In the opening round, held in Lethbridge: …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Calgary Central Memorial Rams defeated the 9th-seeded Red Deer Lindsay Thurber Raiders 78-53 as Cam Dunning scored 14. Donovan DeClerk led the Raiders with 12. Darryl Heemstreet added 12 and Ian Thomson 11. The Raiders (coached by Dwayne Lalor) also included Clint Warner, Ev Tetz. Lalor told the Red Deer Advocate that “we had no emotion, no energy and it showed on the scoreboard. We had our chances against them but we didn’t play hard enough for long enough. We also went away from playing as a team, which we simply cannot do.” The Raiders led 11-10 early but Rams coach Romel Raffin called a timeout and his troops responded with a 15-0 run. “Romel called timeout … and got his team back on track while we couldn’t maintain the momentum,” Lalor said. Donovan DeClerk said ‘that was the big point in the game. But we just didn’t play well the whole game. Our shooting was terrible. We had some easy shots which just didn’t fall and when that happened it seemed to affect our whole game.” Raffin said “I thought we played a terrible game. We didn’t play with a lot of intensity and didn’t move the ball well, but we got away with it.” The Rams led 40-25 at the half. The Raiders (coached by Lalor) also included Adam Sillery, Wayne Murphy, Clint Werner, Ev Tetz, Mike Clarkson. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers whipped the 10th-seeded Grande Prairie Tomahawks 113-64. The Tomahawks (coached by Troy Sandboe) included Matt Ozon, Brian Golamco, Steve Bray, Vern Klassen.
In the quarterfinals, the 5th-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds defeated the 4th-seeded Magrath Zeniths 83-53. The Thunderbirds led 47-20 at the half and romped. “I’m happy, really happy,” Thunderbirds coach Dave Youngs told the Lethbridge Herald. “It was a good win for us because we just came off a loss in the Edmonton zone final. Our players got an opportunity to regain their confidence and energy. We really moved the ball around well.” Magrath coach Phil Tollestrup said “we just couldn’t play our little game. They’re a big team and a good team, just too much for us, that’s for sure.” Steve Sir led the Thunderbirds with 25. Blake Milte added 14, Mustafa Cetin 10 and Joel Allen 10. Jimmy Balderson paced the Zeniths with 15. Matt Alston added 14 and Darren Balderson 12. The Zeniths (coached by Phil Tollestrup) also included Brooks Blackmer, Jon Toone, Jared Kilkenny, Jim Balderson.
The 2nd-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans defeated 7th-seeded Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers 76-69 as Mike Melnychuk scored 27, Sarn Malchem 14, Ted Edinti 12 and Sam Nelson 12. Cory Gaudette led E.P. Scarlett with 19. Jim Taylor added 18. The Lancers also included Joel Walker, Matt Lewis, David Wilder, Jim Taylor.
The top-seeded Calgary William Aberhart Trojans defeated the 8th-seeded Calgary Central Memorial Rams 91-81 after holding off a late rally. The Rams rallied from 20 down to cut the margin to six down the stretch before the Trojans iced it at the free throw line. Luke Harris paced the Trojans with 24. Tom Iliad added 17 and Mark Markicevic 16. Cam Dunning paced the Rams with 16. The Rams (coached by Romel Raffin) also included Simon Harvie, Dan Hosie, Riley Chervinski, Gerrit Galesloot, Vince Ircandia.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Edmonton Strathcona Lords defeated the 6th-seeded Raymond Comets 58-51. The Comets led 19-18 at the start but the Lords rallied to a 32-24 lead at the half. The Comets knotted the score at 38 but the Lords took the lead for good at 53-51 on a Gialel Shaughnessy trey. Lords coach Tim Martens told the Lethbridge Herald that “I’m ecstatic that we won. I thought our defence was the best part of the whole game. To be honest with you, I wouldn’t say anyone had a banner game offensively.” Comets coach Jim Ralph said “I was happy with the whole team to be down eight at the half and come back and get the lead … until we just fell apart. We had every chance to win the ball game. We let them take over the momentum, we made some poor decisions down the stretch, turned over the hall and lost the game. In a tough ball game with a tough team like that you’ve got to control the stretch. We let them control the last two minutes.” Robbie Valpreda paced the Lords with 12. Taylor Wray added 11 and Trevor Cranston 10. Clark Holt paced the Comets with 27. Brett Ralph added 13. The Comets also included Todd Fairbanks, Lane Heggie, Todd Fairbanks, Jessie Heggie, Jessie Harker, Todd Zobell, Steve Ellingson, Evan Conrad.
