In the play-in wildcard game, The Kamloops Red Devils spanked the Maple Ridge Ramblers 86-70 as Mark Norman scored 21. Scott McNabb led the Ramblers with 16. The Ramblers (coached by Ken Dockendorf) also included Keith Weber, Trent Riggins, Greg Bentley, Steve Hosein, Robin Wishart, Russel Wagner.
In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The West Vancouver Highlanders opened the tourney with a display of clutch shooting and tough defence in the fourth quarter as they defeated the Vancouver College Fighting Irish 58-48. Guard Steve Louie and Paul Kitchener each scored three field goals in an 18-6 fourth quarter outburst. Each finished with 13 points, while Eric Lockhart added 12, Matt Macleod 10, Eric Termansen 6 and Don Mustard 4. Tony Medic led the Fighting Irish with 16. Tom Zavadil added 12, Ron Adair 8, Michael Correa 6, Rod Hemming 4 and Sean Koban 2, while Mike Torresan and Mike Kowalchuk were scoreless. The Fighting Irish (coached by Earl Farenholtz) also included Antonio Alvares, James Zaniol, Mike Kowalchyuk, Aubrey Farenholtz, Paul Brown and Lester Chow. …………………………………………………… The North Vancouver Argyle Pipers clipped the Vancouver Notre Dame Jugglers 72-61 as Mark Marter scored 31, Steve Pawlett 18, Ken Wright 10, Jason Brown 7 and Tim Mills 6. Greg Porter led the Jugglers with 18. Mitch Wiwichar added 15, Robert Morretto 8, Pino Perovic 8, Rob Pettonen 6 and George Karasovidis 6, while Andre Bleim, Angelo Bonaman and David Renzullo were scoreless. Pipers coach Bob Molinski told Canadian Press that “I don’t think we played very well at all.” …………………………………………………… The Kelowna Owls dispatched the Mission Roadrunners 60-52 as Glenn Ennis scored 26, Dave Semper 10, Jim Johansson 8, Paul Johansson 8, Andy Warren 4, Mike Large 2 and Steve Fagan 2. Kenny Braich scored 22 to pace the Roadrunners. Vladimir Rus added 17, Mike Jacobse 6, Rob Seward 6 and Dwight Unrah 1, while Steven Trask were scoreless. The Roadrunners (coached by Brian Fichter) also included Darshan Gill. Kelowna coach Jack Hoy told Canadian Press “the kids had opening round jitters and hopefully, they’re out of our system now.” …………………………………………………… The Vancouver Killarney Cougars clubbed the Kamloops Red Devils 89-62 as Terry Saik scored 32, Paul Verrett 14, Bruce McDonald 14, Steve McKean 6, Henry Nowak 5, Rob Halili 4, Greg Oyhenart 4, Glen Bawder 4, Tony Falcone 4 and Kirk Heaven 2. Cougars coached Tom Tagami told the Vancouver Sun that “there was no way they could match us inside. If they came out shooting hot from outside, it would have been a different game. Fortunately for us, they were cold outside. As the ball came off the hoop, we were scooping it up. And we forced them farther outside than they wanted to be.” Jack Bryson led the Red Devils with 14. Darren Hall added 12, Matthew Sharman 10, Mark Norman 7, Vito De Cicco 5, Brad Balance 4, Sandro Fontana 4, Kent McDonnel 3, Mike Ciprick 2 and John Trotta 2. …………………………………………………… The Victoria Oak Bay Bays clipped the Prince George Duchess Park Condors 69-56 as Graham Taylor scored 28, David Whitaker 18, John Thauberger 14, Ron Jacklin 4, David Johnston 4 and Darren Laur 1. Rob Carpenter led the Condors (coached by Dan Foster) with 15. Dan George added 9, Brad Frenkel 8, Lance Bulmer 7, Phil Foucher 6, Orlando Bush, John Tolkamp 4 and Jack Berry 2. Condors coach Dan Foster told the Prince George Citizen that “our outside shooting was bad. It hurt us. We tried to go inside but it was tough. We rebounded well, though. … We went to a man-to-man to get ourselves running and to stop this guy (Taylor) but he kept shooting anyway. …………………………………………………… The New Westminster Hyacks dispatched the Victoria Mount Douglas Rams 82-74 as Stuart Watson scored 28, Sean Murphy 24, Dan Glavind 8, Cam Nelson 8, Davinder Sidhu 5, Andrew Conway 3, Tom Davies 2 and Scott McComb 2. Hyacks coach Ken Bowman told the Vancouver Sun that “I told the kids the first game was the most important one and they played just super basketball. I couldn’t have been more pleased.” Doug Malpass led the Rams with 21. Chris Mosher added 17, Daryn Lansdell 15, Warren Mar 12, Ken Passmore 8 and Brian McLean 1. The Rams (coached by Rick Humber) also included Magdy Ghobrial, Cal Russell, Glen Leung, Keith Grew, Rick Howe and Ned Beatty. …………………………………………………… The Abbotsford Panthers clubbed the Prince Rupert Rainmakers 80-63 as Al Barker scored 24, Dave Lieschied 14, Jage Bhogal 12, Surinder Sarowa 10 and Chico Duncan 10. The Panthers led 19-12, 49-33 and 59-47 at the quarters. Marty Basso led the Rainmakers with 14. The Rainmakers also included Darrell Wulf, Wayne Gurney, Trevor Smart, Maurice Basso, Paul Lewis, Ted Frohlich. …………………………………………………… The Coquitlam Centennial Centaurs stomped the Nelson L.V. Rogers Bombers 68-38 after leading 31-18 at the half. Graham Sharpe paced the Centaurs with 24. Centaurs coach Rich Chambers told the Vancouver Sun “we didn’t play well and we haven’t been playing well for four games now.” The Bombers included Mike Masiechko, Lee Skelton, Gerry Montgomery, Mark Haddie, Justin Harty, John Devries, Richard Wong. Paul Foster.
