In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The Pitt Meadows Marauders defeated the Richmond Matthew McNair Marlins 75-69 as 6-7 centre Curtis Mepham scored 32 and grabbed 14 boards, despite being plagued by foul trouble in the second half. “In the first half, it looked like he was trying to hide,” Marauders coach Rich Goulet told the Vancouver Province. “I told him to step it up or it was going to be over and he did. He got the boards, the buckets and he made the passes.” Most of the latter were to grade 11 guard Cam Johnson, who finished with 26 points on 9-17 from the floor and 6-9 from the line. Mepham said “I just knew I wasn’t going to take another foul.” McNair coach Paul Eberhardt said he didn’t “know if Pitt’s going to play any better than that in the tournament. They hit some brutally tough shots and I told our guys at the half that I didn’t think they could keep it up. But they did.” Pitt Meadows shot .490 from the field, while McNair shot .390. The game was also a match-up between coaches Goulet and Paul Eberhardt, who coached the provincial juvenile team together over the previous summer. “Great competition, great competition,” Goulet told the Vancouver Sun. “Very tough game. I think the kids were a little bit uneasy because it wasn’t an ordinary game, but they played very well. It turned out to be a real dandy, I tell you.” Eberhardt said “you can’t ask any more of our guys than that. We played very well, and they played very well. It wasn’t because we didn’t go out and work hard. It was a great game to watch.” The Marauders led 21-19, 37-32 and 52-51 at the quarters and won it as Cam Johnson hit 8-9 from the line in the final four minutes. “It was now or never,” Johnson said. “We’ve been practicing all season, so now it all comes down to this.” Mepham said “my game wasn’t awesome today, but it was good enough. It’s nice to get the first one out of the way.” McNair post Wade Taumoli, who scored 24, said “we lost our composure a bit. Oh, what the hell. We sure put on a show for the fans, didn’t we?” Josh Masters led the Marlins with 16. Aman Dhaliwal added 16. Marlins coach Paul Eberhardt told the Richmond Review that “I told the guys at halftime that Pitt Meadows couldn’t play any better than this, so we just have to elevate our game and we did, closing it to within a point but they were just so steady the whole game. Down the stretch, they made a couple of baskets and we didn’t. That was the difference. Usually when you work hard you get rewarded but today, we couldn’t get the bounces.” The Marlins (coached by Eberhart) also included Malcolm Virgil, Mar Atemichuk. …………………………………………………… The Steveston Packers defeated the Victoria St. Michaels University Blue Devils 80-70 in double overtime by hitting six of their 10 points in the extra session from the foul line. Emmet Connolly hit a pair of free throws to knot the score at 56 with 20 seconds to play. Steveston’s Marc Beardsley forced the second overtime with a pair of free throws. Beardsley finished the game with 37 points. Packers coach Rod Jensen told the Richmond Review that “we really needed (Beardsley’s) leadership out there.” Jensen told the Vancouver Province “it was a war and both of us had a chance to win. They should have won it in the first overtime but our grade 11s came up big.” SMU coach Ian Hyde-Lay said that “on the day, Steveston was the better team. Marc Beardsley just kicked our butts.” Hyde-Lay was also livid about a late call. With 16.9 seconds remaining in the first overtime and SMU leading 67-66, Karim Nanji, obeying the instructions of head coach Rod Jensen, fouled SMU’s Emmet Connolly to stop the clock. Connolly was awarded a one-and-one of which he made the first but missed the second for a 68-66 lead. Hyde-Lay claimed that Coquitlam referee Tony Buric should have called an intentional foul, which would have results in two free throws and possession of the ball. Instead the Packers’ Marc Beardsley hit a pair of free throws with 7.4 seconds to play