In the wildcard qualifier opening round: …………………………………………………… The Salmon Arm Gold dispatched the Quesnel Correlieu Clan 96-68 as Kevin Beckner scored 30. Gold coach Brian Gibbons told the Salmon Arm Observor that the Gold “played well enough to win but we knew beforehand their defence wasn’t that great.” Correlieu coach Ed Nielsen told Canadian Press that a 650-kilometre trek to play a game wasn’t a problem. “We don’t mind travelling that far at all. We would have travelled twice as far for the experience.” …………………………………………………… The West Vancouver Highlanders nipped the Nanaimo John Barsby Wildcats 69-68 as Robin Mahood scored 18 and Anthony Findlay 16. Shawn King led the Wildcats with 23. Tony Bryce added 13 and Bogie Dhasi 13. The Wildcats (coached by Mark Simpson) also include Bob Wyse, Peter Presotto.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The Burnaby St. Thomas More Knights dumped the 3rd-seeded North Vancouver Windsor Dukes 77-64 despite trailing 31-29 at the half. Windsor coach Phil Langley told the Vancouver Province that his Dukes shot poorly. “Not one kid had a good game today. But you can’t take anything from St. Thomas More – they played very well.” The Knights forced the Dukes out on the perimeter. “We’ve been concentrating on defence and we worked hard at that today,” said St. Thomas More coach Joe Thierman. “We have to force teams outside and hope they won’t shoot well.” Ian Mykete led the Knights with 18. Guard Darren McCormick added 16, including four from beyond the arc, Eugene Agom 16 and Stewart Andrade 16. Brent Crowther paced Windsor with 17. Todd Langley added 14 and Blair Hokanson 14. The Dukes (coached by Phil Langley) also included Trevor Hancheroff, Sean Piekaar, Marc Hutchinson, Chris Obeck. It marked the first time that the Knights had beaten the Dukes in four games during the season. “They’re a good team. Every time we played them it was close,” said Langley. …………………………………………………… The Williams Lake Columneetza Cougars stunned the 5th-seeded Abbotsford Panthers 76-72 as Hardeep Bains scored 26 and Par Johal 23. The Cougars led 63-57 after three quarters. The Panthers tied the game at 70 with a minute to play as Devonne Friesen stole the ball and notched an and-one. Bains hit two free throws for the Cougars. Randy Ellis answered for the Panthers but Bains hit a jumper to give the Cougars the lead for good. John Downey paced the Panthers with 24. Randy Ellis added 14. The Panthers (coached by Jinder Sahowa) also included Bruce Hildebrand, Dave Meyer, Mike Trotman, Harry Gill, Devonne Friesen, Brett Morley and Gurpal Thiara. …………………………………………………… The West Vancouver Highlanders nipped the Prince Rupert Rainmakers 70-68 despite nearly blowing a 42-27 lead at the half. Greg Meldrum paced the Highlanders with 21. Nigel Parish added 17. The 6-5 Parish was returning from a severe charley-horse that had left him sidelined for three weeks. “It’s still sore when I play, but I can live with that,” Parish told the Vancouver Province, adding that his job was to “get the rebounds and put the ball in the hoop. … “They (doctors and physiotherapists) said that there is a risk I could do more damage, but it’s my last year and I wanted to come back and play.” The Rainmakers ripped off a 13-0 run early in the second half as they rallied from the half-time deficit. Rainmakers coach Mel Bishop said “our kids didn’t relax early on in the game. I thought we only played one good quarter.” Highlanders coach Tom Rippon was pleased with his troop’s poise down the stretch. Ryan Leighton paced the Rainmakers with 22. Ralph Bright added 16. The Rainmakers also included Steve McKoy, Jason Parnell, Steve McKay, Rory Duncan, Adam Watson, Troy Werrell, Roman Bertolutti, Kevin Lees, Rob Wingham. