The draw is expanded to 12 teams. The top four seeds receive a bye.
In the opening round, the 5th-seeded Lethbridge Catholic Central Cougars defeated the 12th-seeded Beaverlodge Royals 76-70. …………………………………………………… The Fort Saskatchewan Stingers dumped the Edmonton Bonnie Doon Lancers 85-66. …………………………………………………… The Fort MacMurray Composite Miners clipped the Morinville Prairie Wolves 70-61. …………………………………………………… The Lloydminster Barons whipped the Calgary Queen Elizabeth Knights 72-43. The Knights included Colin Canning, Wesley Jones, Bill Lam.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Airdrie Bert Church Chargers defeated the Fort MacMurray Composite Miners x-x. The Miners (coached by Bob McCracken) included Chad Marchand, Ben Kampala, Mohammed Kabalan, Kevin Stephens, Leonard Ho, Ahmad Majed.
The 4th-seeded St. Albert Skyhawks crushed the 5th-seeded Lethbridge Catholic Central Cougars 74-55. The Cougars (coached by Mike Hanson) included Chad Wells, Chris Noss, Rob Slavich, Chris Crook, Allan Rice, Ryan Cain.
The Ponoka Broncs dispatched the Lloydminster Barons 81-69 as Graham Ogden scored 20, Mike Lyons 17 and Shawn McMillan 10. Russell Woods led the Barons with 16. Lloydminster led 42-37 at the half. Barons coach Tom Groat told the Red Deer Advocate that a scoring drought in the second half hut. “We had some good chances and if we hit those, it could have changed everything around.” Ponoka guard Cody Lowry said “we were able to pick up the defensive pressure in the second half and did a much better job of keeping them outside. Damian Mellson did a great job on the boards, in fact, all our guys played well.” Broncs coach Blaine Haines said that “having Ogden get two quick fouls in the first half didn’t help us much. He makes us go and I had to sit him much of the half. You could see how we picked it up in the second half with him in there.”
In the last quarterfinal, the Calgary Chestermere Cowboys defeated the Fort Saskatchewan Stingers 76-67.
In the semis, the 4th-seeded St. Albert Skyhawks stunned the top-seeded Airdrie Bert Church Chargers 76-65.
In the other semi, the Ponoka Broncs dumped the Calgary Chestermere Cowboys 80-79 as Graham Ogden scored 30, Mike Lyons 15 and Cody Lowry 14. Brad Holt led the Cowboys with 18. Jon James added 15. Ogden told the Red Deer Advocate that “I guess we can believe in that old saying. We knew it would be a battle with them.” Chestermere led 35-32 at the half but Ponoka took a 64-54 lead with eight minutes to play. Brad David hit a bucket with 28 seconds to play to give the Cowboys a 79-78 lead. But Damian Mellsen putback his own rebound with eight seconds to play to win it. Broncs coach Blaine Haines said “we knew it would come down the final five minutes and likely who had the ball last. It certainly didn’t disappoint.” Ogden said “I believe our bench gave us enough to beat them.”
In the bronze medal match, the top-seeded Airdrie Bert Church Chargers clipped the Calgary Chestermere Cowboys 92-79.
In the final, the Ponoka Broncs rallied from a late deficit to defeat the 4th-seeded St. Albert Skyhawks 73-67. The Broncs were led by Graham Ogden, who scored 25 and who hit a number of critical buckets down the stretch. Ogden told the Red Deer Advocate that “we’ve wanted this all year, that’s what we concentrated on. Some of us have been together since grade seven but most of us grade 10 and this is what we’ve been looking toward. Broncos coach Blaine Haines told the Edmonton Journal that Ogden’s “a great player. He’s been our leader all year.” Mike Lyons added 13, Brendan Kusiek 7 and Darren Krescy 6 on a pair of treys down the stretch. The fast-paced affair was a track meet. “They’re the fastest team we’ve ever played against,” said St. Albert coach John Dedrick. The Skyhawks pushed the tempo in the first half while building an early 10-point lead. Ponoka clawed its way back, with Ogden hitting a trey at the buzzer to knot the score at 39 at the half. Down the stretch, the Broncos made key baskets while St. Albert failed to capitalize on some easy scoring opportunities. “I think fatigue was a factor in the end,” said Dedrick. “Their bench was a little deeper than ours. We couldn’t match their bench strength.” Jeff Stirton paced the Skyhawks with 19. Kyle Kostyk added 16. Lyons told the Red Deer Advocate “we stressed defence. That turned the game around for us. … It sparked the whole team. Our bench played a big role in all of this. We were able to go so deep that it put a lot of pressure on the other teams. The starters were able to get some rest and be fresh down the stretch.” Dedrick said “their depth really hurt us in the end. I was forced to keep my starters on for long periods of time and they just couldn’t get the rest the Ponoka starters were. We just couldn’t match up with their bench strength.” Ogden knotted the score at 67 with two minutes to play. Lyons added an and-one and Kusiek iced it with a layup with 20 seconds to play.” Haines said “they guys were able to step it up when they needed to.”
The bronze medalist Airdrie Bert Church Chargers: Derry O’Conner, Layne Anderson; Craig Newman;
The silver medalist St. Albert Skyhawks: Jeff Stirton; Kyle Kostyk; coach John Dedrick
The gold medalist Ponoka Broncs: Graham Ogden; Mike Lyons; Brendan Kusiek; Darren Krescy; Cody Lowry; Damian Melisen; Shawn McMillan; coach Blaine Haines