after being fouled by Andrew Berry to send the game into double overtime. “You have to make a play for the ball or else it’s an intentional foul,” Hyde-Lay told the Victoria Times-Colonist. “He (Nanji) just slapped him. If we get possession of the ball, then they’ve got to foul us. It’s a whole different game. I want it on the record that we got screwed – absolutely screwed. It [ticks] me off that you get screwed every time you come here.” In double overtime, the Blue Devils both forward Ole Schmidt and Connolly to fouls and Mischa Greenwood to a shoulder injury. Steveston dominated the double-overtime 12-2. “I’ve been taking those last-second shots all year,” grinned Beardsley, who scored 37. “I’m feeling pretty good now at the line at the end of the game like that.” Greenwood led the Blue Devils with 21. Ali Wilmott and Schmidt each added 14. “Ian was just showing his frustration,” said Jensen. “I can understand him being upset, but that’s the referee’s call. I wouldn’t have called an intentional foul, either.” The Blue Devils have forced the first overtime with a pair of free throws by Connolly. “Steveston was better [for a lot of] today,” Hyde-Lay admitted. “But we got ourselves in a position to win and we were jobbed. Our whole season hung on that call and we didn’t get it. It’s absolutely brutal and it happens every year. If you’re not from the Lower Mainland, you don’t get anything here.” The Jaguars (then the Blue Devils, coached by Hyde-Lay, assisted by Bill Greenwell) also included James MacIver, Andrew Clough, Scott Gingles, Erik Thompson, Andrew Bouchard, Jeremy Mills, Vinnie Gill, Andrew Shostak, Cameron Jantzen, David Angus and Mark Yu. …………………………………………………… The Okanagan runner-up Salmon Arm Gold defeated the Vancouver Lord Byng Grey Ghosts 70-53 as grade 10 guard sensation Jordie McTavish hit six of his first eight shots, while scoring 26. “If they’re going to let me shoot, then I’m going to shoot,” said the 5-10 15-year-old McTavish. Beau Mitchell led the Grey Ghosts with 11. Mark Okoth added 10. The Grey Ghosts also included Chris Burchell, Marlon English, Aaron Dudley, Will Seccombe and Jeff Hawkins. …………………………………………………… The Vancouver College Fighting Irish stomped the Cranbrook Mount Baker Trojans 86-66 as Jason Maher 23 and Nate Donald 21. Corey Anderson paced the Trojans with 30. The Trojans (coached by Rob Dowswell, assistant Davis) also included Chad Stager, Scott Janes, Ben Tatlow, Chris Hall, Darren Engalls, Codey Hawke, Murray Lord, Eric Keil, Chris Young, Bart Balosky and Ned Bouzarra.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded and defending champion Port Coquitlam Terry Fox Ravens dumped the Steveston Packers 80-61 as Ben Simmons scored 18, Aaron Mitchell 14, Dave Morgan 13, Vic Grigore 13 and Rob Finlay 12. Coach Don Van Os noted that the game “wasn’t pretty.” Bryan Wilson led the Packers with 17. Marc Beardsley added 14 and Tec Kaczynski 14. The Packers (coached by Rod Jensen) also included Steve Lee, Karim Nanji. …………………………………………………… The North Vancouver Windsor Dukes, the North Shore champs, defeated the Pitt Meadows Marauders 65-57. The Dukes went to a matchup zone down the stretch to contain 6-7 Marauders post Curtis Mepham, who scored 18 of his 27 points in the first half to keep the game close. Minko Kulic and Brent Molinski each scored 16 to lead the Dukes. Vital Peeters added 11, Jamie Oei 10 and Robbie Cripps 10. Coach Ernie Oei told the Vancouver Sun that his troops disproved the notion that they didn’t belong in the draw and that he couldn’t coach. “I felt the pressure. I told the guys at halftime we were doing a lot of positive of things and to try and build on those things. Our shots weren’t dropping and our foul shooting was not at its best, but we were still only down by one. I told them if we kept our poise and played hard, we could win. … We’re not an outcome-oriented team. We’re process-oriented. I want the kids to go in there and play the game quarter by quarter. Whatever the outcome is, I’ll be proud of the way we perform — if everybody puts out. Play the game, have fun. This is the Agrodome. This is celebration time. Cripps nailed a bucket and a trey to break a 44-44 tie in the fourth quarter. “I didn’t think I had any doubts,” Cripps said. “I was a little shaky at the beginning, but we packed it in there on defence at the end. Our defence pulled it out.” The Marauders also included Al Stewart, Cam Johnson, Mike Lewthwaite, Tom Welsh, Dave Lockett. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Richmond Colts defeated the Salmon Arm Gold 109-70 (also reported as 106-70) by capitalizing on their superior speed and depth. Andrew Mavis paced the Colts with 22. Andrew Dunn added 17, Bobby Singh 15, Chris Lake 12 and James Wang 10. Gold coach Brian Gibbons told the Salmon Arm Observor that “we were overpowered physically,” while point guard Jordie McTavish wore down against the Colts full-court press. “That kind of pressure wears on someone and inevitably tires them out.” The Gold (coached by Gibbons, assisted by Chris Harrington) also included Jeff Johnson, Cody Lark, Matt Gierc, Dan Herrick. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seed Campbell River Carihi Tyees whipped the Vancouver College Fighting Irish 97-63. Forward Greg Bateson scored 37 and forward Eric Hinrichsen 21 as the luck of the overmatched Irish ran out just before St. Patrick’s Day. “We get respect, but not like Terry Fox or Richmond does,” Bateson told the Victoria Times-Colonist. “Everybody here thinks it’s going to be a Fox-Richmond final. We want to get them thinking differently.” Irish coach Bob Corbett was impressed. “They’re right up there. We expected their forwards would hurt us, but we didn’t expect their perimeter kids to shoot the ball so well. They’re a very good basketball team.” The Tyees led 40-14 in the second quarter and romped. Guard Max Kunz added 13 for the Tyees and Grade 11 forward Ben Bartlet 12. Brian Carino led the Fighting Irish with 24. Nathaniel Donald added 12. The Fighting Irish (coached by Bob Corbett, assistant David Williscroft, assistant Doug Correa, managers Jerome Lee, Dax DaSilva, Ben Lui and Chris Datta) also included Jason Maher, Mike Santonil, J.P. Mahony, Tony Morgan, Mike Franks, Matt Cousineau, Tyler Federal, Andrew Irving, Mike Cobbarubia and Dan Lazzari. …………………………………………………… The Port Moody Blues defeated the Ladysmith 49ers 75-70 as Per-Olof Ahlstrom scored 23, point guard Stefan Makris 18, Quinn Harmon 15 and Jesse Anderson 10. The Blues completely controlled the boards against the smaller 49ers to triumph in a matchup between two teams which hadn’t been to this tournament since the ‘50s. Makris and forward Per-Olof Ahlstrom, a pair of Swedish transplants who relocated to Port Moody in a controversial move this season, led the Blues with 18 and 23 points, respectively. It wasn’t the greatest day for Ladysmith, which trailed by a few points through much of the game before mounting a late surge, led by Grade 10 sharpshooter Steve Lidgate, who scored 28. Tony McCrory added 18 and Tony Baker 14. The 49ers’ lack of height and failure to execute down the stretch proved their undoing. Blues coach Larry Street told the Vancouver Sun that the fans “changed the complexion of the game. It was like playing with a sixth man out there.” The 49ers (coached by Randy Steel) also included Joel Good, Darcy Kulai. …………………………………………………… The Prince George Polars nipped the Independent school champion Burnaby St. Thomas More Knights 59-58. “We knew we had nothing to lose and that people had written us off before we even got down here,” Polars forward Kap Manhas told the Vancouver Province. A Sean Velasco trey early in the second half gave the Knights a 39-23 lead but the Polars responded with an 18-7 run to draw within 46-41. The Knights missed a series of free throws down the stretch. Martin Plavcic was chosen player of the game after scoring 20 for the Polars, while containing Knights star Davor Rukavina to 6. “We thought that if we