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded North Delta Huskies, who were ranked the best team in the province all season and were playing for the honor of retiring coach Bill Edwards, breezed into the tourney sporting a 35-game winning streak having only lost early in the year to North Vancouver Windsor and twice to Abbotsford. They opened with a 90-48 pounding of Cranbrook Mount Baker Trojans as Chad Johnston scored 18, David Houston 13, Mitch Berger 11, Oran Walwyn 11, Kevin Dowl 9, Kelly Gordon 9, Jeff Bahman 5, Paul Rai 4, Jas Ranu 2, Jeff Heron 2, Glenn Scott 2, Nobby Heran 2 and Troy Opper 2. “It was a great way to start,” said Edwards told the Vancouver Province. “Everyone got in the game and played.” Chris Franklin paced the Trojans with 14. Gary Tanner added 12. The Trojans (coach Mr. Davis and Mr Doswell, manager Kevin Falardeau, assistant manager Jeremy Brown, assistant manager Dave Van Hoek) also included Ron Janni, Byron Place, Shawn Marlow, Chris Weiker, Darren Steidl, Heath McKay, Chris Catherall, Kirsh Olsen, Chris Catherall, Carlos Siguenza and Darren Steidl. …………………………………………………… The Victoria Oak Bay Bays nipped the Coquitlam Centennial Centaurs 76-73 as Andy Willmott scored 25 and 6-5 post Chris Whittaker 22. Chad Caldwell led the Centaurs with 20. Jason Killing added 14. The Centaurs also included Mike Jordan, Jeff Winslade, Jon Clay, Marc Cleto, Nathan Fraser, Bob McDonald, Tom Singleton, Roger Kim, Bill Nicholson, Jeremy Low. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Richmond Colts crushed the Salmon Arm Gold 91-67, despite only leading 41-38 after three quarters. They had led 34-23 at the half. “It was closer than I expected, but I knew they were a good team,” Colts coach Bill Drisbow told the Vancouver Province. “We definitely had to wake up after the first half but I was never really worried. I just hoped we would have come out feeling a little better.” Drisbow told the Vancouver Sun that “I think our guys are not happy with how they played. I’d rather have then unhappy. … We’re going to have to wake up.” The Colts depth proved too much for the Gold. Mark Craven paced the Colts with 25. Louis Johnson added 16. Kevin Beckner led the Gold with 19. Sean Williams added 10. The Gold (coached by Brian Gibbons) also included Wade MacPherson, Joey Sawada, Shane Thompson, Cameron Marr. …………………………………………………… The Steveston Packers defeated the Victoria Spectrum Thunder 65-63 as Kevin Van Dop scored 22 and Rob Aldorn 13. Packers coach Dennis Begin told the Richmond Review that “I thought we played nice, controlled basketball, except fo the last two minutes. But we survived the bullet. … We wanted to establish the inside game and get the ball in to Kevin. That’s what we did.” Van Dop said “I was confident we could do well tonight but knew we had to work hard and set the pace.” The Packers missed the front end of five bonuses and almost lost when a midcourt bomb by Maruizio Conforti bounced off the rim.” Wayne Moore led the Thunder with 21. Neil Ramcharitar added 12. Thunder coach Grant Boland told the Review that “maybe we’ve been relying too much on miracles to win. Maybe we didn’t play tough enough down the stretch. I thought both teams were very tentative in the second half. It was disappointing but you’ve got to give credit to Steveston. They had two players foul out and they showed poise.” The Thunder (coached by Grant Boland, assisted by Jim Hubbard, managers Diane Young, Juhlie Selby, Kate Shelton and Vince Greco) also included Mike Adams, Chris Gent, Drew Hitchmough, Jamie ‘Junior’ Van Dyk, Terry Turner, Patrick Young, Maurizio Conforti, Kevin Stevenson, Ian Mitchell and Sean Reymerink. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Kelowna Owls dropped the 10th-seeded Maple Ridge Ramblers 66-64, (according to the official scorekeeper but 67-63 according to newspapers). “I wasn’t really pleased with the game,” Kelowna coach Bill Lang told the Province. “I didn’t think we did a very good job out there. Our biggest problem was ourselves.” Marc Semeniuk paced the Owls with 18. Jason Gordon added 12 and Mike Fuller 12. Derek Exner scored 14 to pace the Ramblers. Scott Malkoske added 13 and Tyler Runquist 13. The Ramblers (coached by Ken Dockendorf) also included Jordan Kennedy, Mike Baker, Craig Draper, Joro Bikic.
