In the opening round, held in Edmonton: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Airdrie Bert Church Chargers stomped the 16th-seeded Grande Prairie Tomahawks 73-34 as Zach McKee scored 21 and Dominyc Coward 14. Bobby Lahoda led Grande Prairie with 9. Mike Gregson added 8. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Calgary Central Memorial Rams dumped the 8th-seeded Edmonton Archbishop O’Leary Spartans 81-67 as Pierce Anderson scored 19 and Stephen Wilkinson 16. Joel Cuglietta led the Spartans with 16. Ryan Sherman added 14. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams defeated the 12th-seeded Edmonton Jasper Place Rebels 85-78 as Julian Spear Chief-Morris scored 32 and Byron Albiez 19. Brett Melnick led the Rebels with 17. Gary Thomas added 16. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded St. Albert Paul Kane Blues defeated the 13th-seeded Cardston Cougars 84-74 as Evan Eger scored 22 and Nick Zutz 21. Travis Wilson led Cardston with 19. Mark Olsen added 17. The Cougars also included Alex Stephenson, Chris Hartley, Robbie Low, nick Barfuss, Brandt Dewsbury, Austin Russell, Johnny Folsom, Robbie Olsen, Keston Merrill, Craig McMurray and Brad Little. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Medicine Hat Mohawks dumped the 15th-seeded Red Deer Lindsay Thurber Raiders 83-70 as Ben Schow scored 21 and Colton Ennis 13. Ben Larsen led Lindsay Thurber with 20. Mike Fischer added 19. The Raiders (coached by Dwayne Lalor) also included Steve Eveleigh, Karl Hoehne, Trevor Gillis, Ryan Murphy, Trevor Howse. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds knocked off the 7th-seeded Calgary John Diefenbaker Chiefs 76-65 as Mangisto Arop scored 16 and Jared Kahn 14. Brighton Gbarazia led John Diefenbaker with 23. Fuad Osman added 22. The Chiefs (coached by Jeff Smith) also included Azim Dhalla. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans clocked the 11th-seeded Calgary Centennial Coyotes 98-74 as Tommy Watson scored 22 and Jordan Baker 21. Eric Lyons led Centennial with 24. Jordan Bachynski added 14. The Coyotes (coached by Ken Zelez) also included Brandon Rupert, Austin Romeril, James Wohlgeschaffen. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Calgary Western Canada Redmen whipped the 14th-seeded Fort McMurray Father Mercredi Trappers 89-65 as Tyler Fidler scored 30 and Tyrone Runns 10. Kevin Dia led the Trappers with 19. Derek Paulson added 15.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Airdrie Bert Church Chargers slaughtered the 9th-seeded Calgary Central Memorial Rams 84-58 as Zach McKee scored 27 and Dominyc Coward 21. Stephen Wilkinson paced the Rams (coached by Romel Raffin) with 10. Pierce Anderson added 10.
The 4th-seeded St. Albert Paul Kane Blues whipped the 5th-seeded Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams 88-62 as Evan Eger scored 34 and Klaus Figueiredo 16. Julian Spear Chief-Morris led LCI with 23. Quinn Van Gaalen added 18. The Rams (coached by Mike Myndio, assisted by Jeff Payne) also included Byron Albeiz, Mike Johannson, Jason Peterson, Jan Walicki, Ben Krogman, Matt Little, Andre Edwards, Jesse Zimmer, Andin Pavaan, Shem Chege and Beau Barthel.
The 10th-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds stunned the 2nd-seeded Medicine Hat Mohawks 64-45 as Mangisto Arop scored 20, Cashawn Gordon 16 and Jared Kahn 11. Brian Shaw and Colton Ennis each scored 11 to pace Medicine Hat. Ben Schow notched 4. The Thunderbirds built an early 22-10 lead, extended the margin to 37-23 at the half and romped. “There’s no excuses for that performance,” Mohawks guard Preston Sloan told the Medicine Hat News. “They came out jacked up and ready to go, and that was the difference. They were ready to play and we really didn’t have that mindset. They beat us with the mind game.” Mohawks coach Bren Ennis said “it just didn’t seem like we were really motivated out there. They weren’t intense. The kids were too tired to do what we needed to do to come back. They always think they can come back when they get down. But once Shep got up 20 points in the second half, it made it tough to do that. We play like [relaxed] that all year and it really hasn’t hurt us… maybe this time it did. It’s kind of hard to get a different attitude after doing that all year. I thought we should be playing for at least a medal here, and we’re not.” Sloan noted that “we like to play loose basketball. That style works for us when we’re relaxed and running through our motions, but we just didn’t come out and play the way we needed to do to win the game.” Ennis, who was planning to retire after the season, said “Ross Shep played awesome defence… that was the toughest defence we’ve faced all year. Even when a team scores 64 on us, we can usually outscore them, but that’s just a credit to their defence today. They took us out of our rhythm. It would have been nice to go out on a winning note at the provincial level.” The Mohawks (coached by Bren Ennis, assisted by Lance Knodel and Dan Schow) also included Preston Sloan, Dragon Plujuco, Dan Schow, Brady Pickett, Brent Salmon, Brent Hill, Matt Heninger and Joe Chany.
