In the opening round, held in Coaldale: …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Medicine Hat Crescent Heights Vikings clipped 12th-seeded Grande Prairie St. Joseph’s Celtics 73-53 as Devin Harding scored 14, Lyle Woodward 13 and Nathan Prinz 12. Andrew Belcourt led the Celtics with 17. Tymon Duinker added 10. Crescent Heights led 40-29 at the half and romped. “It was good, we played everybody,” Vikings coach Lee Woodward told the Medicine Hat News. “We were in control.” …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Morinville Wolves dumped the 8th-seeded Calgary Notre Dame Pride 70-55 as Luke England scored 23 and Joe Henebury 19. Gabe Ferrarotto led Notre Dame with 26. Mark Oppenheimer added 16. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Stettler William E. Hay Wildcats thrashed the 11th-seeded Lac La Biche J.A. Williams Sharks 84-59 as Jon McComish scored 28 and Levi Erickson 10. McComish hit eight treys on the night. Eric Richard paced J.A. Williams with 15. Brett Waine added 13. The Sharks also included Tyler Sehn. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Edmonton Louis St. Laurent Barons defeated the Medicine Hat McCoy Colts 68-59 as Jonathan Galan scored 20 and Sahr Saffa 19. Kris Henke paced McCoy with 26. Travis Graveline added 19. The Colts (coached by B.J. Melle) also included David Rebbeck, Justin Smith, Mike Mitchell, Shane Bennett, Jesse Wuitchik, Dallas Holyk, Kelli Klassen, Marshall Beierbach, Kelly Klassen.
In the quarterfinals, the 4th-seeded Rocky Mountain House West Central Rebels edged the 5th-seeded Medicine Hat Crescent Heights Vikings 80-77 in double overtime as Brenden Nicolay scored 25 and Chris Hicks 14. Brock Hale led Crescent Heights with 38. Devin Harding added 18. The score was knotted at 30 at the half. Crescent Heights forced overtime on a long trey. “It’s not often that that you see two buzzer beaters,” Vikes coach Lee Woodward told the Medicine Hat News. The Vikings fell victim to a pair of buzzer beaters — one to force the first overtime, then the
second forced yet another extra session. “We won that game twice and lost it three times,” said Woodward. “We had a phenomenal season, though. We improved a ton over the season and the guys will have memories to last a lifetime.” The Vikings (coached by Lee Woodward, assisted by Jim Drefs) also included Chris Werner, Nathan Prinz, Kirby Merrick, Isaac Welsh, Lyle Woodward, Lyle Perry, Stephen Archibald.
The top-seeded Okotoks Holy Trinity Knights whipped 9th-seeded Morinville Wolves 85-55 as Joe Hartman and Derek Waldner each scored 16. Luke Foster added 12. Duncan Campbell and Luke England each notched 15 to pace Morinville. The Wolves also included Kyle Gunn.
The 3rd-seeded Coaldale Kate Andrews Pride defeated the 6th-seeded Stettler William E. Hay Wildcats 89-79 as Devon Wannop scored 27, Evan Schellenberg 20 and Will Porter 15. Sheldon Leschert led William E. Hay with 16. Jon McComish added 14. The Wildcats also included William Pivert, Reid McKinnon, Robert Bergstrom, Kirby Massey. The game was tight until the final three minutes when the Pride took command.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Calgary Springbank Phoenix defeated the 7th-seeded Edmonton Louis St. Laurent Barons 77-55 as Josh Carrigan scored 27 and Darius Vysniauskas 17. Sahr Saffa paced Laurent with 23. Jonathan Galan added 19.
In the semis, the top-seeded Okotoks Holy Trinity Knights nipped the 4th-seeded Rocky Mountain House West Central Rebels 72-71 as Joe Hartman scored 22 and Luke Foster 13. Brenden Nicolay paced West Central with 21. Scott Hornstra added 14. “That really was ‘the game,’” said coach Sam Aiello. “It was back and forth all night and when it was over everyone rushed the floor and were jumping up and down.” With time winding down and the Knights up 72-71 West Central had the ball in the half court, they called a timeout to set up a shot for their star shooter. “I actually couldn’t believe it during the timeout when Thomas said ‘there’s no way number nine is getting the ball,’” said Knights assistant coach Kirby Coderre. “I thought it was kind of arrogant, but then I looked at his face and I knew.” On the in-bound Pearson draped himself all over the would-be marksman, forcing the passer to find another target. The secondary option missed the shot and Hartman and Grade 10 standout Derek Waldner made sure the West Central rebounder couldn’t get the put-back. Rebels coach Derek Durocher told the Red Deer Advocate that “we didn’t match up well with Holy Trinity as they had four players six-foot-six and over. … But outside of a mistake late we could have pulled out the win. Still I was proud of the guys. They battled hard every step of the way. Every loose ball they went for and that kept us in the game.”
