In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Okotoks Foothills Falcons clubbed the 8th-seeded Sexsmith Sabres 94-35 as Chad Parr scored 32. Brian Pederson added 16. Arlen Brown led the Sabres with 11.
The Fort Saskatchewan Stingers defeated the Morinville Prairie Wolves 73-60 as Corey Scon scored 37, including 13-17 from the line. Alan McKee added 12. Pat Sasseville led the Wolves with 21. The Wolves (coached by Mike Frisby) also included Nathan Hunter, Jay Wilson, Noel Bugret.
The Lethbridge Catholic Central Cougars dispatched the Calgary Queen Elizabeth Knights 114-64. “We weren’t playing our game at the start,” Cougars coach Brian Leclaire told the Lethbridge Herald. We weren’t playing tough defence of rebounding well. The game could have been much closer.” The Cougars led 26-16 after one quarter but Kevin Rudolph drilled a trey to ignite a 22-4 run that led to a 48-20 lead at the half. “Our guys woke up after a while,” said Leclaire. “At the first, all we wanted to do was try three-pointers and that hurt us.” Rudolph led the Cougars with 28. Bob Kain added 23 and Regan Lane 20. Dan Sigalli led the Knights with 20. The Knights also included Russ Jones.
In the last quarterfinal, the Red Deer Camille J. Lerouge Cougars defeated the Lloydminster Barons 79-59 as Steve Hardy scored 23 and Jason Adams 12. Tyler Zajic led the Barons with 18. The Barons also included Doug Potts.
In the semis, the Red Deer Camille J. Lerouge Cougars dumped the Lethbridge Catholic Central Cougars 77-66 in overtime as Russell Marquart hit 10-12 free throws in the extra session, and 21-26 from the line on the game, while scoring 43. “I would like to have shot a little bit better from the field but in the end, it came down to defence and rebounds, that’s how close it was,” Marquart said. Catholic Central had rallied from a late 60-55 deficit with 1:30 to play, forcing overtime on a Brad Wall trey with six seconds on the clock. Lerouge maintained its poise in the extra session. “That’s the mark of a veteran team, that’s what they are supposed to do,” Cougars’ coach Chris Andrew said. Marquart said “we just thought we had to keep our composure, it’s a 0-0 ball game, we’re not ahead or behind so there’s no reason to panic. We didn’t try to force anything and when we needed the big rebound, the guys got it done.” Andrew said Marquart was exceptional. “I’ve seen it from him for two years now and I never get tired of seeing it. There’s not a lot more that you can say.” Bob Kain led Central with 28. Kevin Rudolph added 11 and Regan Lane 10. LeRouge coach Scott Doan told the Red Deer Advocate that “I believe the difference was our tough defence. They came out red hot but we didn’t let down and by the end of the game, I believe we had worn them down enough that they were missing a lot of shots.” Doan added that Gage Klein and Ryan Luft were strong on the boards, while reserve Joe Sourgie was sound of the bench. Marquart said “our defence was great. That’s what it’s all about. The guys worked hard as a team on the defensive end and although we didn’t shoot it as well as we can, we still pulled it out.”
In the other semi, the top-seeded Okotoks Foothills Falcons nipped the Fort Saskatchewan Stingers 68-66.
In the bronze medal match, the Lethbridge Catholic Central Cougars clipped the Fort Saskatchewan Stingers 98-88. The Stingers included Cory Scon, Alan McKee.
In the final, the top-seeded Okotoks Foothills Composite Falcons captured its first title in 10 years by defeating the Red Deer Camille J. Lerouge Voyageurs 65-50. Defensive stopper Chad Parr shut down Cougar gunner Russell Marquart, holding him to 20 (also reported as 18), while Brian Pederson dominated the boards for the Falcons, who led 30-26 at the half. “At the start of the year, we knew we had eight guys coming back so we thought we would have a competitive team, we just didn’t know how good we’d be,” Falcons’ coach Garry Tink told the Lethbridge Herald. Parr said containing Marquart to 20 was a task. “We had played him twice before this year. He really lit it up in the first game but we shut him down with a good team defence the second time so that’s what we wanted to do today.” Pederson led the Falcons with 23. Darren Leavitt added 12. Steve Hardy notched 17 for the Cougars. “That’s where we felt we had a little bit of an advantage,” Tink said. “We knew we were bigger inside so we felt we could use that.” The Falcons opened the second half with a 13-3 to build a double-digit lead and extended their margin to many as 19. Hardy told the Red Deer Advocate that “we just never got into a good offensive flow. We had our spurts and lapses, and there were a lot more lapses. They have an excellent team and they were hard to stop, especially inside.” Voyageurs coach Scott Doan said “we took a run at them for a while but not long enough.” Tink said “we played well defensively and have a little more height inside. AS well, our guys worked hard all seson and we stuck to our game plan today to perfection.”
The bronze medalist Lethbridge Catholic Central Cougars: Kevin Rudolph; Bob Kain; Regan Lane; Brad Wall; coach Brian Leclaire;
The silver medalist Red Deer Camille J. Lerouge (now Notre Dame) Voyageurs: Russell Marquart; Steve Hardy; David Playfair; Jason Adams; Brendan Kelly; Stephen Labrecque; Joe Soungie; Ian Keogh; Paul Ganger; Steve Silvernagle; Steve Pellegrin; coach Scott Doan; assistant Chris Andrew
The gold medalist Okotoks Foothills Falcons: Brian Pederson; Chad Parr; Darren Leavitt; Paul Ogilvie; Ross Prokopy; coach Garry Tink; co-coach Dave Kennedy