In the qualifiers and wildcard matches: The Kamloops Red Devils torched the Fort St. John North Peace Oscars 105-67. …………………………………………………… The Vancouver College Fighting Irish edged the North Delta Huskies 84-82. The Huskies (coached by Bill Edwards) included Kelly Gordon, Dean Akhurst, Mitch Berger.
In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The 5th-ranked Pitt Meadows Marauders set an opening round record with a 109-93 defeat of Nelson L.V. Rogers Bombers in the highest scoring game in tournament history and the first time two teams topped the 200-point barrier. “I didn’t know we’d set the record but I had a feeling it was close,” said Pitt Meadows coach Rich Goulet told the Vancouver Sun. “The funny thing is, with the exception of one game, we’ve really played good defence the last six weeks.” Dan Beebe led the Marauders with 31. Mitch McNichol added 20, Derek Welsh 16, Dean Duthie 11, Al Tuchscherer 10, Sean Disdero 4, Ian Ramage 4 and Jason Harmston 2. Taras Maslechko paced the Bombers with 30. James Klassen added 28, Bryan Potkins 18, Rick Sweet 8, Chris Bean 4, Corey Scnalon 2, David Norman 2 and Michael Brown 1. …………………………………………………… The 4th-ranked Vancouver John Oliver Jokers clipped the Terrace Caledonia Kermodes 72-62. The Kermodes led 38-29 late in the first half but the Jokers awoke and rallied to within 40-38 at the half. “We were panicking there for a while,” Joker guard Steve Patrick, who scored 27, told the Vancouver Sun. “It was very close – we were down by only two or three with a minute and a half to go,” Caledonia coach Phil Letham told the Terrace News. “We led most of the way. We were up at half and we were up at three-quarter time and up for most of the fourth quarter, actually. … It was a disappointing loss. A real heartbreaker.” Alex Theodorov added 14 for the Jokers, Onkar Hayre 13, William Vannen 8, Jeff Colvin 5, Lance Hakim 2, Rod Delrosario 2 and Ray Nierva 1. Steve Dewacht led the Kermodes with 19. Jackie Brown added 16, John Favela 9, Andy Davis 6, Arnie Pelletier 6, Dave Hogg 4, Dave Owens 2 and Ginger Minhas 2. The Kermodes (coached by Letham, managed by Ken Chernko) also included Tyler Eastman, Mike Hogg, Frank Genaille, Darian Brown and Stephen Salanski. “They (Dewacht and Brown) both played tremendous games,” Letham said. “This team is extremely strong — that’s why it was so disappointing for us to lose. We actually had a shot at it, which we’ve never had before.” …………………………………………………… The Maple Ridge Ramblers clubbed the Williams Lake Columneetza Cougars 96-71 as Craig Upshaw scored 28, Dean Adams 25, Bryan Kinney 9, Kris Saether 9, Chris Carson 9, Jovo Bikic 4, Chris Smith 3, Craig Draper 2 and Chad Runquist 2. “I think our chances of winning the tournament are excellent,” said Upshaw, a Halifax native and the younger brother of former collegiate star Ted Upshaw, told the Vancouver Sun. “We have the inside game and the outside game.” Jason Kerley paced the Cougars (coached by Dave Chambers) with 23. Dulver Basra added 16, Par Johal 11, Kevin Brocker 8, Bobby Sandhu 6, Dave Cook 4, John Ashley 2 and Hardeep Bains 1. …………………………………………………… The Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles stomped the Nanaimo District Islanders 89-64 as Prentice Lenz scored 38, Chad Schmidt 24, Darren Spenst 17, Nathan Janzen 8 and Randy Loewen 2. “When Prentice is on, we go to him,” Eagles coach Arnold Dick told the Vancouver Sun. “If he’s rolling, it opens up things for the other guys as well.” Mike James paced the Islanders with 16. Brett Nohr added 13, Rob Turner 12, Hugh Mitenko 12, Aaron