In the quarterfinals, held in Edmonton, the top-seeded Calgary Western Canada Redmen whipped the 8th-seeded Edmonton Archbishop O’Leary Spartans 63-46 after leading 33-20 at the half. Carolyn Wares paced the Redmen with 21. Lilliana Solano led the Spartans with 15. The Spartans also included Rhonda Kutney, Mary Stern.
The 7th-seeded Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres, who’d stunned the top-ranked Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans in the Edmonton playoffs, defeated the 2nd-seeded Lethbridge Catholic Central Cittens 59-56. Crystal Kain paced the Cittens with 17. Janine Vaselenak added 16. “They pressed much of the game and we seemed nervous and didn’t handle it well, but we did tie the score with 30 seconds left,” Cittens coach Cal O’Brien told the Lethbridge Herald. “I was disappointed in the officiating. We are supposed to get neutral referees and instead the official was from Edmonton and he made virtually no calls all night in a pressing game where a lot could have been called. We didn’t even get into the bonus in the first half.” The Cittens had the ball in the closing seconds when a Sabre player ran into the ballhandler while trying to steal and the foul call went again Catholic Central, allowing Salisbury to ice it from the line, O’Brien added. The Cittens (coached by Cal O’Brien) included Crystal McPherson, Crystal Kain, Melanie Marek, Sarah Joly, Lindsay Wagner, Jennifer Slavich, Tricia Whimster, Janine Vaselenak, Caylee Lawlor, Mandy Delbelo and Lynne Walters.
The 4th-seeded Medicine Hat Kwahommies dumped the 5th-seeded Red Deer Lindsay Thurber Raiders 64-56. “It wasn’t really close,” Kwahommies coach Boris Grisonich told the Medicine Hat News. “We were up 12 (37-25) at the half and by 20 points at one point. I think we had the edge. We were really pumped and they seemed to think they would take us. And our press really worked well for us.” Jaylene Rattai led the Kwahommies with 28. Dawn Thomas added 12, Rachelle Dufresne 10 and Kelly Boyko 6. Angela Lajeunesse paced the Raiders with 31. Gillian Currie added 11 and Cory Rawlusyk 7 The Raiders (coached by Kathy Christensen) also included Elaine Craig, Nicole Hutchings, Karen Atkinson-Leadbeater. Christensen told the Red Deer Advocate that “we played very tentatively all game. There was no aggressiveness. All you had to do was look at the fouls. We only had three in the first 17 minutes of the second half. The final three minutes we played tougher than all the rest of the game. … We are disappointed. We really felt we should win this one. But our outside shooters did nothing and we can’t rely on the inside players doing it all.”
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Calgary Crescent Heights Cowboys clubbed the 6th-seeded Grande Prairie Totems 95-61 after leading 57-30 at the half. Krista Robson led the Cowboys with 24. Sherron Kearl paced the Totems with 20. Kim Harris added 15. The Totems also included Krista Robson, Sasha Urness.
In the semis, the 7th-seeded Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres defeated the 3rd-seeded Calgary Crescent Heights Cowboys 76-71 as Jen Hamilton and Natalie Gradnitzer each scored 14.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Calgary Western Canada Redmen defeated the Medicine Hat Kwahommies 55-42. “They played awesome,” Kwahommies coach Boris Grisonich told the Medicine Hat News. “And they are so big and they got a lot of second shots. They have six six-footers and they start three of them.” The Kwahommies led 20-19 at the half. “We played great defence, but there’s only so much you can do,” said Grisonich. “Their shots were falling a little better than ours and we missed 14 free throws.” Jaylene Rattai led Medicine Hat with 26. Linda Simpson added 6.
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded Calgary Crescent Heights Cowboys defeated the Medicine Hat Kwahommies 65-53. “It was terrible,” coach Boris Grisonich told the Medicine Hat News. “It was the worst game we played all year. We’d played our hearts out against Western Canada and we didn’t have anything left. And we had no luck with balls falling in the hoop.” Point guard Dawn Thomas fouled out with 12 minutes to play so rookie Claudette Cheret had to assume her duties. Grisonich ended the game with four rookies and post Jaylene Rattai. “Under different circumstances, I think we could have beat them,” said Grisonich. “I think we’re 20 points better than them.” Rattai scored 22 for the Kwahommies. The Kwahommies (coached by Grisonich) also included Kelly Boyko, Rachelle Dufresne, Linda Simpson, Lenore Page, Stephanie Werner, Kasia Goodfellow, Connie Selhorn and Tanys Carere.
In the final, the top-seeded Calgary Western Canada Redmen captured its fourth consecutive crown by defeating the 7th-seeded Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres 53-35 as Carolyn Wares scored 12. “People have called us a dynasty,” Wares told the Edmonton Journal. “I guess we are. Maybe it will end. Maybe it won’t. I hope it doesn’t. Maybe I can be like one of those grandmas one day. I’ll be 70. I’ll have shrunk by two feet and I’ll present the trophies.” The squad donned wash-off tattoos that said “glory’ prior to the semis. “We wanted to finish on a good note and we wanted to stay close as a team. Glory was part of it. Winning a fourth provincial title, and a fifth city championship.” Jen Hamilton topped the Sabres with 10 points. “We executed everything,” Hamilton said. “We just couldn’t get anything to fall. But we played so well just to get here.” Western Canada coach Lorraine Smith noted that “I was probably more uptight than they were before the final.” Smith later admitted that she really doesn’t always know the best way to get the ball into the low post or other technical aspects of the game. She’s more concerned with how they function as a unit. In her six years at the school, she also won a pair of provincial volleyball titles. Smith, a product of Calgary’s Central Memorial, described herself as a very average player for a mediocre U of Calgary team in the early 1970s. “I don`t know a lot technically about basketball. What I bring is my ability to deal with people. I get our girls working together as a team. I`m a very positive person. I don`t yell because I don`t like to be yelled at. For the vast majority of kids who have been through here, it`s been a good way to coach. One of my goals is to make the game enjoyable for everyone, not just for the starters. It has to be fun.”
The bronze medalist Calgary Crescent Heights Cowboys: Sherron Kearl; Chris Goett; coach Jenny Woods
The silver medalist Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres: Jenn Hamilton; Heather Murray; Natalie Gradnitzer; coach Jim Lazaruk
The gold medalist Calgary Western Canada Redmen: Carolyn Wares; Kelly Mathesen; Claire Knechtel; coach Lorraine Smith