In the wildcard round: …………………………………………………… The Vancouver Gladstone Gladiators clipped the West Vancouver Highlanders 82-76 as Steve Tsang scored 34 and Diego Marchese 14. Arnie Olsen led the Highlanders with 32. Eric Lockhart added 18. …………………………………………………… The Penticton Lakers nipped the Salmon Arm Gold 47-45 as Dan Brosseuk score 16 and Howard Dimier 10. The Lakers avenged three losses to the Gold over the course of the season. Hamish Tucker paced the Gold with 17. The Gold (coached by Ken Hecker) also included Ross MacKintosh, Kim Keehn, John Smith, Kevin Lee, Gregg LeFrance, Kevin Shockey, Jim Murphy, Bill Wallace, Peter Sperlich, Grant Adams and Harley Bostock. Hecker told the Salmon Arm Observor that his troops were looking past Penticton. “Our team wanted to play but maybe not the Penticton Lakers.” The Lakers led 31-20 at the half and 37-20 after three quarters. The Gold rallied with an 18-2 run down the stretch as their press yielded major dividends but fell just short of completing the comeback.
In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Prince George Duchess Park Condors clubbed the Courtenay G.P. Vanier Towhees 83-46 as Karl Bush scored 21, Pat West 20, Kent Stanley 14, Mike Suderman 12, Brian Frenkel 10 and Brad Frenkel 6. The Condors led 20-10, 47-22 and 69-30 at the quarters. Condor guard Karl Bush, who was chosen player of the game after scoring 21, told the Prince George Citizen that “we couldn’t do anything, it seemed, in the first quarter. The butterflies got to us before the game but things finally came around.” Condors coach Bill Gook told the Vancouver Sun that “I’m really surprised they tried to run with us. Not many teams can play our kind of game.” Pat West added 20 for the Condors, and Kent Stanley 14. Brent Daniel led the Towhees with 14. Randy Boettcher added 9, Bob Hoeppner 6, Betts 6, Ron Short 4, Williams 3, Ohl 2 and Cochrane 2. “To be honest, I don’t think we could have played any worse,” Towhees coach Dave Vranjes told the Citizen. Vranjes said the Condors weren’t as good as 2nd-seeded Nanaimo, while assistant Detleff Kunz said “it’s not sour grapes just because they bombed us but I don’t think Duchess Park will win because I don’t think they’re fundamentally sound enough.” …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Nanaimo District Islanders clipped the Richmond Matthew McNair Marlins 53-40. The Islanders used a 17-0 run in the first half and a 23-8 run down the stretch to pull out the win. Jim Jordbro led the Islanders with 16. David Brown added 16, Kurt Kelly 12, Dan Steffes 7 and Terry Nohr 2. Brad Willock led the Marlins with 14. Ray Bryant added 12, Jake Harms 6, Chris Frehlich 6 and Samuels 2. The Marlins also included Neil Strohan. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Steveston Packers dumped the Duncan Cowichan Thunderbirds 74-41. The Packers, with no starter taller than 6-1, contained 6-9 Thunderbirds post Gret Walters. “Cowichan had to really thread the needle to get the ball to him,” Packers coach Kent Chapell told the Vancouver Sun. “That’s because we hustled. We had front-side and backside help. And Paul Roberts (primary defender) played his finest game in two years for me.” Paul Roberts led the Packers with 24. Rod Jensen added 21, Carkner 16, Noble 5, Porteous 4 and Waite 4. The Packers led 31-28 at the half and 53-42 after three quarters and then opened the final frame with a 16-0 run. Packers coach Kent Chapell told Canadian Press that Paul Roberts played “his best game for me in two years. I thought we did a super job on their big kid. And it was all because of hustle.” Chappell told the Richmond Observor that “I haven’t seen our team shoot that poorly in a long time. … they play a pretty good zone with a 6-9 guy in the middle. When we ran today, we looked good. When we stood around, we looked awful. I thought we did a super job on their big kid (6-9 Greg Walters) all because of hustle. In the first quarter, they hardly got it to him at all. That’s the key to us. We have to scrap for everything we get.” Greg Walters led the Thunderbirds with 20. Mike Goulden added 12, Gary Stockford 9, Wally Jung 8, Doman 4, Heuser 4, Stinson 2 and Mansreti 2. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Richmond Colts whipped the Penticton Lakers 85-64. The Colts rallied from a 55-54 deficit to take command down the stretch after Lakers guard Jim Meiklejohn fouled out with 1:44 to play in the third quarters. The Colts pressure promptly began forcing turnovers. Tait led Colts with 34. Sebellin added 14, Kavelaars 14, Dennis 13, Gayton 6, Scrubb 2 and S Kamp 2. Dan Brosseuk led the Lakers with 31. Scott Drossos added 12, Howard Dimier 12, Jim Meiklejohn 6, Achen 2 and McKay 1. …………………………………………………… The North Surrey Spartans clubbed the Prince Rupert Rainmakers 92-57 after leading 27-12, 46-30 and 69-40 at the quarters. Jay Derksen led the Spartans with 21. Joe Deanna added 18, Tim Gaukel 16, John Randa 15, Attfield 9, Gibson 4, Dhaliwal 2, Beauchamp 2, Bittner 2, Rastiainen 2 and Martin 1. Jackson led the Rainmakers with 14. Nelson added 8, M Basso 8, Nicholls 6, Lewis 6, Shrubsell 4, J Basso 4, D Basso 2, McNish 2 and Fregian 1. …………………………………………………… The Coquitlam Centennial Centaurs whipped the Trail J.L. Crowe Hawks 86-69 despite playing without star guard Dennis Parolan (injured ankle). Andy McClelland paced the Centaurs with 23. Anderson added 17, Martinello 15, Fraser 12, Kostik 6, Yule 4, Fockan 4, Welbourne 3 and Paton 2. Johnson led the Hawks with 24. Coupland added 14, Caputo 9, Twidale 7, Both 6, McNamme 4, Sautin 3 and Lawton 2. …………………………………………………… The North Vancouver Handsworth Royals nipped the Abbotsford Panthers 62-61. The Royals trailed with 60-54 with 1:33 to play. They knotted the score at 60. Panther Randy Puder hit a free throw but 6-5 post Paul King hit the winner with two seconds to play. Bruce Barnett paced the Royals with 17. Bob London added 15, Dave Jones 11, King 9, McDonald 8 and Rainer 2. Simon Hoogewerf scored 15 to lead the Panthers (coached by Sam Vandermeulen). Paul Bhogal added 13, Randy Puder 11, Glen Anderson 10, Ian Kerr 9 and Dave Olson 2. Panthers coach Sam Vandermeulen told the Abbotsford News that a no-call on a travel on the winning bucket proved the difference. The Royals led 23-22 at the half. Hoogewerf fouled out with five minutes to play and the Panthers coughed up the ball twice against the press in the final minute. The Panthers hit a free throw with eight seconds to play but didn’t transition on defence, leaving Paul King alone under the basket to score the winner. The Panthers (coached by Vandermeulen) also included Kevin Northup, Al Barker. …………………………………………………… The Vancouver Gladstone Gladiators edged the Vernon Panthers 75-71. The Gladiators relinquished an 11-0 Panther run down the stretch before Steve Tsang hit an insurance bucket with 28 seconds to play. Diego Marchese paced the Gladiators with 24. Steve Tsang added 12, Langford 11, Jeff Stanford 9, Bring 8, Johnson 5 and Daley 5. Olson led the Panthers with 24. DeLeenheer added 18, Haak 4, Collingridge 8, Hanson 5 and Arkell 4.
In the quarterfinals, the Prince George Duchess Park Condors defeated the North Vancouver Handsworth Royals 66-44 and Brian Frenkel scored 21, Karl Bush 19, Mike Suderman 9, Kent Stanley 8, Pat West 7 and Carpenter 3. The Condors led 36-24 at the half. Bush was chosen player of the game for the Condors. “We just weren’t ready for this game,” Brian Frenkel told the Prince George Citizen. “We just weren’t psyched.” Handsworth coach Ed Pedersen said “we just couldn’t get inside their zone. We used a lot of stalls, running the30-second clock down to a few seconds before shooting because we didn’t want to get into a run and gun with them or they would smash us.” Barnett paced the Royals with 16. London added 10, King 6, Jones 4, Molgat 2, McDonald 2, Davies 2 and Rainer 2.