In the quarterfinals, the Kelowna Owls overcame a sluggish start to defeat the Steveston Packers 71-57. The Owls struggled early as their shots simply refused to fall. “We were hitting the ring a lot and the ball was rolling out,” coach Bill Lang told the Vancouver Province. “That’s a real difficult sell – for a coach to tell players to keep shooting even if they’re missing most of them. The shots that were going up were good; we just weren’t lucky.” Kelowna led 27-25 at the half despite not scoring for the first five minutes of the game until Martin Penninga finally hit a bucket. “We started really slow. We were anxious to get a big lead on them,” said guard Marc Semeniuk, who scored 24 of his 30 points in the second half. “I told myself (at the half) to relax, and once I hit a few shots I felt better, more confident.” The Owls also benefited from their defence, which shut down Steveston star Kevin Vandop. “They did a super job on Kevin,” said Packers coach Dennis Begin. “They kept him off the boards and kept him from scoring. They played great defence. That was the game.” Lang told the Vancouver Sun that “we’re picking up momentum. We showed composure. … Offensive things were going our way all game but we just weren’t scoring. Then we started to score.” Marc Semeniuk paced the Owls with 30. Jason Gordon added 13, Martin Penninga 12, Brady Ibbetson 7, Dean Urness 5, Mike Fuller 2 and Dave Malfair 2. Mark Bouchey paced the Packers with 12. Damien Willie added 12, Ernie Yuen 11, Kevin Van Dop 11, R.B. Aldorn 9, Jason Thorsteinson 1 and Scott Fiddes 1. The Packers (coached by Dennis Begin) also included Mike Suzuki. Begin told the Richmond Review that “they did a nice job of closing down Kevin. And they put a lot of pressure on Ernie (Yuen) and Robbie (Aldcorn) and they hit in the fourt quarter. But we couldn’t stop them at the other end of the floor. Give them credit. They’re a nice team.” Steveston led 12-10 after one quarter. Kelowna led 27-25 at the half.
The top-seeded North Delta Huskies defeated the West Vancouver Highlanders 66-62 as Mitch Berger scored 19, Chad Johnston 13, David Houston 10, Oran Walwyn 10, Nobby Heran 8 and Kelly Gordon 6. North Delta, who led 37-32 at the half, needed hard work to notch its 35th consecutive win. West Vancouver coach Tom Rippon told the Province that his team stayed in the game until a minute left, when they fouled David Houston at the three-point. He sank two of his three free throws. “We didn’t get an opportunity to win it after that,” Rippon told the Province. Delta coach Bill Edwards expected a battle. “I knew this would be a tough one,” he said. “It certainly was good for us to play this type of game. We’ve had a lot of easy ones this year.” Rippon told the Vancouver Sun “we made a couple of errors at the end of the game. Those two things denied our opportunity to win. But we played a really good game. We pushed them to the limit.” Greg Meldrum led the Highlanders with 18. David Heel added 16, Nigel Parish 12, Robin Mahood 10, David Dunnet 4 and Anthony Findlay 2, while Mitch Vickers, Ken Miyoshi and Craig Chubb were scoreless.
