In the quarterfinals, held in Calgary, the Red Deer Lindsay Thurber Raiders crushed the Taber W.R. Myers Rebels 74-51. Deanna Bullock paced the Rebels with 21. Allison Schneider added 11. The Rebels (coached by x) also included Michelle Taylor, Beckie Peterson, Rachelle Grant, Stacy Wallace, Jennifer Taylor, Kim Djorjevic, Krissy Shewchuk, Shanda McNaughton, Jacqui Shinbashi, Michelle Horrocks and Hollie Nelson.
The 2nd-seeded Lethbridge Catholic Central Cittens defeated the Leduc Tigers 61-36 as Tanya Huggins scored 22 and Crystal Kain 12. The Tigers (coached by Dennis Jamieson) included Lisa Harmatiuk, Renee Desnoyer, Lynn Yakoweshen.
The Calgary Western Canada Redmen stomped the Grande Prairie Totems 77-56 after leading 37-29 at the half. Terri Gascon paced the Totems with 15. Kathy Wardill added 13 and Kim Harris 9. Totems coach Irene Freisz told the Grande Prairie Herald Tribune that “it’s a little disappointing but I was really pleased with the way the team played. I think they had a little more confidence than us playing in front of their home fans. Our girls were a little intimated and didn’t have the intensity. I think our girls had a bit of the jitters.” The Totems (coached by Freisz) also included Elise Alloway, Abby Harris, Jenna Fukushima.
The Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers defeated the Edmonton Queen Elizabeth Knights 67-50. The Knights (coached by Bill Weston) included Andrea Sperling, Trenna Guglich.
In the semis, the Calgary Western Canada Redmen defeated the Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers 70-50.
In the other semi, the Red Deer Lindsay Thurber Raiders edged the Lethbridge Catholic Central Cittens 58-56. The Raiders trailed 21-6 early but rallied to within 30-24 at the half. Then they fell behind by 12 but again rallied. Jennifer Mitchell went to the line wit 20 seconds on the clock and Thurber trailing 55-54. She hit both free throws, then stole the inbounds pass, was fouled and hit two more. “I was nervous,” Mitchell told the Red Deer Advocate. “But what calmed me down was when I went to the bench during the timeout and everyone said ‘you can do it’ and were fully behind me.” Raiders coach Sandre Goheen said “talk about guts. That was a great team effort.” Mitchell said “we started with a zone and we weren’t playing well at all. But once we switched to man, we picked up the pace.” Allison Stuart paced the Rainers with 20. Angela Lajeunesse added 15, Mitchell 9 and Tina Holmes 7, while Gillian Currie nabbed 7 boards. “We were leading by 10 points, up until Tanya Huggins fouled out with nine minutes left in the game,” Cittens’ coach Cal O’Brien told the Lethbridge Herald. “Red Deer had a big team and they just took the boards away from us once Tanya was gone, we just didn’t have the size to go to against a big opponent. We had a three-point attempt to win it as time ran out, but it went off the front of the rim.” Crystal Kain led the Cittens with 18.
In the bronze medal match, the Lethbridge Catholic Central Cittens defeated the Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers 59-54 as Tanya Huggins scored 24 and Janice Gyorkos 13. The Lancers (coached by Bryce Tolley) included Kim Courtney, Jenny Armour, Kim Hertzberg.
In the final, the Calgary Western Canada Redmen defeated the Red Deer Lindsay Thurber Raiders 70-67 to capture their second consecutive provincial crown. Meagan Koch paced the Redmen with 34. Denise Page added 17 and Lauri Robinson 12. The final was a seesaw battle but Koch proved the difference. “I think the game was close because we were nervous,” Koch told the Calgary Herald. “We took too many fouls and they went to the free throw line a lot more than we did.” Coach Lorraine Smith said her troops were steadfast. “I really think we handled the pressure quite well. There were a lot of see-saws in this one and we had some defensive problems. But we stayed with our aggressive game.” Angela Lajeunesse paced Red Deer with 18. The loss was the Raiders first of the season. Thurber coach Sandre Goheen told the Red Deer Advocate that “at the start of the second half, we forgot to shoot. You can’t win if you don’t shoot. It was just those few minutes that cost us.” Adrienne Hull hit a pair of free throws to draw Red Deer within 66-63 with two minutes to play. But Megan Koch responded with an off-balance jumper and a pair of free throws to ice it. Angela Lajeunesse answered with a meaningless bucket at the buzzer. Smith said “we were a little lucky to have scraped by.” Koch paced the Redmen with 34.. Lajeunesse led the Raiders with 20. Allison Stuart added 18, Tina Holmes 13 and Adrienne Hull 12.
The bronze medalist Lethbridge Catholic Central Cittens: Tanya Huggins; Crystal Kain; Janice Gyorkos; Kelly Wright; Colene Graham; Candice O’Connor; Robin Murphy; Nicole Lee; Helen Kollias; Cynthia Corbiere; Viola Cassis; Danielle Morrison; Janene Vaselenak; coach Cal O’Brien
The silver medalist Red Deer Lindsay Thurber Raiders: Angela Lajeunesse; Jennifer Mitchell; Allison Stuart; Tina Holmes; Gillian Currie; Adrienne Hull; Tara Assinger; Dana Robinson; Jordanna Klassen; coach Sandra Goheen
The gold medalist Calgary Western Canada Redmen: Meagan Koch; Lisa Bacigalupi; Lynette Lepan; Jennifer Johnson; Michelle Johnson; Chrissy Duborg; Denise Page; Lauri Robinson; coach Lorraine Smith