholder, Whittaker, Paxman, Zahary, McNichol, Turner and Targett were scoreless. The Bulldogs led 20-10 after one quarter and 34-29 at the half. The score was knotted at 47 after three quarters and at 62 after regulation play. In the first overtime session, Heyland and Leavitt traded buckets, leaving the score knotted at 64. “Our first plan with Tilleman was to try to deny him the ball, but that didn’t work,” Whitelaw stated. “We then went to plan two where we’d double team him every so often so he couldn’t feed low near the basket. Then we put Bobby on him because he’d done such a good job against Alvin Mills of St. Mary’s Warriors. He did an excellent job on Tilleman and it got them rattled. I am real pleased with this team, they get along so well together. I like the way they have come back numerous times, that shows guts and determination, which I like. I thought Wade played a super tournament for us. If I had to single out anyone for praise it would be Wade; but also, Bobby Moore for his super job on Tilleman. It’s an injustice really to single anyone out. Rick Heyland played with confidence and J.D. did a marvelous job of scoring.” Bulldogs coach Skip Morgan told the Calgary Herald “it was one of the best basketball games ever played in this province. When you lose one like that, you’re just pleased that the kids played well. … We got off to a good start but they’re a solid team and don’t fold just because they’re down 10 points.” Whitelaw told the Herald “it was a beautiful way to leave the game of basketball.” Leavitt said “I was totally disappointed. We worked so hard as a team. To go this far, then we had so many opportunities to win it, and didn’t.” Morgan said “Whitelaw has had a super career. If I had to lose one like that, I’m glad it’s to him.” Whitelaw said “(Bobby) Moore did an excellent job of covering Tilleman. But we were worried when Moir and Leavitt started to hit too.” Tilleman, who fouled out in the first overtime said “if anyone in the gym thought we were finished when I fouled out, they were dead wrong. The guys on this team are the gutsiest players.” Dave Moir told the Calgary Herald, “well, we’re the best team in Calgary.. … that’s the most important thing anyway, isn’t it?”
The bronze medalist Cardston Cougars: Wes Wolsey; Brad Smith; Mitch Merrill; Wendell Olsen; Randy Russell; Ron Low; Frank Behrens; Clay Leavitt; Curtis French; David Jones; Gordon Denton; coach Clark Sloan
The silver medalist Calgary Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs: Karl Tilleman; Bill Leavitt; Dave Moir; Todd Belot; Phil Arnett; Kent Burkholder; Geoff Whittaker; Brian Jones; Targett; Craig Paxman; John Zahary; Cam McNichol; Chris Turner; Bill Walter; coach Skip Morgan
The gold medalist Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams: Brent Maxwell; J.D. Forsyth; Wade Steed; Todd Nelson; Rick Heyland; Don Webb; Bobby Moore; Darren Tagg; Moway Jang; Wes Steed; Murray Low; coach Jim Whitelaw; assistant Don Firth; assistant Joey Shackleford