The Burnaby St. Thomas More Knights nipped the Williams Lake Columneetza Cougars 73-72 after rallying from a nine-point deficit in the final quarter. “It was incredibly physical,” Knights coach Joe Thierman told the Province. “We used a lot of bench people and they did a good job for us.” The Knights led 36-31 at the half but the Cougars rallied with full-court pressure. “They hurt us on the press,” said Thierman. “They’re bigger and we couldn’t get the ball inside as much as we would have liked.” Columneetza coach Jack Burgar told the Vancouver Province that he was disappointed in his team’s shooting “but I can live with that. I don’t want to take anything away from St. Thomas More. They’re a great team and played really well. Burgar told the Vancouver Sun that ““we should have had it, but that’s the way it goes. They play like us – tough – I like that.” Dennis Zimmerman paced the Knights with 26. Darren McCormick added 12, Ian Mykyte 10, Jim Conway 10, Stewart Andrade 8, Shawn Keogh 3, Dave Pol 2 and Shane Van Vliet 2. Par Johal led the Cougars with 17. Hardeep Bains added 14, Bobby Sandhu 12, Harry Parmar 10, David Cook 10, Dan Curtis 7 and Amarjot Johal 2.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Richmond Colts defeated the Victoria Oak Bay Bays 79-73. “We have progressed to where we wanted, but not how we wanted,” Richmond’s coach Bill Disbrow. Richmond led 40-24 at the half, but the Bays came out firing in the second half. “They certainly didn’t die, and we got into some foul trouble,” said Disbrow. “But our bench was able to come in and do another good job for us.” The intense final few minutes was an all-out end-to-end duel, with both teams shooting 100 per cent from the line and picking up six points each. Key to Richmond’s clutch free-throw shooting was 6-4 guard Jason Pamer who coolly put away two from the line with 2:30 left and repeated it with only 31 seconds still showing. The game stayed in Richmond’s hands after Pamer’s final two free throws. Colts coach Bill Drisbow told the Richmond Review that Pamer “won the game for us in the end with the free throws, and he hit 4-4 when we needed them. All that work he’s put in, the extra time, it paid off right then. … They all played well. They (Oak Bay) just did a good job of coming back.” Oak Bay’s Andy Wilmott, who led all scorers with 21, missed a three-point attempt allowing Richmond to storm downcourt. The Colts executed a great back-door play to Mark Craven, Richmond’s top scorer with 18. Oak Bay coach Dave Hutchings told the Vancouver Sun “Im void of thoughts. … I’m happy and I’m sad. I happy I got the kids to believe in themselves in the second half. I’m sad they didn’t believe in themselves earlier.” Drisbow told the Sun that Oak Bay “did a great job” despite the half-time deficit. “They certainly didn’t die.” Mark Craven paced the Colts with 18. Brian Scales added 17, Jason Pamer 12, Johan Mayan 10, Justin Padvaiskas 9, Derek Smith 6, Louis Johnson 4, Mark Twyford 2 and Hardeep Singh 2. Cam May added 14 for the Bays, Culjan Tomasevic 13, Eli Blake 10, Chris Whittaker 10 and Paul Haffey 5. The Bays (coached by Dave Hutchings, assisted by Mike Metcalfe) also included Justin Jarman, Jeremy Petzing, Dave Scholoesburg, Ian George, Weston Stanley, Cars May, Tagi Richardson and Bruce Alexander.