The Richmond Colts dispatched the North Surrey Spartans 95-82 as Alan Tait scored 48, Dennis 14, Gayton 14, Lloyd Scrubb 8, Sedelin 6, Kavelaars 4 and Skemp 1. Deanna paced the Spartans with 24. Landa added 20, Gaukel 14, Derksen 14, Gibson 8 and Attfield 2.
The 2nd-seeded Nanaimo District Islanders edged the Vancouver Gladstone Gladiators 62-60 despite nearly squandering a 16-point (38-22) half-time lead. Kurt Kelly paced the Islanders with 18. Terry Nohr added 14, Dan Steffes 11, Jordbro 10, Brown 4, Plater 2 and Dorsay 2. Steve Tsang led the Gladiators with 16. Jeff Stanford added 14, Diego Marchese 10, Langford 8, Bring 8, Wendell Williams 2 and Ron Daley 2. The Gladiators (coached by Bill Ruby) also included Mike Johnson, Francis Fong, Jim Vander Ploes.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Steveston Packers defeated the Coquitlam Centennial Centaurs 56-51. The Centaurs played without star guard Dennis Parolin but tied the game at 49 with three minutes to play. But Rod Jensen iced the win for the Packers with four free throws and two steals. Jensen led the Packers with 18. Carkner added 14, Roberts 14, Waite 4, Porteous 2 and Noble 2. Anderson paced the Centaurs with 18. McClelland added 9, Martinello 8, Welbourne 6, Paton 4, Fraser 4 and Kostic 2.
In the semis, the Prince George Duchess Park Condors defeated the Richmond Colts 61-59 after rallying from behind in the fourth quarter. Richmond led 51-46 with seven minutes to go when Kent Stanley tied it at 51 with 6:11 to go shortly after Karl Bush had completed a three-point play. Richmond’s Dan Dennis hit a bucket to knot the score at 55-55 with 3:54 to go. Bush and then Mike Suderman hit field goals to give Duchess Park a 59-55 lead. The Colts Rob Kavelaars cut the margin to two but Bush hit a field goal to give Duchess Park a 61-57 lead with 1:49 to go. Both teams made a series of wild misses before Colt Alan Tait hit a field goal with 14 seconds to go. Richmond pressed and twice knocked the ball out of bounds. With five seconds to go in a scramble for position, Suderman clobbered Kavelaars. Richmond received the ball and Dennis passed it in to Tait who pulled for a 20-footer which was partially blocked by Suderman. The shot fell short. Colt coach Bill Drisbow claimed Tait had been fouled. “It looked like a gross foul. Al got hammered. It wasn’t even close.” But Suderman said he only “tipped the ball a bit. But I didn’t hit him. They were going to complain anyway.” Bush finished with 17, 6-4 Mike Suderman 14, Pat West 12, point guard Kent Stanley 10, and 6-4 Brian Frenkel 8. Alan Tait led Richmond with 31 points. Kavelaars added 12, Dennis 6 and Gayton 4.
In the other semi, the Nanaimo District Islanders used good tough defense and dominated the boards as they took a 21-8 first quarter lead over the Steveston Packers. But Steveston rallied to within six at 56-50 in the fourth quarter before some timely hoops by 6-6 Dan Steffes led Nanaimo to its 67-55 victory. Steffes finished with 26, Jim Jordbro 13, Kurt Kelly 9, Brown 6, Mohr 6, Richardson 4 and Dorsey 3. Steveston was led by Corkner 16, Roberts 16, Jensen 14, Harris 5, Waite 2 and Noble 2.
In the bronze medal match, the Richmond Colts defeated the Steveston Packers 82-67 as Alan Tait scored 36, Dan Dennis 12, Rob Kavelaars 12, Gayton 8, Sebellin 7, Skamp 5 and Lloyd Scrubb 2. The Colts led 22-16, 47-34 and 62-47 at the quarters. Colts coach Bill Drisbow told the Richmond Observor that “I was really proud of them. We were pretty down after yesterday and it was nice to win. … The only thing I didn’t want was to be 3rd of the three (Richmond) teams out there. Lloyd came in did a real good job. He got us running.” Rod Jensen led the Packers with 16. Randy Carkner added 16, Paul Roberts 13, Meiklejohn 12, Noble 6 and Porteus 4. The Packers (coached by Kent Chappell) also included Brian Waite.