Little 6, Sage Coburn 2, Quentin Goetz 2 and Rick Davidson 1. Islanders coach Rick Paquette told the Nanaimo Daily News that “we actually came out well. They guys were pretty pumped for the game. We came out right from the gun and had them down 14-6. … Then the lights went out. … Everything we shot didn’t go down. Everybody had a hard time shooting. They ball just didn’t seem to drop for anybody. … The game plan was to shut down Prentice Lenz and he scored 28. Our defence, we’ve been known to play really strong defence, was quite suspect tonight.” The Islanders (coached by Paquette, assistant Jim Duddridge) also included Geoff Whiting, Casey Fuller, Jason Bishop. …………………………………………………… The West Vancouver Sentinel Spartans nipped the Vancouver College Fighting Irish 86-84 as Derek Christiansen scored 45, Ian Henson 13, Mark Pearmain 12, Ryan Charles 8, Luke Meyer 6 and Steve Harold 2. An attempted trey by Finbarr O’Reilly at the buzzer fell short as the Fighting Irish sought a miracle win. David Williscroft led the Fighting Irish with 28, Finbarr O’Reilly added 22, Vince Danielson 15, Greg McDonnell 12, Jamie Paredes 2, Ciaran Feenan 2, Greg Silva 2 and Gerard Kelly 1. The Fighting Irish (coached by John Kavelac and Doug Beers, manager Bill Burrows) also included David Doherty, Colin Campbell, Matt Nathanson, Kent Woodward, Damian Kettelwell, Patrick Lynn and James Keough. …………………………………………………… The Vancouver Kitsilano Blue Demons dumped the Kamloops Red Devils 83-73 as Chris West 21 and Peter Rubin 19 before spraining his ankle late in the third quarter. Tony Poole added 17, Nick Reudy 12, Dave Autiero 6, Orlando Silva 5 and Jesse Katz 3. Blake Foster led the Red Devils with 25. Jerry Jack added 19, Graham Nickel 10, Chris Gremaud 8, Jason Gulliford 5, Colin Lyons 4 and Anthony Van Bergeyk 2. The Red Devils (coached by Jack Buckham) also included John Mujcin, Gary Tofflemire, Steve Seibel. …………………………………………………… The Victoria Oak Bay Bays defeated the Abbotsford Panthers 66-62 as post Chris Whittaker scored 20, German exchange student Yens Freudl 19, Andy Willmott 10, Eli Blake 7, Nathan Dyck 7 and Ian Auld 3. Dave Downey led the Panthers with 24. Bruce Hanik added 11, Jason Swan 6, Harry Gill 5, Harry Herar 4, David Meyer 3, Rob Arden 2, Tim Bartel 2 and John Downey 2, while Randy Ellis was scoreless. The Panthers (coached by Norm Bradley) also included Keith Evans.…………………………………………………… The top-ranked Richmond Colts smacked the Salmon Arm Gold 100-56 as Andrew Zawada scored 24, Mark Craven 18, Derek Smith 10, Graeme Lindsay 10, Jason Pamer 10, Elbert Paul 10, Trevor Kojima 7, Erik Henderson 6 and Glen Campbell 5. The Colts received an enormous contribution off the bench. Colts coach Bill Drisbow told the Richmond Review that “I’m not the world’s best at substituting. I do favour the guys I’ve got in the starting line-up because I feel more confident with them sometimes. But I shouldn’t because this group has always gone in and done well.” John Mujcin led the Gold with 11. Jayson Kurtz added 10, Tim Carlson 8, Jordan Hlina 7, Kevin Beckner 4, Mike Bailey 4, Duane Burke 4, Cam Marr 3, Cameron McDougall 2, Brad Garbutt 2 and Sean Williams 1. Gold coach Brian Gibbons told the Salmon Arm Observor that his troops were intimidated by the top-ranked Colts. “At half-time, the score was 54-23. It wasn’t until the second half (that) we started to get a little more comfortable on the floor.” The Gold (coached by Brian Gibbons, manager Ted Steiger, manager Glen Halsey) also included Ryan McGill, Shane Thompson, Tim Carlson and Garth Penner.