In the semis, the top-seeded North Delta Huskies defeated the Kelowna Owls 60-52 despite trailing 43-39 at the half. Mitch Berger led the Huskies with 23 points. Chad Johnston added 19, Oran Walwyn 10, Kelly Gordon 5 and David Houston 3. Marc Semeniuk led the Owls with 19. Brady Ibbetson added 12, Jason Gordon 7, Martin Penninga 4, Brand MacDougall 3, Dave Roberts 2, Mike Fuller 2, Dan Vicarreti 2 and Dean Urness 1. “We were sluggish,” Huskies coach Bill Edwards told the Surrey Leader. North Delta looked hesitant for most of the affair but wore down the Owls in the final quarter. Kelowna led 43-39 after three quarters but game MVP Mitch Berger and theft-artist Oran Walwyn took command in the final frame. “They played a magnificent game,” said Kelowna coach Bill Lang. “We outplayed them for most of the game but they kept on coming at us. They were relentless.” The Owls also included Jason Gordon, Mike Fuller.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Richmond Colts thrashed the Burnaby St. Thomas More Knights 111-62 as Jason Pamer scored 30, Derek Smith 26, Mark Craven 18, Louis Johnson 8, Justin Padvaiskas 6, Hardeep Singh 6, Brian Scales 6, Mark Twyford 4, Stefano Kalaw 4, Jon Paul Saltel 2 and Dean Sheardown 1. Stewart Andrade led the Knights with 16. Jim Conway added 15, Dennis Zimmerman 12, Darren McCormick 8, Renato Emnace 3, Ashwin Chandra 3, Ian Mykyte 2, Jason Puyman 2 and Shane Van Vliet 2. Richmond took a 61-31 lead at the half and never looked back, running their fastbreak to perfection. “They played very, very well,” said St. Thomas More coach Joe Thierman. “They took it to us and we didn’t do anything. That’s ridiculous. That was a laugher.”
In the bronze medal match, the Kelowna Owls defeated the Burnaby St. Thomas More Knights 84-69 as 6-3 guard Marc Semeniuk scored 18 and was selected game MVP for the fourth consecutive Kelowna outing. Brady Ibbetson added 14, Martin Penninga 12, Jason Gordon 10, Dave Roberts 9, Dean Urness 7, Mike Fuller 6, Dan Vicaretti 2, Graeme Middlecamp 2, Brent MacDougall 2 and Dave Malfair 2. Stewart Andrade led the Knights with 22. Dennis Zimmerman added 12, Jim Conway 10, Shawn Keogh 8, Darren McCormick 7, Renato Emnace 4, Eugene Ayon 2 and Ian Mykete 2. The Owls were inspired by a half-time address from Al Lalonde, a member of the 1986 Kelowna team that had finished fourth, coach Bill Lang told the Vancouver Province. “We were looking to break records in our own program. It had to be important to them that third was better than fourth. I got out of the dressing room (at the half) and Al came in and gave them a talk about what this game means. Most of the players from that team were here and they supported us all through the tournament. We went for a walk in Stanley Park today and watched the video of that game.” Guard Marc Semeniuk said “Al just told us how they regretted losing the consolation after losing the big game the night before. He said to make the best of it. And I know what he means because this just feels great. This is the best K.S.S. has ever done. We came out firing in the second half because we had to prove we could fight back after a hard loss.” After the Lalonde half-time pep talk, the Owls came out fierce on defence, holding the Knights scoreless for four minutes while extending their lead to 47-29. The Knights (coached by Joe Theirman) included Ian Mykete, Darren McCormick, Shane Van Vliet, Dave Pol.
