In the opening round, held in Calgary: …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Wetaskiwin Sabres slaughtered the 12th-seeded Fort McMurray Miners 101-54. The Miners included Ossama Alzabid, Abdulah Bawazir, Ahmed Fayad, Saif Fayad, Ali Hamid, Jonah Ladoucour, Mo Maalin, Khalid Osman and Kevin Samuels. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Peace Wapiti Academy Titans dusted the 8th-seeded Barrhead Lorne Jenken Gryphons 75-50. The Gryphons included Glen Anderson, Robert Brotherton, Gerben Denium, Kyle Dodds, Josh Doucette, Dane Knudsen, Mitch Koch, Joey Meinema, Stuart Nanninga, Daniel Schuring and Samy Seifeddine. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Cochrane Cobras smacked the 11th-seeded Calgary Rundle Academy Cobras 88-57. The Rundle Cobras included Dylan Amirault, Daniel Broodo, Garret Copp, Sam Dawson, Nick Fowler, Brandon Giacchetta, Joel Lindsay, Jake McKenna, Sam Sawchuk, Brendan Stewart, Emmett Tims, Abhi Torr and Michael Walls. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Chestermere Lakers clipped the 10th-seeded Edmonton Christian Lions 76-63. The Lions included Cameron Bush, Mateus DeSa, Tamru Ezezew, Eric Hofstede, Anton Paszek, Jon Schoepp, Austin Stewart, Clayton Stol, Brendan Visscher, Matthew Vriend and Levi Wolthuis.
In the quarterfinals, the 5th-seeded Wetaskiwin Sabres crushed the 4th-seeded Canmore Crusaders 84-58. “We didn’t do as well as we hoped,” said Crusaders coach Chad McClenaghan. “When we went to the provincials, the word on the street was we were the team to beat, so we went in there with a target on our backs. With that, the boys played tighter. Wetaskiwin hit us right in the first quarter. After the game, the coach said that was the best game their team played all year.” The Crusaders included Bryan Alcorn, Paolo deSoto, Gavin Hurd, Jim Kemper, Seth Leonard, Kyle Litchenwald, Suliman Mohammed, Stephan Moseson, Adam Munro, Spencer Postman, Eric Praught, Spencer Rose and Liam Wall.
The top-seeded Edmonton Holy Trinity Trojans (coached by Ed Kiryluk, assisted by Trevor Scott) whipped the 9th-seeded Peace Wapiti Academy Titans 74-47. The Titans included Chase Doll, Coleman Garberg, Lucas Gorgichuk, Kurtis Hessler, Matt Keddy, Travis Marcy, Dalen Schadeck, Curtis Stewart and Davin Tarant.
The 6th-seeded Cochrane Cobras stunned the 3rd-seeded Camrose Composite Trojans 77-63. The Trojans included Luke Bramfield, Michael Byce, Caine Erickson, Connor Foreman, Adam Kuntz, Zach Leach, Caleb Reed, Erik Rust, Nathan Saby, Emile Westgeest, Logan Woods and Josef Zubkowski.
In the last quarterfinal, the 7th-seeded Chestermere Lakers upset the 2nd-seeded Medicine Hat Crescent Heights Vikings 67-53. “It’s tough going in to another person’s gym, but not having a game under your belt,” Vikings coach Lee Woodward told the Medicine Hat. “They outrebounded, outhustled us and flat out beat us.” The Vikings included Scott Bowlen, Ashton Buhler, Jonah Gilham, Tanner Hale, Scott Hannah, Tyson Heidebrecht, Braeden Hery, Logan Lindsay, Anthony Merkel, Deng Nyang, Harrison Stubbs and Matt Taylor
In the semis, the 5th-seeded Wetaskiwin Sabres stunned the top-seeded Edmonton Holy Trinity Trojans 74-53.
In the other semi, the 6th-seeded Cochrane Cobras defeated the 7th-seeded Chestermere Lakers 63-57.
In the bronze medal match, the 7th-seeded Chestermere Lakers dumped the top-seeded Edmonton Holy Trinity Trojans 94-82. The Trojans included Mario Cruz, Kris Alaber, Nero Ancheta, Kenny Cawagdan, Caleb Diiwu, Christian Enriquize, Mike Lubjsa, Joe Lucyshyn, Jams Maglalang, Peter Nicodemus, Wess Palo, Joe Parcasio, Deng Paul and Kevin Ruiz.
In the final, the 6th-seeded Cochrane Cobras topped the 5th-seeded Wetaskiwin Sabres 67-58. “This is the first provincial championship for any of these kids, especially in basketball,” Cobras coach Jim Forrest told the Lethbridge Herald. “Our school is known primarily as a football school and we’re trying to raise the basketball program up. It has been our goal since the start of the year and we thought we had a team that could compete for provincials. It was huge, particularly after what happened at Zones (losing to Camrose in the zone final).” Cochrane trailed 22-11 after one quarter, but took a two-point lead into the half. The teams were then tied after three, before the Cobras finally took over in the final quarter. “We didn’t come out very well, as we typically don’t,” Forrest said. “They were a good team and in the provincial final the year before as well. But we had a really strong fourth quarter, particularly on defence. For us, it all starts on the defensive end. We also hit some key fouls shots at the end, when they were forced to foul us.” Sabres coach Rob Cross said “it’s funny. From the start of the year, our goal is to win a provincial championship. Most years, that seems so far away. However, this year, having won the silver medal in 2010, it seemed very realistic. I thought for the most part, we kept things in perspective. We said to ourselves, ‘We have eight guys coming back, what’s one better, obviously gold, so that has to be the goal. Even though we had our struggles, I don’t think the guys wavered from that goal. … They were the team nobody wanted to play, they are a good team, strong at all spots. We had good defenders and good skill on offence, but they played a man defence and that ground us down.” The Sabres hopes were essentially dashed in the second quarter when point guard Matt Greenidge was sideline by a leg injury. “Matt was a big part of why we played so well Friday,” said Cross. “He carries a big role on the team. Without Matt, we lost a great defender, a guy who can hit a great shot and spread the ball around. No doubt about it, with him in the game, we had a better chance of winning. You want to have your grade 12 guys and vets in there at the end. … I’ve had other teams where I’ve thought this is the best team I will ever have. I think these guys topped that with back-to-back silver medals. Between the amount of experience, athleticism, chemistry, and their drive – they are just so poised.”
The bronze medalist Chestermere Lakers: Bilal Abdurahman; Keith Davis; Jasdeep Gill; Chris Hendry; Yuvraj Hundal; Viny Jawanda; Satvinder Khamba; Riley Lenci; Nelson Luc; Lance Olson; Colby Williams; coach Jill Talbot; coach Mitchel Turgeon; coach Erhayat Ozcan
The silver medalist Wetaskiwin Sabres: Ben Broadbent; Matt Greenidge; Reid Hunerfaith; Josh Majek; Sean Morin; Dakota Nepoose; Cole Okeymaw; Aaron Rattlesnake; Joel Reitsma; Tyler Smith; Vernon Toews; coach Rob Cross
The gold medalist Cochrane Cobras: Cody Basiuk; Connor Branch; Cody Chamberlin; Kellen Forrest; Garrett Godfrey; Cooper Hamaliuk; Eddy Johal; Ben Lawrence; Scott Mortgate; Jake Moulton; Chase Neilson; Marc Nzojibwami; Josh Perreault; Karthik Swaminathan; coach Jim Forrest