In the quarterfinals, held in Stirling, the host Lakers crushed the Beiseker Bandits 88-61 as Kori Patrick scored 20 and Jeff Sillito 14. Matt Stewart paced the Bandits with 18. Daryl Gabruk added 16.
The New Norway Spartans stomped the Leduc Christ the King Chargers 88-65 as Corry Peake scored 30 and Howard Gabert 14. Jason Dragatis led the Chargers with 39.
The Calgary Christian Cougars edged the Vegreville St. Mary’s Saints 82-81 as Mark Jonker scored 30 and Dan Allen 24. Mike Rudyk led the Saints with 18.
In the last quarterfinal, the Lundbreck Livingstone Sabres clipped the Fairview St. Thomas More Kodiaks 79-66. The Sabres led 19-18 early, 33-24 at the half and were ahead 64-44 when the gym lights went out, necessitating a delay with 8:27 to play. They’d built the lead by switching to a box-and-one defence on Kodiaks guard Clay Rook, while neutralizing injured Kodiak guard Paul Brown. “We had a stretch that wasn’t bad but it wasn’t that good,” said Sabres coach Arlin Olson. “We had to change some of our defence up on them because they’re a really physical team and they were beating us on the boards and that doesn’t happen to us,” Olson. “We wanted to shut (Rook) down because we knew he could hurt us from the outside and with (Brown) hurt it allowed us to collapse in the middle.” Brown played with a cast on his shooting (right) hand and still scored 14. “He played pretty good despite his injury,” said Kodiaks coach Guy Rook. “I think they really keyed on our guards and that’s really a strong part of our team.” Olson said the changing defences appeared to befuddle the Kodiaks. “We have four different offences we run and five different defences plus gimmicks. We pick about three each game that we stick by.” Jason McGuire led the Sabres with 30. Kent McCulloch added 19 and Derek Giesbrecht 10. Clay Rook led the Kodiaks with 17. The Kodiaks also included Mark Dechant.
In the semis, Stirling Lakers thumped the Calgary Christian Cougars 88-38 as Joel Bikman and Brad Temreck scored 13 each and Jeff Sillito 10 before being sidelined by an ankle injury. Chris Weening and Mark Jonker each scored 9 to pace the Cougars.
In the other semi, the Lundbreck Livingstone Sabres dumped the New Norway Spartans 102-52 as Kent McCulloch scored 21 and Chad Poulsen 18. Corry Peake led the Spartans with 22.
In the bronze medal match, the New Norway Spartans edged the Calgary Christian Cougars 80-78 in overtime as Corry Peake scored 32. Dan Allen led the Cougars with 24. The Cougars also included Chris Weening, Mark Jonker.
In the final, the Lundbreck Livingstone Sabres crushed the Stirling Lakers 106-54. “We have 13 guys that can all play. We have no real starters and they’ve all accepted their roles,” said Sabres coach Arlin Olson. “It was definitely a fun team to coach.” The Sabres ripped off a 32-7 run as they built a 55-28 lead at the half. The Lakers played without starting forward Jeff Sillito, who injured an ankle in the semis. That left Sabre posts Darek Geisbrecht and Todd McCartney free to roam in the blocks. Giesbrecht finished with 22 points. McCartney added 17, Jason McGuire 17 and Billie Myers 13. Kori Patrick led the Lakers with 19. Brad Temreck added 8.
The bronze medalist New Norway Spartans: Corry Peake; Howard Gabert;
The silver medalist Stirling Lakers: Jeff Sillito; Kori Patrick; Brad Temreck; Joel Bikman;
The gold medalist Lundbreck Livingstone Sabres: Todd McCartney; Darek Geisbrecht; Kent McCulloch; Chad Poulsen; Jason McGuire; Billie Myers; coach Arlin Olson