In the final, before a throng of 5,653, the 2nd-seeded Richmond sought to avenge its only loss of the season to a Canadian team in the final but the top-seeded North Delta Huskies again prevailed as they defeated the Colts 75-66. The Huskies came out running, scoring four consecutive layups to open the affair. Mitch Berger hit for 10 of the Huskies’ first 16 points on a series of knifing drives as North Delta took a 22-13 lead at the quarter, having stolen the ball eight times from the Colts largely as a result of efforts of Oran Walwyn. But Richmond rallied to take a lead late in the second quarter and eventually moved ahead 38-34 on a pair of low post buckets by 6-6 Mark Craven. The half ended deadlocked at 39-39. Chad Johnston took command in the second half by dominating the boards. The third quarter ended with the Huskies ahead 56-55 but appearing in potential trouble as Johnston and Mitch Berger were both on the bench with four fouls. But neither they nor coach Bill Edwards were concerned. “We knew we could pull it out. It just meant when Mitch was in, I was out and when I was in, Mitch was out,” Johnston told the Vancouver Province. Edwards said he was “a little worried but they’re both seniors. They’re mature and they know how to play in that situation. Chad gave up a couple of layups rather than draw the fifth foul.” But he almost dominated on the other end of the floor as the Huskies maintained a slim margin and then iced the win when Kelly Gordon hit a key three pointer with 42 seconds to go to give North Delta a 74-66 lead and put the game out of Richmond’s reach. Tournament MVP Johnston finished with 29, Berger 19, Gordon 12, Oran Walwyn 10, Nobby Heran 4 and David Houston 2. Mark Craven paced the Colts with 21. Jason Pamer added 17, Louis Johnson 9, Derek Smith 7, Brian Scales 4, Justin Padvaikis 4 and Stefano Kalaw 4. Johnston told the Vancouver Sun that “everyone doubted us. No one thought we could do it again (beat Richmond). Everyone thinks Richmond is invincible.” Huskies coach Bill Edwards noted that a “lot of team are intimidated by Richmond’s mystique” but the key is confidence. “There was never any doubt in our minds. You don’t go through the year winning 36 in a row thinking you’re going to lose.” After the season, Edwards turned the coaching reigns over to assistant Tyler Kushnir. Richmond coach Bill Drisbow told the Vancouver Province that his squad played poorly. “Tonight, at the start of both halves, we came out tentative. We threw passes away that we don’t normally throw away. I thought we would have been more effective pressuring them but we were even tentative in that. … We made a good comeback in the first and the second half, we lost it at the end.” Drisbow told the Vancouver Sun that “we thought (Mitch) Berger was their best player throughout the tournament. Maybe we should have paid more attention to Chad.” Berger told the Sun that “proved we can beat them both ways.” During the regular season, they’d knocked out the Colts with perimeter shooting. “This time, we just ripped the glass off. … We beat them on the inside. Chad ripped down some crazy boards. He really cleared the glass. … We’ve had a lot of good teams the past few years but just haven’t done anything. It was really nice to get it for Mr. Edwards.” North Delta finished (37-0) on the season. Johnston, who was also chosen defensive player of the tournament, told the Province that “we worked our asses off, that’s all there was to it. We won.” Berger told the Province “we beat them on the inside. Chad ripped down some crazy boards; he really cleared the glass.” Johnson told the Surrey Leader that “everyone doubted us. Everyone in the media said we’d lose by 15 points. But we worked our asses off and we won. Everyone thinks Richmond is invincible. But they’re human like everyone else.” Edwards said “we didn’t have any doubts. We won 37 in a row and people would criticize us for not playing our grade 11s just to keep the streak going.” Mitch Berger said “we felt confident right from the start. It was nice to win it for Mr. Edwards. He’s coached some good teams that just fell short.” Drisbow told the Richmond Review that “I think we were a little bit tentative in what we were going to do, right from the start. Had we come out and just played the way we normally do maybe they would have started to question themselves a little more, although they did a few times. But we made a good comeback in the first half and came back in the second, and then couldn’t do it the last time. They worked hard. There was no lack of effort.”
The bronze medalist Kelowna Owls: Marc Semeniuk; Brady Ibbetson; Martin Penninga; Mike Fuller; Jason Gordon; Brent MacDougall; Dave Roberts; Dan Vicaretti; Dean Urness; Dave Malfair; Brent MacDougall; Graeme Middlecamp; coach Bill Lang
The silver medalist Richmond Colts: Mark Craven; Jason Pamer; Derek Smith; Louis Johnston; Justin Padvaiskas; Hardeep Singh; Brian Scales; Mark Twyford; Stefano Kalawa; Jon Paul Saltel; Dean Sheardown; coach Bill Drisbow
The gold medalist North Delta Huskies: Chad Johnston; David Houston; Mitch Berger; Oran Walwyn; Kevin Dowl; Kelly Gordon; Jeff Bahman; Paul Rai; Jas Ranu; Jeff Heron; Glenn Scott; Nobby Heran; Troy Opper; coach Bill Edwards; assistant Tyler Kushnir