In the final, the 1980s began with a title for a Northern B.C. school as the Prince George Duchess Park Condors, led by Karl Bush, proved their number one ranking was entirely justified by crushing the Nanaimo Islanders 57-40. The disciplined Condors took a 24-20 lead at the half before Nanaimo rallied to tie the score. Sub Brad Frenkel came off the bench to score 5 and steal the ball twice to key a rally which put the Condors ahead 41-32. Kurt Kelly and Jim Jordbro rallied Nanaimo to within five but Karl Bush and Kent Stanley hit buckets to stretch the Condors lead back to nine. Dan Steffes intercepted a pass and tried to slam dunk it, but missed. Duchess Park responded with a 4-0 run and Nanaimo was only able to score two more hoops in the final eight minutes and none in the final four and a half as Duchess Park went on an 8-0 run to close out the win. Bush finished with 18, Brian Frenkel 12, Stanley 12, Suderman 6, Brad Frenkel 5 and Pat West 4. The Condors out-rebounded Nanaimo 48-31 and committed just eight turnovers to Nanaimo’s 22. Nanaimo was led by Dan Steffes 18, Jim Jordbro 10, Kurt Kelly 10 and Nohr 2. Bush told the Prince George Citizen that “I don’t think it’s really hit us yet. The game against Richmond was supposed to be the best game of the tournament and it was, but I don’t think this is anticlimactic. Our forwards, Mike, Pat and Brian, might lack the height but it’s quickness that makes the difference. We just started running them because we knew they couldn’t keep up with us. We’ve been playing together so long now, we know what each other’s going to do.” Brian Frenkel noted that “everyone says there was no bench. It was super seeing your own brother coming off the bench and doing the things he did. He was super. When you come down and playing your last basketball game with a team like this, it gets adrenalin going, you just have to play super. We hustled a lot more. We’re a lot faster. We beat them on the boards because we blocked out. We wanted it more. We don’t feel too much but, in a week, we’ll be sky high. I just gave 110 per cent. I guess I just showed a lot of hustle and it spread to the other guys.” Mike Suderman said “they were aggressive but I think it was our position (on the boards). It seemed like the refs weren’t calling everything. … The score should have been a lot higher. Coming into it, we knew it was going to be close. We didn’t get overly psyched but we were ready.” Kent Stanley said “I felt all year long we were the best. I don’t feel it yet but when it does hit, it’ll probably hit like a ton of bricks.” Coach Bill Gook said “I knew if it was close at halftime we would win. It was just a matter of time before we got running. We started playing our game at the end. We were able to run and penetrate. This is something we’ve worked for since we came home from last year’s tournament. We were ready for them this year and we felt everyone had to adjust to us this time.” Nanaimo coach John Levering told the Vancouver Sun that his team lost its discipline and lacked intensity. Gook told the Sun that his Condors “just kept running at them. We knew their big men couldn’t keep up with ours. We pushed them and it worked.” Levering told the Vancouver Sun “our team discipline went out the window. Some of kids started making mistakes, and getting down on themselves. They held their discipline and we didn’t. We didn’t have any intensity tonight. It just wasn’t there. You don’t give a ball club like that third or fourth chances.” Gook told the Nanaimo Times that “we’re very evenly matched and play the same sort of game. Speed is the difference.”
The bronze medalist Richmond Colts: Dan Dennis; Rob Kavellars; Alan Tait; Sebellin; Butch Gayton; Lloyd Scrubb; Skamp; Norm Dhaliwal; Randy Samuels; coach Bill Drisbow
The silver medalist Nanaimo District Islanders: Dan Steffes; Jim Jordbro; Kurt Kelly; Terry Nohr; Dave Brown; Pierre Ratini; Jim Richardson; Mark Wheatcroft; Jim Reynolds; Tom Dorsay; Chris Plater; coach John Levering
The gold medalist Prince George Duchess Park Condors: Kent Stanley; Mike Suderman; Karl Bush; Pat West; Brian Frenkel; Brad Frenkel; Danny Foucher; coach Bill Gook