In the quarterfinals, the West Vancouver Highlanders defeated the Coquitlam Centennial Centaurs 53-44 with a stifling 2-3 zone. Paul Kitchener scored 16, Matt Macleod 14, Erick Lockhart 10, Steve Louie 8 and Don Mustard 6. Graham Sharpe led the Centaurs with 15. Kevin Parkinson added 12, Rob Lawson 8, Mike O’Kane 4, Brian Brown 2, Paul Parolin 2 and Brett Meredith 1, while Devin Young was scoreless. The Centaurs (coached by Rich Chambers) also included Mike O’Kane, Brian Englund, Marcel Gareau. Centennial coach Rich Chambers told the Vancouver Sun that “they’re older and more experienced than we are. It was my fault. I just didn’t have the kids ready for their 2-3 zone. We never got our offence going.”
The Abbotsford Panthers clocked the Vancouver Killarney Cougars 77-60 as Swinder Sarowa scored 23, Chico Duncan 20, along with 8 steals, Al Barker 18, Jim Gallinger 8, Jage Bhogal 7 and Dave Lescheid 1. The Panthers led 16-15, 33-29 and 56-43 at the quarters, taking command in the third frame with a 14-0 run over the span of three minutes. Paul Verret led the Cougars with 18. Terry Saik added 11, Bruce McDonald 8, Glen Bauder 7, Steve McKean 6, Tony Falcone 6 and Rob Halili 4, while Len Barder was scoreless.
The North Vancouver Argyle Pipers defeated the Victoria Oak Bay Bays 64-58 as Steve Pawlett scored 24, Mark Marter 2 and Jason Brown 12. Graham Taylor led the Bays with 20. Ron Jacklin added 19. The Bays (coached by D Morgan and Rob Parris) also included Andrew Morrison, Darren Romano, John Thauberger, Darren Laur, Bob Bell, David Whittaker, David Johnston and Bruce Richmond.
In the last quarterfinal, the Kelowna Owls clubbed the New Westminster Hyacks 78-55. The Owls took a 15-2 lead while Hyack guard Jamie Stewart and Stuart Watson were each with three fouls in the first five minutes of play. Owls coach Jack Hoy told the Vancouver Sun “they ran a man-to-man defence against us in the first quarter. We had a size advantage and we used it to go inside to (Glenn) Ennis. And Paul Johannsson did a good job for us on the boards.” Paul Johansson led the Owls with 26. Glenn Ennis added 21 and Dave Semper 11. Sean Murphy paced the Hyacks with 21. Jamie Stewart added 9. Kelowna coach Jack Hoy told the Prince George Citizen that “Paul and (centre) Glenn Ennis did a good job on the boards for us.” Argyle coach Bob Molinski said “we can’t afford to lose (Mark) Marter (to fouls) and he did a good job of staying out of trouble in the second half.”
In the semis, the West Vancouver Highlanders defeated the Kelowna Owls 67-56 and avenged a mid-January loss which had seen c Glenn Ennis score 30 for Kelowna. But West Vancouver held Ennis to 12 points before he fouled out as they dominated the contest. Eric Lockhart scored 18 and grabbed eight rebounds, including four on the offensive glass, while Paul Kitchener scored 24 and grabbed 18 rebounds. Kelowna was paced by Dave Semper’s 18 points and Paul Johansson’s 16. Glenn Ennis added 12. West Vancouver coach Bill Upson told the Vancouver Sun that Kelowna “was keying on Lockhart. He took a lot of physical punishment under the boards but he stood his ground. And we were able to score at critical times.”