took their big guy (Davor Rukavina) out, that we’d be okay,” said Plavcic. Kap Manjas added 11 for the Polars. Mike Haffner led the Knights with 19. Sean Velasco added 15. The Knights also included Davor Rukavina, Jason Borkowski. …………………………………………………… The Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles clipped the Kelowna Owls 70-63 as Ben Neufeld scored 28 and Jeremy Hall 15. The Owls led 38-29 at the half, with Neufeld scoring just 2. “After having such a bad first half, you want to go out and perform the way you can,” Neufeld told the Vancouver Province. “And I had the confidence to do that.” Owls coach Mickey Welder said “we thought it would be the little things that decided this game. The little thing was Ben Neufeld.” Roy Kruiswyk paced the Owls with 19. Josh Zieske added 17 and Michel Cloutier 12. The Owls (coached by Welder) also included Matt Ewonus, Jim Douglas and Evan Lamb. …………………………………………………… The Maple Ridge Ramblers dusted the Prince Rupert Charles Hays Rainmakers 86-68 as Greg Mitchell scored 23, J.B. Runquist 21 and Jeremy Hart 17. Greg McKay led the Rainmakers with 17. Brady Quest added 14, Henry Bragg 14 and Jim McKay 12.
In the quarterfinals, the North Vancouver Windsor Dukes defeated the Maple Ridge Ramblers 65-60 using a defence that 52-year-old rookie head coach Ernie Oei, an Indonesian transplant, had pilfered from the playbook of the Canadian national team. “I have to credit that defence to (national coach) Ken Shields and (national assistant and former Windsor head coach) Phil Langley. “I stole it from them. I have no idea how it works. But it works.” The matchup zone threw off the Ramblers enough to limit their shooting to 38 per cent from the floor. “I told the kids that they had to build on something positive (after first half doldrums in which the score was knotted at 28).” The Dukes responded with a 13-2 run to start the second half to take a 43-32 lead. Brent Molinski notched 5 buckets in the third quarter, while Robbie Cripps added a trey and two buckets. Oei told the Vancouver Sun that making the semis was a “dream come true. It’s like climbing a mountain and reaching the top — then thinking you can go a little bit further.” Player of the game Molinski said “it feels good. Our offence wasn’t working that well, but when our defence gets up, we seem to be able to get key baskets when we need them.” Maple Ridge coach Ken Dockendorf couldn’t hide his displeasure. “We were horrible. We choked. It was a disgusting display of basketball by us. They beat us flat out,” he told the Vancouver Province. Dockendorf told the Sun that “we’re a better team than that. I’m not saying we’re a better team than Windsor, but at least if we had come out and played well then it would have been a great game. You have to give them full merit, though. They’re a very good team.” Molinski scored 22 on 11-17 from the floor to pace the Dukes. Vital Peeters added 18 on 8-10 from the floor, and Minco Kulic 12. The Dukes shot 51% from the floor. Greg Mitchell led the Ramblers with 27. Jeremy Hart added 13 and Nathan Wilkes 10. The Ramblers also included J.B. Runquist.
The top-seeded Richmond Colts crushed the Port Moody Blues 91-66 as their depth proved the difference. Andrew Dunn led the Colts with 19. Bobby Singh added 14, Jason Bristow 14 and Andrew Mavis 12. Colts coach Bill Drisbow told the Richmond Review that “every year that we’ve won it (our opening game) has been our toughest day. We won it on a last-second shot once. I don’t know. You get psyched up for the opening day and then you start thinking semis and finals. That’s what happens in kids heads, I think. I was happy to survive. … Port Moody did a heckuva job. Some of their kids who don’t normally score a lot for them, did. Their guard (Stefan Makris) did a great job and handled a lot of our pressure, especially from James Wang.” Stefan Makris led the Blues with 17. Per-Olaf Ahlstrom added 14 and Jesse Anderson 12. The Blues (coached by Larry Street) also included Quinn Harmon.
