Dauphin Clippers wildcard game??????: The Clippers included Dale Claeys, Nick Hudyma, Tom Schmidt, Randy Lasuik, coach Tom Schmidt.
In the interzone playoffs, the Steinbach Sabres dispatched the Winnipeg private school champion St. John’s Ravenscourt Eagles 118-48 as Greg Loeppky scored 20, Cam Reimer 19, John Loge 19, Mike Penner 15 and Tim Farrel 14. The Eagles (coached by Bruce Northcott) included Evan Heltay, Robin Pal, Gavin MacBeath, John Gill, Rahul Gupta, Marc Lloyd, Victor Castelli, Mark Chow, Trifon Lambos, Erick Grislis, John Coronoa and Imran Shaikh.
In the quarterfinals, held in Winnipeg, the 5th-seeded Swan River Swan Valley Tigers defeated the 4th-seeded Portage Trotters 67-63 as Howard Zander scored 10, Doug Blaylock 10 and Ron Jersak 9 on 9-10 from the line. The Trotters included Steven Lewis, Steve Johnson, Keith Gurke, Shawne Robinson, Kelly Warren, Tim O’Toole, Bob Johnson. The Trotters had thrashed the Tigers by 40 earlier during the season.
The 2nd-seeded Killarney Raiders clubbed the 7th-seeded Gimli Lakers 72-36 as Chris Hicks scored 32 and Wilf Rupp 23. The Lakers (coached by Jerry Jonasson) included Eric Benson, Shawn Valgardson, Dean Russel, Rob Coldwell, Mike Bahniuk, Joe Litwin, Cory Lott and Jamie Bahniuk.
The top-seeded Steinbach Sabres clipped 8th-seeded The Pas Margaret Barbour Spartans 92-69. The Spartans included Joey Rollings.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs dispatched the 6th-seeded University of Winnipeg Collegiate Wesmen 81-47. The Wesmen included Joel Tolentino.
In the semis, the 5th-seeded Swan River Swan Valley Tigers defeated the top-seeded Steinbach Sabres 68-64. The Sabres led by 14 after one quarter and by 8 at the half. Scott Schneider and Shawn Anderson hit critical buckets down the stretch, while Bruce Kirkpatrick was stellar on defence.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Killarney Raiders defeated the 3rd-seeded Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs 67-47 as post Wilf Rupp scored 25. “We knew Winkler liked to block shots to we really took our offence to their big guy (Carl
Enns),” Rupp told the Brandon Sun. “Then once we got him in foul trouble, we had a little easier time scoring.” The Raiders led 28-15 at the half. Chris Hicks added 12 for the Raiders. Carl Enns paced the Kodiaks with 12.
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs defeated the top-seeded Steinbach Sabres 73-61. The Sabres (coached by Dwight Propp, assisted by Gordon Magee, statistician Steve Fuellbrandt and Chris Koop) included Greg Loeppky, Tim Farrell, Cam Reimer, Corey Brazil, John Loge, Doug Loeppky, Mark Neustaedter, Tim Kehler, Mike Penner and Eldon Loewen.
In the final, the 5th-seeded Swan River Swan Valley Tigers defeated the 2nd-seeded Killarney Raiders 68-63 as four Killarney starters fouled out late in the game. Killarney finished as runner-up for the third season in a row. Chris Hicks paced Killarney with 36. Ron Jersak paced Swan Valley with 25, including 13-18 from the line. Coach Duane Whyte told the Winnipeg Free Press that his point guard, deserved credit for the victory. “He was our most valuable player. Hicks is a helluva player and I think he deserved the MVP but Jersak ran the show for us. He broke their press. He really performed well. We were kind of underdogs. We talked about that a lot. We had to stop their fast break. And we also wanted to take it inside on them. Wilf Rupp got into foul trouble early for them. He had to back off, which helped us.” Jack Van Kleek added 14 for Swan Valley and Howard Zander 11. Killarney coach Bruce Lyons said Hicks is tough to defend. “Chris has seen so many gimmick defenses over the years that they lose their effectiveness. … We did everything we had to do to win. We just lost to a great team.”
The bronze medalist Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs:
The silver medalist Killarney Raiders: Chris Hicks; Wilf Rupp; David Kroeker; Dean Shoemaker; coach Bruce Lyons
The gold medalist Swan River Swan Valley Tigers: Ron Jersak; Jack Van Kleek; Howard Zander; Doug Blaylock; Scott Schneider; Derwin Kitch; Shaun Anderson; Bruce Kirkpatrick; Mark Kohan; Mark Alderson; Tyler Mitchelson; Brent Graham; Cam Dahl; Ron Oberlin; coach Duane Whyte; assistant Mona Morrison; assistant Lynn Dugger; manager Rosanne Koch; manager Sandy Sweetser; manager Marnie Koroluk