In the quarterfinals, held in Eckville, the Nobleford Noble Central Blades dispatched the New Norway Spartans 48-40 after leading 23-18 at the half. Eugene Groten led the Blades with 16. Roger Bjornson paced the Spartans with 20.
The Vermilion St. Jerome’s Spartans clipped Grasslands 60-46 as Bill Laurin socred 18. Frances Kanarek led Grasslands with 17.
The Kathryn-Beiseker Bandits torches the Eckville Aces 72-36 as Russ Poffenroth scored 20 and Lawrence Moon 19. Howard Kirbyson led the Aces with 10.
In the last quarterfinal, Manyberries defeated the Wanham Wildcats 49-42 as Arden Haugen scored 18. Craig (Greg?) Sather led the Wildcats with 11.
In the semis, the Nobleford Noble Central Blades dumped the Vermillion St. Jerome’s Spartans 59-47 as Eugene Groten scored 23 and Allen Steenbergen 11. The Spartans led 21-10 at the half. Rob Wilson led the Saints with 12.
In the other semi, the Kathryn-Beiseker Bandits defeated Manyberries 81-58 as Les Poffenroth scored 40.
In the bronze medal match, Many berries clipped the Vermilion St. Jerome’s Spartans 45-36 as Arden Haugen scored 17.
In the final, the Nobleford Noble Central Blades defeated the Kathryn-Beiseker Bandits 39-35 to cap a boys-girls title double. The Blades led 24-14 at the half. Eugene Groten paced the Blades with 15. Allen Steenbergen added 8 boards. Les Moon led the Bandits with 12. “We also won the championship in 1958 and ironically, it was in the same Eckville gym.” Blades’ coach Glen Secretan told the Lethbridge Herald. “We had three tough ball games this time. The level of 1A ball has really improved. We figured we could win it all this year, our team well-balanced and consistent, and we have a fairly respectable record. “In our final game, Kathryn have a boy 6’5” who had scored 45 points in an afternoon game. We double-teamed him and held him to 10 points. Eugene Groten was real consistent in the tournament, he came through when the going was tough. Other than that, there were nine ball players who did the work — that was the real difference.”
The bronze medalist Manyberries: Arden Haugen;
The silver medalist Kathryn-Beiseker Bandits: Les Poffenroth; Russ Poffenroth; Lawrence Moon;
The gold medalist Nobleford Noble Central Blades: Bruce Stetar; Eugene Groten; Robert Groenenboom; Darren Wobick; coach Glen Secretan