In the quarterfinals, held in Lethbridge, the top-ranked Magrath Pandas clubbed the 8th-seeded Beaverlodge Royals 63-32 despite having had point guard Becky Tollestrup sidelined after suffering an injury in practice a day earlier. Pandas coach Ross Blackmer said her absence was evident. “We didn’t execute very well at all,” Blackmer told the Lethbridge Herald. “There’s no doubt it will affect us. We weren’t passing the ball, we weren’t catching the ball. We had our heads down in key situations. The kids looked nervous. I don’t know if they were, but they shouldn’t have been.” Magrath led 37-15 at the half. Kris Anderson paced the Pandas with 22. Patti Balderson added 21, along with 12 boards. Korrie Smith led the Royals with 8. The Royals (coached by Normie Nichol) also included Dori Walterhouse.
The Ardrossan Bisons dumped the Calgary Queen Elizabeth Knights 81-45 as Sharla Yates scored 32 and Cherie Travis 21. Cherie Fleming and Julie Gilbert each scored 12 to lead the Knights.
The 2nd-seeded Airdrie Bert Church Chargers dusted the 7th-seeded Fort McMurray Miners 73-47 as Janice Bridger scored 21, Robyn Haig 17 and Erin Eldridge 17. Loreen Leavey paced the Miners with 26. Miners coach Compton Vigilance told Fort McMurray Today that “we played in the first half and played even with them. In the second half, things weren’t going too badly until the last five minutes, we ran out of gas and they scored a lot of quick baskets.” The Miners (coached by Vigilance) also included Lena Aitken, Christie King, Lindsay Pinckney.
In the last quarterfinal, the Stettler William E. Hay Wildcubs defeated the Edson Parkland Pacers 84-38 as Leighann Doan scored 32, Angela Chapman 9, Amy Quance 8 and Carmin Gendre 8. Robin Magnesson paced the Pacers with 16. The Pacers also included Carley Cox.
In the semis, the top-seeded Magrath Pandas stomped the Stettler William E. Hay Wildcubs 90-66 as Patti Balderson scored 33, Kris Anderson 26 and Kristyn Tanner 15. Star point guard Becky Tollestrup was again sidelined by a leg injury. She was replaced by Anderson at the point, who “did a good job,” said Pandas coach Russ Blackmer. “She usually doesn’t have the point guard on her, so she’s able to bring the ball up the floor and take some of the pressure off Kristyn Tanner.” Leighann Doan paced the Wildcubs with 31. Angela Chapman added 10. The Pandas took control early and romped. “I’m much happier with what we did tonight, especially after last night’s game,” Blackmer said. “We did the things we’re used to doing, like running the floor.” The Pandas forced Wildcubs star post Leighann Doan into early foul trouble. She was whistled for four in the first half. “After she got two, we ran a few plays at her,” Blackmer said. “The fourth foul was a gift but the third was a specific play we ran to create the opportunity.” Wildcubs’ coach Kim Poapst said “once we lost Leighann, we had trouble. We have a young team and I think they were intimidated a little bit, we really had trouble hitting the outside shot. And after Leighann got her fourth, she really couldn’t do much on defence.” The Pandas led 46-35 at the half. The game was halted for five minutes when Wildcubs guard Carmin Gender had to be hauled off by stretcher after injuring her hip. Stettler coach Kim Poapst told the Red Deer Advocate that “when Carmin went down, we had a letdown. It seemed to bring down the whole team.” Magrath led 46-35 at the half.
In the other semi, the Airdrie Bert Church Chargers dumped the Ardrossan Bisons 73-58.
In the bronze medal match, the Stettler William E. Hay Wildcats clipped the Ardrossan Bisons 88-74 as Leighann Doan scored 50, despite missing eight minutes with foul trouble, while nabbing 40 boards. Sharla Yates added 17 and Angela Chapman 10. Cherie Travis led the Bisons with 20, Sharla Yates 17 and Andi Wasylyshen 13. Yates told the Red Deer Advocate that “we were happy to be a chance to play in this game. … We faced a tough team today and we knew we had to play hard to beat them.” Stettler coach Kim Poapst said “what can you say about (Doan)? But we played an excellent team game. … We did have a letdown when Leighann was on the bench but we seem to get in foul trouble often and we’re used to it, so we didn’t let it bother us. We knew we had to play that much harder and everyone would have to step up.” The Wildcats switched to a zone when Doan was on the bench. “It came through for us, when we needed it the most,” said Poapst.
In the final, the top-seeded Magrath Pandas defeated the defending champ and 2nd-seeded Airdrie Bert Church Chargers 61-49. “What’s nice is that we’ve played Bert Church three times in the provincial final. We won the first one at the Sportsplex in 1992 and they beat us last year so this was the rubber match, this was kind of the break-even game,” Pandas coach Ross Blackmer told the Lethbridge Herald. “I’m really proud of the girls, they picked up the slack with Becky (Tollestrup) out of the line-up. Kris Anderson especially picked it tip all weekend. I told her that this was her time to shine and she really stepped up.” The Chargers were down by double digits but rallied within four with five minutes to play before being undone by a raft of untimely turnovers. Kris Anderson led the Pandas with 21. Patti Balderson added 18 on 12-13 from the line, Kristyn Tanner 12, Tiffany Riegling 8. Erin Eldridge led the Chargers with 17. Michelle Gallup added 15 and Robyn Haig 13. “We talked to the kids and said if we had a chance to beat Magrath, we had to keep them to 60 or 70 points and we did that,” Chargers coach Doug Wilde said. “But we struggled on offence and we missed nine shots at the line. If we had hit those shots, it would have made it closer earlier but we just couldn’t get over the hump.” The Pandas led 34-24 at the half. Tollestrup said it was “difficult to watch but we have too many weapons to be stopped, we’ve been playing together since junior high school and we were ready for this.”
The bronze medalist Stettler William E. Hay Wildcubs: Leighann Doan; Angela Chapman; Carmin Gendre; Jill Bruntjen; Amy Quance; Sharla Yates; Tasha Deigel; coach Kim Poapst
The silver medalist Airdrie Bert Church Chargers: Robyn Haig; Erin Eldridge; Laura Bukowicki; Janice Bridger; Michelle Gallup; coach Doug Wilde
The gold medalist Magrath Pandas: Becky Tollestrup; Patti Balderson; Kris Anderson; Kristyn Tanner; Tiffany Riegling; Twila Grusendorf; Meghan Dahl; Karli Dahl; Jody Bullock; Carolyn Carter; Danielle Rollingson; Andrea Harker; Nancy Harding; coach Russ Blackmer