The Port Coquitlam Terry Fox Ravens ended the Cinderella run of the Prince George Polars with a convincing 97-43 win as center Dave Morgan scored 20, Peter Morgan 16, Aaron Mitchell 16, Vic Grigore 12 and Jason McIvor 12. Polars coach Dave Holmes told the Prince George Citizen that his troops had “never seen anything like these guys before. It was a real eye-opener. It’s where the real lack of parity shows. They’re big. They’re very strong and physical. They definitely totally overwhelmed us. They came out of the game well and they have one of the best guards in the province (Victor Grigore) who only played in the first half. He really dictated the pace and they had a 26-point lead at the half. And they have a provincial team centre, Dave Morgan, who had 20 on us.” The Polars included Martin Plavic, Kap Majhas, Gslstran Sitar, Rajan Pahal.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Campbell River Carihi Tyees defeated the Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles 81-59 as guard Scott Wenger scored 19, including 5 treys, and guard Mike Fidler 18, including 3 treys, Greg Bateson 18 and Eric Hinrichsen 12, along with 24 boards. The Eagles attempted to pack the key with a zone defence to prevent Carihi’s potent forward duo of Eric Hinrichsen and Greg Bateson from dominating in the paint. But that left the Tyees’ underrated perimeter players open and they kept draining bombs. “They really packed it in, as we expect most teams to do against us,” said Carihi coach Pete McLoughlin told the Victoria Times-Colonist. “But we’ve worked a lot on our perimeter game all year and they really came through for us tonight.” Fidler said “we have had to step it up all year. All the other teams know that we’re strong in the post but they don’t know that we have strong guards, too.” Ben Neufeld led the Eagles with 16. Jeremy Hall added 10. The Eagles also included Dave Regehr, Joel Nickel, Gary Borne.
In the semis, the Port Coquitlam Terry Fox Ravens nipped the defending AA champs Campbell River Carihi Tyees 79-76 in a contest which some observers have called the best ever game played in the provincial tourney. The score was knotted at 42 at the half, and close til the final minutes, forward Ben Simmons hit two fourth-quarter threes and Dave Morgan added a key third to make the score 71-71. Point guard Vic Grigore was the key to Terry Fox’s 79-76 victory, Van Os said. Dave Morgan finished with 29 points, Aaron Mitchell added 15. Carihi’s Greg Bateson, scored 17 points in the first quarter and had 28 by halftime. He finished with 33. Eric Hinrichsen added 24. The estimated 4,000 people who filled up the Agrodome watched these two fine teams go toe-to-toe for 40 minutes before Fox prevailed. “I can’t remember when a crowd of people stood up and gave both teams a standing ovation at the end of the game,” said Terry Fox coach Don Van Os told the Victoria Times-Colonist. “And both teams deserved it. Both teams just played like a bunch of warriors out there and never gave up. We’re just fortunate that the clock ran out when it did, because these two teams could still be playing here tomorrow.” Anyone at the Agrodome would certainly agree that this was a classic with neither team leading by more than seven points and an atmosphere in which the entire game seemed to be riding on each possession. Ravens forward Dave Morgan notched a fastbreak layup 1:45 left to play and then a perimeter jumper 30 seconds later to extend the lead to 77-74. Tyee forward Eric Hinrichsen countered with a bucket in the blocks but then the Ravens sealed the win on a Morgan putback of a missed free throw by Aaron Mitchell with 9 seconds to play. A Tyee turnover prevented a last-minute bid to force overtime with a trey. The Tyees missed 5 free throws down the stretch. “It was a great game,” said Tyee forward Greg Bateson. “But we just needed a little more.” Eric Hinrichsen added 21 for the Tyees. Player of the game Morgan said “we knew Carihi was a great team and we were expecting a heck of a battle.” Tyees’ coach Peter McLoughlin told the Vancouver Sun “we wanted to be in the top four. My Grade 12s were playing well and my Grade 11s were playing well. We met all our goals.” Van Os told the Sun the key was attitude. “You’ve got to come here and enjoy the experience, and relax. We gave them too much information to digest and remember, instead of just letting them go out and play.”
