In the opening round, held in Lethbridge: …………………………………………………… The 11th-seeded Sylvan Lake H.J. Cody Lakers stunned the 6th-seeded Sherwood Park Strathcona Christian Eagles 87-72 as post Jan Parks scored 41 and point guard Jon Richardson 22. Ben Johanson led the Eagles with 25. The Eagles also included John Peters. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Carstairs Hugh Sutherland Kodiaks clipped the 10th-seeded Crowsnest Pass Consolidated Panthers 74-68. The Panthers broke to a 10-2 lead using a diamond-and-one to contain 6-6 Kodiak post Ryan Bailey. They led 35-23 with three minutes to play in the half before a late 11-2 run drew the Kodiaks within 37-34. The Kodiaks dominated the second half. Jason Bessey paced the Kodiaks with 17. Sonny Fernandez added 14, Joel Goodrich 13, Arlen Olsen 12 and Ryan Bailey 12. “It took us a while to adapt to their defence,” Kodiak coach Scott Cameron told the Lethbridge Herald. “We hadn’t seen it before. They played really good defence on our big guy. We found the open passes and didn’t panic in the second half.” Brian Dawydiuk led the Panthers with 24. Korey Stelter added 16 and Ben Jelic 10. “(Carstairs) are a good team,” said Panthers coach Grant Frier. “Their big guy does everything for them. I can’t fault our effort, though. That’s all you can ask. We felt for what we had done in the first half we should have been up by more than three. Psychologically it hurt us. I don’t think we got it inside as much as we should have. We settled for a lot of jump shots.” …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Calmar Whitehawks edged the 8th-seeded Calgary Christian Cougars 59-57 as Aaron Hemmings scored 23. Jeff Wright led the Cougars with 24. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Three Hills Prairie High Sabres dumped the 12th-seeded Kitscoty Cavaliers 102-72 as Marty Penner scored 33, Thomas McClellan 29 and Josh Penner 18. Christopher Lee and Lee Watt each scored 20 for the Cavaliers.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Fort MacLeod F.P. Walshe Flyers whipped the 9th-seeded Calmar White Hawks 54-47 after leading 29-28 at the half. Jason Day led the Flyers with 19. Jay Whitehead added 12 and Jaren Orr 10. Blake Tancowny paced the White Hawks with 13. Dolan Bogus added 11 and Trent Sparshu 10. “Calmar came out and played a really disciplined game.” said Walshe coach Dino Pasquotti. “They did a lot of things that made difficult for us. I thought defensively we played some good basketball. Maybe we can feed off that and have some positive carry over.”
The 5th-seeded Three Hills Prairie Bible Sabres defeated the 4th-seeded Condor David Thompson Voyageurs 58-49 as Josh Penner and Marty Penner each scored 19. Thomas McClellan added 11. Clint Knopp paced the Voyageurs with 28. The Voyageurs also included Jesse Winchester, Tom Judd.
The 3rd-seeded Lethbridge Immanuel Christian Eagles thumped the 11th-seeded Sylvan Lake H.J. Cody Lakers 94-47 after leading 44-21 at the half. Steve Buesink paced the Eagles with 25, including 7 treys. Clinton Wall added 21 and Denis Bekkering 17, while nabbing 18 boards. Jan Parks led the Lakers with 18. “I’m happy, very happy.” said Eagles coach Duane Konynenbelt. “We worked as hard as we could for 40 minutes and the results came. One of the big keys was that we only turned it over seven times the whole game. Steve Buesink really picked us up draining threes and (Grade 12 guard) Jeff Kooiker did a great job on defence shutting down their good guard No. 13 (Jon Richardson).” The Lakers also included Matt Burdick, Ray Teskey.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Fairview Cobras clipped the 7th-seeded Carstairs Hugh Sutherland Kodiaks 86-72 as Trevor Kirschbaumer scored 35, Justin Rushton 12 and Jonah Simpson 10. Ryan Bailey led the Kodiaks with 31.
In the semis, the top-seeded Fort MacLeod F.P. Walshe Flyers clubbed the 5th-seeded Three Hills Prairie Bible Sabres 94-50 as Tim Whitehead scored 26, including 8 treys. Travis Tolley added 11. Marty Penner paced the Sabres with 20.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Fairview Cobras dispatched the 3rd-seeded Lethbridge Immanuel Christian Eagles 100-92 as Trevor Kerschbaumer scored 36. Kevin Nieboer led the Eagles with 27. Denis Bekkering added 20.
In the bronze medal match, the 5th-seeded Three Hills Prairie Bible Sabres dumped the 3rd-seeded Lethbridge Immanuel Christian Eagles 93-80. The White Hawks led 47-42 at the half. Josh Penner led the Sabres with 34. Marty Penner added 27, point guard Thomas McClellary 18 and Phil Penny 10. Denis Bekkering led the Eagles with 25. Anthony Dekens added 16. Kevin Nieboer 16 and Steven Buesink 12. The Eagles also included Landon Stranks, Wes Odland.
In the final, the top-seeded Fort Macleod F.P. Walshe Flyers defeated the 2nd-seeded Fairview Cobras 82-72. “It’s great, this is the first time our program has ever been to the provincials and we won it,” said Flyers coach Dino Pasquotti. “I’m happy for our boys because they’re such a good group of guys.” The teams traded the lead in the first half, after which the Flyers led 36-34. The Flyers opened the second half with a 14-2 run but the Cobras cut it to 54-48 with 11 to play before Walshe took command. Both squads utilized extended presses and half-court man-to-man defence, and got out in transition when they opportunity presented itself. Walshe’s double-high post proved effective in the halfcourt as Jason Day scored 24. Flyers point guard Jay Whitehead added 18 while aggressively attacking off the dribble. Perry Orr added 12 and Jared Orr 11. Pasquotti said the Cobras are “an excellent team. I give them two big thumbs up.” Gerard Dunwoody paced the Cobras with 21. Trevor Kirschbaumer added 16, Justin Rushton 11 and Kevin Sky 10.
The bronze medalist Three Hills Prairie Bible Sabres: Josh Penner; Marty Penner; Thomas McClellan; Phil Penny;
The silver medalist Fairview Cobras: Andy Ralston; Gerard Dunwoody; Trevor Kirschbaumer; Justin Rushton; Kevin Sky; Jonah Simpson; coach Herb Giesbrecht
The gold medalist Fort Macleod F.P. Walshe Flyers: Jason Day; Jay Whitehead; Jason Orr; Tim Whitehead; Travis Tolley; Jared Orr; Perry Orr; coach Dino Pasquotti