In the other semi, the province’s top-rated squad, the North Vancouver Argyle Pipers, controlled the tempo with its smooth passing and ballhandling and hounded the Abbotsford Panthers with a tough pressing zone, patrolled at the baseline by centre Mark Marter, as it breezed to a 57-44 (also reported as 52-44) victory. Argyle was ahead 32-17 at the half. Marter finished with 16 points, guard Tim Mills 12 and Steve Pawlett 10. Abbotsford was led by Jage Bhogal’s 16 points. Al Barker added 11.
In the bronze medal match, the Abbotsford Panthers nipped the Kelowna Owls 72-70 as Al Barker scored 19, Jage Bhogal 12, Sheldon McGee 10, Jim Gallenger 10, Dave Lescheid 8, Chico Duncan 4, Surinder Sarowa 4, Jinder Sarowa 4 and Bob Fehr 1. Glenn Ennis paced the Owls with 39. Paul Johansson added 14, Dave Semper 6, John Phelps 4, Andy Warren 4, Mike Large 2 and Gordon Joyce 1.
The tourney final featured the first-ever all Howe Sound final between the top-ranked North Vancouver Argyle Pipers and West Vancouver Highlanders, coached by Brian Upson, who was retiring after 22 years at the helm of the Highlanders as a result of being stricken with cancer. Led by tournament MVP Paul Kitchener, who sank two foul shots with 13 seconds remaining in the title game, the Highlanders handed Upson a retirement gift by becoming the first North Shore team to appear in the final and the first North Shore team to win it. Upson died two weeks after the tourney. “I’m not the most religious person in the world, but I had to believe there was some kind of divine intervention there,” said co-coach Tom Rippon. West Vancouver had lost all three of its previous meeting with Argyle during the season but emerged victorious in the provincial final. The team had a meeting five days prior to the tourney and coaches Brian Upson and Tom Rippon had told the players they “hadn’t lived up to our potential.” Ranked number one early in the season, West Vancouver had lost its lustre with the defeats to Argyle, the latest of which had occurred in the Howe Sound playoffs, which Argyle won 60-46. Centre Eric Lockhart said the team meeting ultimately proved to be the “motivating factor” in West Vancouver’s run to the title. Argyle took a 12-10 lead at the quarter, but using its fast break offence and seamless defence, West Vancouver rallied to take a 25-16 lead at the half. Two free throws by Steve Pawlett put Argyle back in the lead at 46-45 but tourney MVP Paul Kitchener responded with a field goal to put West Vancouver ahead again. After Lockhart fouled Mike Marter under the boards, the 6-8 c put Argyle back in the lead with two free throws. Guard Steve Louie and Paul Kitchener each missed opportunities to give West Vancouver the lead but Mark Marter fouled Kitchener who was given three chances to make two with 13 seconds to go in the contest. He hit his first two free throws. “Kitchener came up with an unbelievable basket in a desperate situation,” said co-coach Rippon. West Vancouver switched to a man-to-man for the final 13 seconds and Marter’s shot from the top of the key to win it, rimmed out. Kitchener later noted that as he stepped up to the line for the winning free throws, “I was kind of nervous. I felt weak in my legs and in my arms. But we felt we had to win it for Brian.” Argyle coach Bob Molinski, a former U.B.C. star and a member of the Canadian men’s national team who was soon to become U.B.C. interim head coach, noted that “if we had to lose, I couldn’t lose to a better man.” Rippon noted that Upson’s presence inspired the team. “I think the fact that Brian was well enough to coach had an enormous amount to do with our victory.” Kitchener finished with 20 points, Erick Lockhart 14, Steve Louie 5, Matt Mcleod 4, Eric Termansen 4 and Don Mustard 1. Argyle was led by Pawlett’s 18 points. Jason Brown added 11, Mark Marter 10, Tim Mills 7 and Ken Wright 2.
The bronze medalist Abbotsford Panthers: Jage Bhogal; Al Barker; Surinder Sarowa; Chico Duncan; Jim Gallinger; Dave Lescheid; Sheldon McGee; Jinder Sarowa; Bob Fehr; Larry Clarkson; Mike Forsythe; coach Sam Vandermeulen
The silver medalist North Vancouver Argyle Pipers: Mark Marter; Tim Mills; Steve Pawlett; Jason Brown; Ken Wright; coach Bob Molinski
The gold medalist West Vancouver Highlanders: Paul Kitchener; Steve Louis; Erick Lockhart; Matt Macleod; Eric Termansen; Don Mustard; coach Brian Upson; coach Tom Rippon