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Calgary Springbank Phoenix defeated the 3rd-seeded Coaldale Kate Andrews Pride 57-47 as Josh Carrigan scored 20 and Addison Gough 17. Will Porter led Kate Andrews with 16. Russell Boltezar added 12 and Devon Wannop 11.
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded Rocky Mountain House West Central Rebels clipped the 3rd-seeded Coaldale Kate Andrews Pride 75-57 as Cody Garnett scored 19, Chris Hicks 12 and Brenden Nicolay 12. “Considering we had only one starter back from last year it was an outstanding performance,” Rebels coach Derek Durocher told the Red Deer Advocate. Russell Boltezar led Kate Andrews with 17. Shawn Hooper added 15 and Evan Schellenberg 14. The Pride (coached by Bob White, assisted by Jason Harrison) also included Brian Barwegen, Nathan Duncan, Michael Marriott, Kyle Miller, Michael Moses, Kyle Murray, Will Porter and Devon Wannop.
In the final, the top-seeded Okotoks Holy Trinity Knights dominated the 2nd-seeded Calgary Springbank Phoenix 66-39 as Joe Hartman scored 17, Thomas Pearson 16 and Derek Waldner 14. Addison Gough led Springbank with 12. Josh Carrigan added 8. “The Springbank fans were talking to us before the game, telling us we had no chance,” Grade 11 guard Luke Foster told the Lethbridge Herald. “Yeah and then we totally shut them down,” said Pearson. “Teams like Notre Dame (Collegiate in High River) scored more points against us than they did.” The squad felt the pressure of being the top seed. “I thought it was going to be really tough,” said Foster. Hartman added “yeah, and then to go into the tournament ranked number one, that was a little more pressure on us too.” Coach Sam Aiello said “we’ve been a successful program for a bunch of years, but I don’t know if we’ve ever had a group of guys who have worked harder or been more determined down the stretch. We’ve been saying for weeks that good teams find a way to win at this point in the season and it doesn’t matter if you win by one or you win by 20, you still move on and that’s what we did. At the beginning of the season I thought we had the talent to maybe win a zone banner, but our guys stepped up huge this year.” Hartman, Pearson and Foster to carry the load, but according to that trio it was the balance, depth and chemistry that led to their school’s first provincial basketball championship. “We were more of a team than in years past rather than just a bunch of athletes,” explained Hartman. “We all got along and we knew our bench could play a big role. Even in the final game every player played, in both halves, and I think that’s a big thing. This was a team win.”
The bronze medalist Rocky Mountain House West Central Rebels: Brenden Nicolay; Chris Clattenburg; Dustin Northcott; Brett Miller; Nathan Klosse; Alvin Huang; Scott Hornstra; Chris Hicks; Cody Garnett; Owen Davies; Vince Van Steenis; Derek Witten; coach Derek Durocher; assistant Rob Doig
The silver medalist Calgary Springbank Phoenix: Josh Carrigan; Darius Vysniauskas; Matt Wheatley; Luke Allred; Cory Selk; Lewis Beaugrand; Tareq Borhot; Travis Brannan; Tom Doenz; Chase Ellstad; Addison Gough; Cody Whyte; coach Danny Eveleigh; assistant Mike Kuzmickas; manager Leila Eveleigh; trainer Scott Fredericks; trainer Zach Pike
The gold medalist Okotoks Holy Trinity Academy Knights: Joe Hartman; Thomas Pearson; Luke Campbell; Dustin Finley; Luke Foster; Ryley Gray; Braden Hergott; Sean Murray; Josh Pearson; Mike Sahely; Derek Waldner; coach Sam Aiello; assistant Kirby Coderre; assistant Bruce Dickie