In the other semi, the Richmond Colts nipped the North Vancouver Windsor Dukes 86-83 despite trailing 44-39 at the half. The Colts outscored Windsor 35-15 in the third quarter and then hung one desperately for their life. Andrew Mavis paced the Colts with 27, including 19 in the first half. Chris Lake added 20, Bobby Singh 15 and Ben Mayan 12. Diminutive guard Nic Turner was outstanding, said Colts coach Bill Drisbow. “You never question his heart or work ethic. It’s very rare that anybody’s that way — truly that way. People use that cliche all the time, but he really is. … It’s a life thing. Very rarely does a little guy really get taken advantage of. The hardest workers are always the little guys, because it’s something they’ve had to deal with all their life. Nic would not have made the team from Grade 5 on if he wasn’t a worker.” Minko Kulic paced the Dukes with 27. Jamie Oei added 20, Brent Molinski 10 and Robbie Cripps 10.
In the bronze medal match, tournament MVP Eric Hinrichsen scored 36 as the 3rd-seeded Campbell River Carihi Tyees dumped the North Vancouver Windsor Dukes 92-64. Hinrichsen also grabbed 29 boards to finish the tournament with 101 rebounds in four games. Hinrichsen, who a year earlier had been named MVP of the AA boys’ competition, became the first player in the history to the tournament to be named MVP in two different divisions. The core of the Tyees unit had captured the AA provincial crown in 1993. Tyees coach Peter McLoughlin told the Vancouver Sun that Hinrichsen is “an incredible athlete. He gets up high, rebounds well, knows when to go up and block a shot and when not to. If he gets four fouls early, he’s not going to foul out. He doesn’t get hot-headed, doesn’t let himself out of a game. He gives you 110 per cent all the time.” Greg Bateson added 22 for the Tyees. Robbie Cripps paced the Dukes with 16. Brent Molinski added 15. The Dukes (coached by Ernie Oei) also included Minco Kulic, Jamie Oei, Vital Peeters.
In the final, before a sellout crowd of 5,429 at the PNE Agridome, Port Coquitlam Terry Fox became only the fourth school to win back-to-back provincial crowns in 1994, as Dave Morgan, Vic Grigore and Aaron Mitchell led the Ravens to a 73-66 victory over the perennial powerhouse Richmond Colts. The Colts took a 9-8 lead on a Chris Lake trey with 5:19 to play in the first quarter, which triggered a 15-2 run to put them ahead 21-10. But the Ravens rallied back with runs of 7-2 and 7-3 to trim the margin 37-30 at the half. Richmond led by as many as 13 in the second half when Aaron Mitchell started a Terry Fox rally with a bucket that cut the lead to 11. The Colts Andrew Mavis responded with a slam to make the lead 47-34. Mitchell countered with two field goals to pare the lead to nine. The Colts Bobby Singh extended back to 12 with a three-pointer to give Richmond a 50-38 lead. Terry Fox’s Peter Morgan hit a bucket to cut the lead to 50-40, Mitchell hit another, Dave Morgan blocked a shot by Colt Chris Lake and Mitchell hit again to cut the lead to 50-44. Peter Morgan pared it to four, before Mavis hit a three to put Richmond back ahead 53-46. But after the Colts were hit with a technical foul, point guard Vic Grigore hit two free throws and then a field goal to pare the margin to 53-50. As the third quarter ended, Grigore nailed an NBA-range trey to knot the score at 53-53. In the fourth quarter, Terry Fox took control and never looked back as the Port Coquitlam squad raced to a 73-66 victory. “That’s the Vic (Grigore) we had to have to win the B.C. championship,” Ravens co-coach Rich Chambers told the Vancouver Province. Grigore