In the quarterfinals, held in Calgary, the Cardston Cougars nipped the Fort McMurray Father Mercredi Trappers 76-75 as Bob Quinton hit the winning free throw with six seconds to play. The score was knotted at 47 at the half. Brent Cottle paced the Cougars with 14. Richie Wood added 11. The Cougars played without starter Rob Leavitt, who was sidelined by an ankle injury. Harbir Bains led the Trappers with 26. Edgar Reyes added 18. Trappers coach Ted Venne told Fort McMurray Today that “the winning points were scored with about 15 seconds left. It could have gone either way.” The Trappers (coached by Venne, manager Anil Tahiiani, trainer Cachia) also include Steve Cardinal, Darcy Schumann, Gerry Kolm, Sean Sweeney, Amjad Adbami, Marcel Dusyk, Omar Valdez, Kevin Buckley and Colin Dickenson.
The Calgary Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs crushed the Blood Reserve St. Mary’s Warriors 85-60 as Jaime McLellan scored 26 and Sean Chursinoff 22. The Bulldogs led 37-28 at the half. Bulldogs coach Skip Morgan told the Calgary Herals “I don’t know if we’re 25 points better than them, they’re a good team. Their shooting was off in the first half.” Blake Standing Alone paced the Warriors with 12. Danny Many Fingers added 11 and Floyd Plume 11. The Warriors (coached by Jerry Dawson) also included Lester Twigg, Lyle Standing Alone, Cameron Tallow, Sheldon Twigg, Marvin Black Rabbit, Carey Twigg and Lloyd Tailfeathers. Dawson said the Warriors lost because of “a good coach. You don’t usually beat Skip twice. Our shooting was bad. And the boys weren’t running like they could.”
The Calgary Bishop Grandin Ghosts defeated the Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans 71-65 as Preston Jickling scored 30 and David Gladney 17. Brian Halsey led the Titans with 24. The Titans also included Dave Proctor, Peter Mrazik, Lorne Blatt.
In the last quarterfinal, the Edmonton St. Joseph’s Saints defeated the Calgary Crescent Heights Cowboys 62-48 as Sam Safadi scored 30 and Brian Masikewich 20. Saints coach Ron Woytiuk told the Edmonton Journal that “when you come to provincials and realize that with one more game, the season could be over, there’s a lot of pressure. We didn’t play very well in the first half – we probably shot 33-37%. That was nerves. The face that it was Crescent Heights, their court and their school, didn’t help. But once we got over the jitters, toward the end of the first half, and spread the score, it got better.” The Saints led 36-19 at the half. Kevin Boyles led the Cowboys with 13. Ken Reed added 9. The Cowboys (coached by Leif Peterson) included Mark Birch.
In the semis, the Calgary Bishop Grandin Ghosts stomped the Cardston Cougars 96-69. Richie Wood paced the Cougars with 22. Bob Quinton added 15.
In the other semi, the Calgary Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs nipped the Edmonton St. Joseph’s Saints 82-81 on a free throw by Sam Safadi with five seconds to play. The score wsa knotted at 81 with 10 seconds to play. A mix-up followed, involving a Churchill timeout, the table and the refs. The clock didn’t start when play resumed with eight seconds to play. The Saints fouled Safadi and he hit a free throw with five seconds remaining. The Saints protested that the eight seconds had been used up and the game should have gone to overtime. Safadi paced the Saints with 37. Brian Masikewich added 27. The Edmonton Journal reported that “a timekeeper misunderstanding stopped the clock on an invalid timeout call by Churchill. Play continued up and down the court while the clock only ran off two seconds. Officials allowed eight seconds to remain on the clock. St. Joseph’s fouled Sir Winston Churchill and Jeff Stouffer went to the line for the winning point.” Tournament co-ordinator Paul Humphries told the Journal “it was a technical ruling regarding the game and officials handled that. Floor play is not something that the grievance committee has a right to rule on.” Saints coach Ron Woytiuk said “it was a pressure situation for the people on the table and someone made a mistake. As far as I was concerned, time had elapsed. The seconds had gone long before play was stopped. There was so much confusion, it just spoiled a good game.” Woytiuk told the Calgary Herald “well, I guess when you’re not in Edmonton, you have to play by Calgary rules.”
In the bronze medal match, the Edmonton St. Joseph’s Saints defeated the Cardston Cougars 86-79 as Sam Safadi scored 34 and Brian Masikewich 20. Masikewich told the Edmonton Journal that “it was very depressing (after the controversial semi). We just came here wanting to have a good time and to end the season on a winning note.” The Cougars (coached by Clark Sloan) included Rob Leavitt, Bill Hatch, Bob Quinton, Doug Boivie, Terry Behrens, Ritchie Wood, Kevin Quinton, Kirt Salmon, Brent Cottie, David Boivie, Mark Farren and Russell Woodward.
In the final, the Calgary Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs defeated the Calgary Bishop Grandin Ghosts 96-95 in overtime. Jamie McLellan paced the Bulldogs with 36. Sean Chursinoff added 17. Preston Jickling led the Ghosts with 44. Tim Sprung added 27. Churchill coach Skip Morgan told the Calgary Herald “oh boy, don’t ask me what the turning point was. The turning point was when we went ahead 96-59, that was the turning point. They (his Bulldogs) just won’t quit. These kids have a tremendous work ethic. They work ahrd at school and on the court.” The Bulldogs chanted “gravy, gravy, nothing but gravy” as they received their gold medals. Grandin coach Dennis Holowaychuk said after his Ghosts won the Calgary city title a week earlier that winning the provincial title would be just gravy. “You can never win a rematch,” he said. “A team that wins the last game tends to be a little more complacent than the other team that has something to prove. It would have been terrific gravy.” Grandin led 46-39 at the half but Churchill’s Richard Tarbey knotted the score at 90 with a 12-foot jumper with eight seconds to play.
The bronze medalist Edmonton St. Joseph’s Saints: Sam Safadi; Brian Masikewich; Frank Mrkonjic; coach Ron Woytiuk
The silver medalist Calgary Bishop Grandin Ghosts: Tim Sprung; Preston Jickling; Rob Driscoll; David Gladney; coach Dennis Holowaychuk
The gold medalist Calgary Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs: Jamie McLellan; Sean Chursinoff; Richard Tarbey; Jeff Lowe; coach Skip Morgan