In the quarterfinals, the 5th-seeded Pitt Meadows Marauders upset the top-seeded Richmond Colts 92-77 by using a full court press which clearly befuddled the Colts. Derek Welsh scored 31, Dan Beebe 13, Dean Duthie 13, Ian Ramage 10, Al Tuschscherer 10, Mitch McNichol 9 and Jeremy Reichert 6. The Marauders outscored the Colts 51-36 in the second half. “Sweet, this is sweet,” Marauders coach Rich Goulet told the Vancouver Sun. Goulet said he picked up a few tricks from John Oliver coach Joe Kainer in crafting the game plan. “The Jokers showed us that if you get on every man full-court Richmond will wear down because they’ve got so many big guys bring the ball up the court. I think coming from a school like Pitt Meadows helped us too. These guys have played together for five years and I think they’ve got a little more heart than Richmond (which is grade 11 and 12 exclusively).” Richmond coach Bill Disbrow said “we just didn’t play intelligently. And I knew talking to some of the kids – I was talking to zombies. … We were so tight, and we wanted to win so badly that we just didn’t play basketball.” Drisbow told the Richmond Review that Goulet’s proposition that the Marauders man-to-man defence proved the difference was ludicrous “He can say all those things about coaching. But it was just a case of one group that was loose and playing hard, and one that was too tight to think. … We have a totally difference approach than some of these people (i.e., Goulet) who think they’re the greatest in the world. By the way, it’s the first victory by a valley coach over Richmond High. This might be noted by all those hotheads who think they’re the greatest coaches in history. … Some of the kids just had a bit of trouble dealing with the high expectations of winning. We don’t feel like we got beaten by better teams. We were beaten by ourselves.” Andrew Zawada paced the Colts with 18. Mark Craven added 17, Trevor Kojima 16, Glen Campbell 8, Graeme Lindsay 8, Jason Pamer 6 and Elbert Paul 2. The Colts (coached by Bill Drisbow) also included Mark Twyford, Erik Henderson and Derek Smith.
The Maple Ridge Ramblers outlasted the West Vancouver Sentinel Spartans 76-61 as Dean Adams scored 25, Craig Upshaw 24, Kris Saether 8, Bryan Kinney 7, Chris Carson 6, Chris Smith 4 and Derek Exner 2. Derek Christiansen led the Spartans with 16. Ryan Charles added 16, Mark Pearmain 14, Ian Hanson 12 and Luke Meyer 3. “When you lose to a team like that, you don’t mind it so much,” Sentinel coach Ken Sherk told the Vancouver Sun. “We had our chances, but we didn’t put the ball in the basket.”
The Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles stunned the 4th-seeded Vancouver John Oliver Jokers 76-43 as Darren Spenst shutdown Joker gunner Onkar Hayre in the second half. Hayre had nailed 5 treys in the first half before Eagles coach Arnie Dick shifted Spenst onto him. MEI promptly ripped off a 19-0 run in the third quarter. Prentice Lenz paced the Eagles with 20. Darren Spenst added 17, Chad Schmidt 14, Nathan Janzen 13, Randy Loewen 6 and Mike Stemens 6. Onkar Hayre led the Jokers with 26. Steve Patrick added 14, Alex Theodorov 12, Lance Hakim 6, William Vannen 5 and Jeff Colvin 2. The Jokers (coached by Joe Kainer) also included Rod Delrosario.
In the last quarterfinal, the Vancouver Kitsilano Blue Demons dispatched the Victoria Oak Bay Bays 84-76 as Jessie Katz scored 29, Chris West 15, point guard Nick Ruedy 14, while repeatedly breaking the Bays down off the dribble, Tony Poole 12, Peter Rubin 6, Dave Autiero 2, Orlando Silva 2 and Sebastian Smitsdorf 1. “Pound for pound Tony Poole is probably the best post player around,” Oak Bay coach Dave Hutchings told the Vancouver Sun. Chris Whittaker paced the Bays with 21. Yens Freudl added 18, Andy Wilmott 16, Nathan Dyck 12, Ian Auld 7 and Eli Blake 2.
In the semis, the Pitt Meadows Marauders nipped the second-ranked Vancouver Kitsilano Blue Demons 69-65 as Al Tuschscherer scored 24, including 11 in the final quarter, Don Beebe 20, Mitch McNichol 12, Dean Duthie 6 and Jason Pattullo 6. Tony Poole pace the Blue Demons with 18. Peter Rubin added 13, Chris West 13, Jesse Katz 13, Nick Reudy 6 and Dave Auterio 2.
In the other semi, the Maple Ridge Ramblers defeated the Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles 72-52 as Dean Adams scored 31, Craig Upshaw 12, Kris Saether 7, Chris Smith 6, Scott Malkoske 6, Bryan Kinney 5, Chris Carson 4 and Chad Runquist 1. Prentice Lenz apced the Eagles with 19. Chad Schmidt added 14, Darren Spenst 9, Randy Loewen 6 and Nathan Janzen 4.
