In the interzone playoffs, the Killarney Raiders defeated the Shoal Lake Sharks 39-37; 33-44; x-x (2g-1). …………………………………………………… In game one, Killarney edged Shoal Lake 39-37. Brian Sytnyk led the Sharks with 12. Dave McLennan added 12. …………………………………………………… In game two, Killarney prevailed 44-33. Brian Sytnyk led the Sharks with 19. Dave McLennan added 14. The Sharks also included Larry Garelus, Ben Nychuk, John Simpson.

In the quarterfinals, held in Brandon, the Selkirk Lord Selkirk Regional Royals pounded the Portage la Prairie Trotters 54-36. The Royals led 31-18 at the half. Laurie Wyspinski led the Royals with 18. “We came here to win this year,” Royals coach Peter Gerbrandt told the Brandon Sun. The Trotters included Ryan Gray, Glen Varrington, Brian Pullister.

        The Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs bombed the Gimli Lakers 65-32. The Zodiacs broke to a 12-1 lead and romped.

        The Thompson R.D. Parker Trojans whipped the Killarney Raiders 57-32.

        In the last quarterfinal, the Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans clipped the Dauphin Clippers 59-44 after leading 34-23 at the half. “We played just awful,” Brandon coach Murray MacMillan told the Brandon Sun. “The guys were sitting around all day and were tight when the game started. They loosened up as the game progressed. But I hope that’s a bad game out of our system.” Gregg Senchuk the Spartans with 19. Francie Baucher added 14. The Clippers included Frank Hrechka.

        In the semis, the Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs edged the Selkirk Lord Selkirk Regional Royals 39-34. The Zodiacs trailed 27-21 when coach Wayne Busse inserted Errol Pelser into the line-up. Pelser took command of the defensive boards as the Zodiacs rallied and then Al Loeppky hit two critical buckets in the final minute to give Garden Valley the lead. “Loeppky was zero for 10 before he made those two clutch shots,” Busse told the Brandon Sun. “It’s a good thing he came through when he did. … (As for Pelser), I had to put a rebounder into the game. Selkirk was controlling the boards at both ends of the floor at the time.”

        In the other semi, the Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans nipped the Thompson R.D. Parker Trojans 35-33.

In the final, the Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans defeated the Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs 35-33 as Jim Ferguson hit two free throws with 10 seconds to play. The Zodiaks took an 8-0 lead but the Spartans rallied to a 9-8 lead after one quarter. “I told the boys that if they fell behind 10 or got up 10 to stay cool,” Spartans coach Bill Moody told the Brandon Sun. “And that’s exactly what they did in the first quarter. Werner Roth hit two free throws to tie the game at 17 at the half. The Zodiacs Al Loeppky hit a bucket with 20 seconds to play to give Winkler a 27-25 lead after three quarters. The Zodiacs led 33-27 with four minutes to play after Walter Doerksen hit a bucket and Loeppky two field goals. But Frank Bauche, Gregg Senchuk and Jim Ferguson hit field goals to knot the score at 33, setting the stage for Ferguson’s winners. Neelin got the ball back and stalled for the final 15 seconds before Ferguson was fouled. Zodiaks coach Wayne Busse called several timeouts in the final seconds but each time, Neelin was able to deflect the inbounds pass. Spartans co-coach Murray McMillan said “the guys really worked for that one. I was really happy to see them come back like that.” Busse said “the game was close and exciting and that’s all that counts. That’s the third really close game we’ve been involved in and maybe that had something to do with it. Only twice did it appear as though one team was about to run away with the game. That happened when we scored 8 straight points and then Neelin came back with 9 straight. Other than that, it was really tough.” MacMillan said “I think maybe we fooled them. After the way we played our other two games, I don’t think they expected us to play like that.” Neelin finished (21-4) on the season. Al Loeppky led the Zodiacs with 14.

The co-bronze medalist Selkirk Lord Selkirk Regional Royals: Gunter Matusiak, Laurie Wyspinski, Richard Kratzmark; coach Peter Gerbrandt

The co-bronze medalist Thompson R.D. Parker Trojans: Devon Dailey; Bill Mitchell; Ray Bayer; Bruce Perrault; Len Roche;

        The silver medalist Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs: Al Loeppky; Errol Pelser; Ron Dyck; Rob Jackman; Bernie Loeppky; coach Wayne Busse

        The gold medalist Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans: Gregg Senchuk; Jim Ferguson; Francis Bauche; Murray Rodgers; Bob Bauche; Werner Roth; Barry Sproule; Kelleher; Milne; Neil Chapman; Thomson; Black; Dave Williscroft; John Donovan; MacNaughton; co-coach Murray MacMillan; co-coach Bill Moody