In the semis, the 5th-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds defeated the top-seeded Calgary William Aberhart Trojans 86-79. The Trojans led 47-39 at the half and extended their margin to 53-41 in the second half. But the Thunderbirds rallied to knot the score at 68 with five minutes to play. The Trojans answered with a 4-0 run but the Thunderbirds exploded with a decisive 14-3 outburst. Thunderbirds coach Dave Youngs told the Lethbridge Herald “Oh my God, when we were down at the half I wanted to yell at my team, but I couldn’t because Aberhart had played so well. John Riad and Luke Harris were absolutely phenomenal. In the second half we started moving the ball and got it inside. It was a real gut check for our team. It was a great team win.” Steve Sir led the Thunderbirds with 23, including four treys during the five minutes. John Riad led the Trojans with 29. Luke Harris added 20 and Nathan Raugust 13.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans defeated the 3rd-seeded Edmonton Strathcona Lords 75-55. The titans led 39-31 at the half. Mike Melnychuk paced the Titans with 27. Sam Nelson added 21 and Ian Ferguson 11. Taylor Wray led Strathcona with 13. Ashraf Sherif added 11.
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded Edmonton Strathcona Lords clipped the top-seeded Calgary William Aberhart Trojans 98-85. The Lords led 46-40 at the half. Taylor Wray, bound for Duke on a lacrosse scholarship, paced the Lords with 35. Robbie Valpreda added 24. John Riad led the Trojans with 28. The Trojans (coached by Wayne Thomas) also included Luke Harris, Nathan Raugust, Marko Markicevic.
In the final, the 5th-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds defeated 2nd-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans 83-81. Ainlay had taken three of five games with Ross Sheppard during the season. The Titans took a 22-15 lead after 11 minutes but Ross Sheppard rallied to a 37-36 lead at the half. The Thunderbirds maintained a slim lead through the second frame and were ahead 79-72 when back to back three-pointers by Ainlay gunner Mike Melnychuk trimmed the margin to one with 40 seconds to play. Sheppard iced it at the line. “Words can’t express it,” Thunderbirds coach Dave Youngs told the Lethbridge Herald. “The boys played really well. Give Ainlay credit. They played well too. It’s close between our teams. It came down to who executed a little better today.” Ainlay coach Rob Poole noted “This team went as far as it could. I’m proud of my guys. We worked hard, tried hard. It was a great year. We lost to a tremendously talented basketball team. I think size was a factor today.” 6-6, 285-pound center Mustafa Cetin scored 29 for Ross Sheppard. Grade 10 guard Steve Sir added 27, including four from beyond the arc. Grade 10 post Jermain Bucknor and point guard Kevin Kyle scored 9 each. Melnychuk scored 25 for Ainlay, including five from beyond the arc. Titans post Ian Ferguson added 24. Youngs told the Edmonton Journal “I don’t know if anyone expected us to get to where we got to. … I knew we had a chance. The kids realized it, too. But we also knew it was a longshot for Grade 10s to be playing that much.” Poole told the Journal “we got the best of what they could put on the floor. We had people step up to get us there. Sam Hachem would be one guy I would single out. We had Ian Ferguson, a provincial team player, and Mike Melnychuk, a provincial team player, but some of the kids in our program who weren’t as high profile really came through for us. It was quite an accomplishment by that group of kids.” Youngs said “we kind of just held on. To tell the truth, I can’t remember much about the ending. I just remember hoping that he missed. That’s all I really remember.” Poole said “we went in there with a good solid game plan, we worked real hard and it didn’t work out for us. They were disappointed, but they’re over it now. They carried on the tradition that we have at Harry Ainlay of excellence in basketball.”
The bronze medalist Edmonton Strathcona Lords: Robbie Valpreda; Taylor Wray; Ashraf Sherif; Trevor Cranston; Gialel Shaughnnesy; coach Tim Martens
The silver medalist Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans: Mike Melnychuk; Ian Ferguson; Sam Nelson; Murtada Shah; Sean Piper; Ben Ebinu; Mike Olsen; Ryan Adams; Ricky Dhariwal; Joel McDonald; Regan Kroll; Sam Hachem; coach Rob Poole; assistant Dave Holland; manager Melanie Hay; manager Kris MacManus
The gold medalist Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds: Jermaine Bucknor; Brandon Park; Mustafa Cetin; Steve Sir; Phil Sudol; David Tran; Blake Milte; Brad Moore; Joel Allen; Adam Presslee; Kevin Kyle; Spencer Barber; Scott Hutton; coach Dave Youngs; assistant Warren Kyle; assistant Powell Jones; manager Jeanette Tran; manager Linda Nguyen; manager Brandy Bursey