In the last quarterfinal, the 6th-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans upset the 3rd-seeded Calgary Western Canada Redmen 101-99 as Tommy Watson scored 33 and Jordan Baker 22. Tyler Fidler led Western Canada with 52. Mike Kutchyera and Evan Rasmussen each added 9.
In the semis, the 4th-seeded St. Albert Paul Kane Blues nipped the top-seeded Airdrie Bert Church Chargers 67-65 as Evan Eger scored 16 and Klaus Figueiredo 14. Dominyc Coward led Bert Church with 20. Zach McKee added 20. Nick Zutz blocked a Coward shot at the buzzer that would have forced overtime. “That’s a great thing, block to win,” Zutz told the Edmonton Journal. “I did everything coach told me. I went straight up, didn’t jump until he jumped, chested up on him.” The lead changed hands six times in the second half. Brendan Gawlik gave the Blues a 67-64 lead with 1:30 to play by hitting a pair from the line. Zach McKee was fouled on a three-point attempt for Bert Church, but hit only one free throw. McKee had been on fire in the first half but Klaus Figueiredo shut him down in the second. “Zach was shooting lights out,” said Paul Kane coach Tex Phillips. “If Evan didn’t get in foul trouble in the first half, it would have been a shootout at the OK Corral. Zach is a tremendous shooter. We couldn’t leave him open, as soon as we left him open, he’d shoot and knock it down.” Shortly before Zutz’ block, Figueiredo blocked a three-point attempt by Aaron Charlesworth. “I knew I had to take him,” Figueiredo said. “He was wide open. I jumped, put my hands in the air, and blocked it.”
In the other semi, the 10th-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds continued their upset run by dumping the 6th-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans 92-59 as Mangisto Arop scored 24 and Tyrell Curtis 19. Jordan Baker led Ainlay with 19. Matt Cordoza added 18.
In the bronze medal match, the top-seeded Airdrie Bert Church Chargers clipped the 6th-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans 70-60 as Zach McKee scored 19, Dallon Martin 18 and Dominyc Coward 18. Jordan Baker led the Titans with 18. Sam Pankiw added 11.
In the final, the 10th-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds ended the St. Albert Paul Kane Blues’ bid for an undefeated season by registering a 58-44 win as Mangisto Arop scored 30, Tyrell Curtis 8 and Jared Kahn 8. The Blues, who were coached by Don Phillips, who’d transferred from Bellerose and was in his first season at the Paul Kane helm, were paced by Nick Zutz’ 12 points. Klaus Figueiredo added 11. Thunderbirds coach David Youngs said “it was great to see two Edmonton teams win (Edmonton O’Leary also won the girls title). You can’t beat that. It was three Edmonton area teams in the finals.” Mangisto Arop dominated the floor. “Personal things don’t matter,” Arop said. “We’re like a family. People doubted us, but we believed in ourselves. Now that we’ve won this, it’s like a dream come true.” Youngs described Arop as “the best high school player in Western Canada.” Based on his second-half effort the Blues, there was certainly some validity to the proposition. “We weren’t tired,” Arop said. Blues coach Don ‘Tex’ Phillips said “we weren’t tired. We just didn’t play our game. I think the pressure of four games in this sort of environment was too much for the guys. We haven’t been to this level of competition before.” Nick Zutz, the top Paul Kane scorer and rebounder, also refused to accept the easy way out. “If we had played as well in the first half as we did in the second, I think we’d have been fine.” After Jared Kahn went to the hoop for two baskets in the early moments, Kane struggled and Ross Shep thrived. “I haven’t been able to figure out this team,” Youngs said. “But I had the feeling things would be OK at 5:30 when every one of them showed up to watch my son (Grayson) play a kindergarten game.” The Thunderbirds led 30-10 at halftime. Zutz finished with 12 points, while Klaus Figueiredo and Even Eger had 10 as the Blues never really got going in the second half.
The bronze medalist Airdrie Bert Church Chargers: Zach McKee; Dominyc Coward; Dallon Martin; Aaron Charlesworth; Ryan Coates; Peter Danielson; James Evans; Curtis Quinton; Mat Richards; Todd Rolfson; Johnny Wenzel; coach Allen Gallup; assistant Ryan Reed; manager Susan Gallup; manager Jason Neels; manager Gary Martin; manager R. West; trainer Todd Rolfson
The silver medalist St. Albert Paul Kane Blues: Evan Eger; Nick Zutz; Brendan Gawlik; Klaus Figueiredo; Marcus Bennett; Christoph Albrecht; Tyler Brenneis; Paul Edmunds; A.J. Lissey; Joel MacMillan; Onishi Norikazu; Blaine van Bruggen; coach Don ‘Tex’ Phillips; assistant Cameron Fischer
The gold medalist Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds: Mangisto Arop; Jared Kahn; Cashawn Gordon; Tyrell Curtis; Jordan Chyzowski; Ben Mbanga; Ben Runyon; Taylor Clark; Nick Hanson; Thomas Houghton; Jordan Kortbeek; Gentry Wood; coach Dave Youngs; assistant B. MacLeod; assistant D. Hanson; assistant D. Salmon; assistant J. Gravelle; manager Karal MacLeod; manager Annie Chomin; manager M. Lynagh; trainer Teddi-Anne Danyluk; trainer Andrew Bots