finished 26 points and dominated, despite having played in only 12 games during the season because of a sore back. “It’s been frustrating,” said Grigore. “But when you have Terry Fox as the representative of your school, then you’ve got to believe. I’m speechless.” The Ravens 6-3 star guard Aaron Mitchell added that “it was frustrating in the first half. I was playing so bad, so bad.” Port Coquitlam Terry Fox’s defeat of Richmond marked the first loss to a Canadian team by the Colts during the season. Grigore finished with 26, Mitchell 15, Simmons 11 and Dave Morgan 11. The Colts were led by Andrew Mavis’ 30 (also reported as 28), including 19 in the second half. Ben Mayan added 14 and Chris Lake 11 but 290-pound center Bob Singh only hit one of four shots. Terry Fox coach Don Van Os noted “we’re very fortunate. That’s a very, very strong team over there. We had a lot of doubters this season but the character of this ball club is no different than the character of that ball club last year that refused to quit. We held a very high scoring team to 66 and we’re very proud of that.” Richmond coach Bill Drisbow noted that “they went to a zone defence that we handled before but I didn’t spend enough time working on it this week because I didn’t think it was going to be a problem. But I’m still so proud of my kids.” Mitchell told the Vancouver Sun that “it was frustrating because in the first half I was playing so bad, so bad. I knew I could play better. At halftime, I was sitting on the bench and thinking about what I did wrong. I was playing brutal defence, just brutal. I just thought, hey, everybody’s got to get their job done. I just wanted to get my job done. Because I knew that if everybody did their job, we’d be able to win. And we did it. We did it.” Grigore called the win “unbelievable. It’s the most I could ever have asked for.” The Colts Mavis said “we got ahead and we just couldn’t pull it off. If we had gone from there, I think we would have done it. We just let them back in the game. It’s a shame, but that’s the way it is. You can’t hang your head over it.” Drisbow told the Richmond Review that “it’s frustrating. These kids, I thought, deserved through their work and dedication, to win. I felt very badly that we basically got defeated by a strategy that I probably wasn’t prepared for. Nobody in the tournament tried to play us head-up. … The loss goes on my shoulders. It doesn’t go on theirs.” Chambers said taking off te press after the first half proved the difference. “We thought that we could press them but they were too fast and we could never set up.” Dave Morgan said “I think everyone knew we could win but we had to play defence. We just picked up our game another notch.” Jason McIvor said “defence, that’s what got it for us. We said we’re not going to let this slip away from us.”
The bronze medalist Campbell River Carihi Tyees: Eric Hinrichsen; Greg Bateson; Scott Wenger; Mike Fidler; Ben Bartlett; Max Kunz; coach Pete McLoughlin
The silver medalist Richmond Colts: Andrew Mavis; Bobby Singh; Chris Lake; Minko Kulic; Tyler Taumoli; Ben Mayan; Jason Bristow; Andrew Dunn; Claude Dery; James Wang; Nic Turner; Edison Antejos; Tec Kaczynski; Karim Ninja; Nick Turner; Marc Beardsley; Steve Lee; coach Bill Drisbow
The gold medalist Port Coquitlam Terry Fox Ravens: Aaron Mitchell; Peter Morgan; Dave Morgan; Vic Grigore; Ben Simmons; Jason McIvor; Cody Jones; James Carmichael; Mike Cinnamon; Rob Finlay; Spencer Finlay; Noah Fulgueras; J.J. Hyde; Dan Jakovlevich; Ryan Paine; Craig Tokuno; Nick Wong; co-coach Rich Chambers; co-coach Don Van Os; assistant Mike Hind