In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Magrath Pandas whipped Edson Parkland Pacers 86-52. “It was a good opening win,” said Magrath coach Ross Blackmer. “We started off with a little pressure and got on a bit of a roll. We pushed the ball inside hard and kicked it outside a couple of times and hit some shots. Everyone got a lot of playing time, which was important.” Wendy Balderson paced the Pandas with 20. Paige Peterson added 12 and Sandra Stocker 10. Michelle Helstein led the Pacers with 20. Shari Jean Robinson added 17. “I was quite happy with our first game,” added Blackmer. “You’re always worried when you go into the tournament as the No. 1 team. But I haven’t seen this much fire in the players’ eyes since we won the Jasper Place Tournament.”
The Lloydminster Barons defeated the Grande Prairie St. Joseph’s Ceinahs 56-43 as Nadine Fennig scored 17 and Cindy Kokoski 12. Karen Bednard led the Ceinahs with 14. Sheri Onushko added 11. The Ceinahs (coached by John Witschen) also included Tina Jones.
The Ardrossan Bisons dumped the Lacombe Composite Rams 53-43 as Connie Krueger scored 19 and Kristy Wiebe 15. Tonya Walton led the Rams with 13. Linda Spelt added 12. The Rams also included Amber Capon, Kristi Lorenz.
In the last quarterfinal, the top-seeded Airdrie Bert Church Chargers clipped the Calgary Bowness Trojans 74-39.
In the semis, the top-seeded Magrath Pandas clubbed the Lloydminster Barons 70-51 after successfully getting the game played at their tempo. “We ran without control and that’s something we haven’t been doing,” said Magrath coach Ross Blackmer. “That’s their type of game and for the first little while, we played more their type of game.” The Pandas led 33-20 at the half. “It comes down to control,” said Blackmer. “We knew if we started to pound the ball inside and ran the controlled things we can run, we’d do all right.” Paige Peterson and Wendy Balderson led the Magrath attack with 18 points apiece while Bonnie Tollestrup added 10. Nadine Fennig led the Barons with 16. “I’m not the type of coach to rely on one player,” said Blackmer. “If we have four or five people that play well and can score, I think that helps our team effort. We’ve always had three or four people in double figures.”
In the other semi, the Airdrie Bert Church Chargers dispatched the Ardrossan Bisons 72-61 as Kari Gallup scored 20 and Janet Geddes 19. Kristy Wiebe led the Bisons with 23.
In the bronze medal match, the Ardrossan Bisons defeated the Lloydminster Barons 59-44.
In the final, the Magrath Pandas defeated the Airdrie Bert Church Chargers 70-46. “We really wanted that championship banner,” said Magrath coach Ross Blackmer. “The Tom Karren Gym doesn’t have a girls basketball banner hanging in there. The gym is going to look a little better from now on. When you go to Catholic Central and LCI and see all those banners hanging in there, it shows some tradition. Winning a provincial title and banner like this gives something for the players of the future to look at.” Magrath led 36-26 at the half. The Chargers rallied to within 46-39 with 11 minutes to play but Paige Peterson caught fire for the Pandas. “I just tried to post up strong and I got a lot of good passes and some lucky rebounds. We really wanted to win it this year. Last year, we came so close and this year, we were determined. There was a little doubt if we would win but we knew Airdrie was tough. But everyone played well today.” Paige Peterson paced the Pandas with 27. Wendy Balderson added 14. Sandra Stevenson held Chargers star Kari Gallup to 23. Blackmer said “the key was Gallup. We didn’t want to let her go crazy and get more than 20 points. Sandra Stevenson did a really good job on her and when Sandra got into foul trouble, we just switched the person at the top of the 2-3 zone. It was almost like a box-and-one.”
The bronze medalist Ardrossan Bisons: Connie Krueger; Kristy Wiebe; coach Ralph Tuominen
The silver medalist Airdrie Bert Church Chargers: Kari Gallup; Janet Geddes;
The gold medalist Magrath Pandas: Paige Peterson; Sandra Stevenson; Wendy Balderson; Bonnie Tollestrup; Sandra Stocker; Terryl Garriock; Kristen Kerr; Mindy Cook; Tiffany Leavitt; Kathy Dainard; Laura Heath; Shauna Gruniger; coach Ross Blackmer; assistant Brad Sabey