In the bronze medal match, senior guard Prentice Lenz scored 38 as the Clearbrook M.E.I. Eagles defeated Vancouver Kitsilano Blue Demons 83-70. With the 38 points, Lenz finished with 256 points to become the tournament’s leading scorer. Chad Schmidt added 14, Darren Spenst 14, Nathan Janzen 9, Randy Loewen 6 and Greg Dyck 2. Jesse Kata paced the Blue Demons with 21. Tony Poole added 20, Peter Rubin 17, Orlando Silva 7, Nick Reudy 3 and Dave Autiero 2. The Blue Demons were without star centre Acron Eger, who disappeared during a boating mishap in the Caribbean over the course of the Christmas break. The Blue Demons (coached by John Green, assistant Stan Lawson, managers Katie Starling and Angela Panter) also included Chris West, Misha Zibin, Trent Pearce, Nanuk Worman and Sebastian Smitsdorf.
The final, before an audience of 5,000, represented the fifth meeting of the season between the Pitt Meadows Marauders and Maple Ridge Ramblers. The Ramblers had won three of four from Pitt Meadows during Fraser Valley play and fully expected to conquer their rivals again. The Marauders didn’t even have a basketball program a decade earlier when coach Rich Goulet arrived at the school. But using a zone press and a triangle-and-two defence to stifle Dean Adams and Craig Upshaw, Pitt Meadows took a 39-33 lead at the half and a 50-43 lead at the three-quarter mark. But leading 55-43, Pitt Meadows began to crack. Maple Ridge rallied to within five at 58-53 with a minute to go. Adams cut the margin to three. Don Beebe missed a field goal and Adams three pointer to tie it was blocked by Al Tuschscherer. Adams grabbed the rebound and hit a field goal to pull Maple Ridge within one 58-57 with 12 seconds to go. But tourney MVP Derek Welsh was able to dribble out the remaining seconds on the clock. “Intense defense won it for us,” Welsh told the Vancouver Sun. “We kept the tempo up. They tried to slow it down but we kept running. We were intense the whole way. Al kept Adams in check and the rest of the team put in a hell of an effort.” Tuschscherer held Adams in check while Beebe contained Upshaw. “We peaked at the right time.” Coach Rich Goulet, who added an AAA crown to the three AA titles he’d won in 19 years, said that “it was all desire. The key to the win was our press early in the game. (Dean) Adams and (Craig) Upshaw were shut down for virtually half the game. Al (Tuchscherer) and Dan (Beebe) did great jobs at that. It was just a great team effort. … I had a feeling Friday night that we were going to do it. I thought everything was coming together, although this wasn’t an easy team to coach. It was a struggle trying to hope they stay committed what with parties and all the normal stuff 16 and 17-year-old kids like to do.” It was Pitt Meadows debut in the AAA division. Maple Ridge coach Ken Dockendorf said his team “didn’t put it into overdrive until it was too late. Their press did a fine job on us and we did a bad job of getting the ball inside. … The key tonight was that (Pitt Meadows) had to work harder throughout the tournament. We didn’t have to turn it on as much as they did – that’s what it came down to. They were just a little more prepared for the final battle.” Tournament MVP Derek Welsh led Pitt Meadows with 17. Al Tuschscherer added 13, Dan Beebe 12, Dean Duthie 12 and Jeremy Reichelt 4. Maple Ridge was paced by 6-5 grade 11 center and Halifax-transfer Craig Upshaw’s 24. Dean Adams added 18, Bryan Kinney 5, Kris Saether 4, Chris Smith 4 and Chris Carson 2. Goulet told the Sun that the rebuilding program was a joint effort. “I didn’t do it alone, you can’t do it alone. You have to have other coaches in your program working with the kids. Ron Wallsmith and Steve Vandervelden deserve a lot of credit for our victory.” Marauder Bryan Kinney was chosen defensive player of the tournament.
The bronze Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles: Prentice Lenz; Chad Schmidt; Darren Spenst; Nathan Janzen; Randy Loewen; Greg Dyck; Mike Stemens; coach Arnie Dick
The silver medalist Maple Ridge Ramblers: Dean Adams; Craig Upshaw; Jovo Bikic; Rob Forsyth; Bryan Kinney; Kris Saether; Chris Smith; Chris Carson; Scott Malkoske; Chad Runquist; Derek Exner; Craig Draper; coach Ken Dockendorf
The gold medalist Pitt Meadows Marauders: Derek Welsh; Dan Beebe; Dean Duthie; Mitch McNichol; Al Tuschscherer; Sean Disdero; Ian Ramage; Jason Harmston; Jeremy Reichelt; Jason Pattullo; coach Rich Goulet; assistant Ron Wallsmith; assistant Steve Vandervelden