In the quarterfinals, held in Winkler for rural and private schools with enrolments over 200, the top-seeded Steinbach Sabres clipped the 8th-seeded Warren Wildcats 63-53 as Phouba Pathammavong scored 31. The Wildcats were without starters Sean Braun (hockey) and Jason Hoas (broken arm). The Wildcats (coached by Scott Kwasnitza) also included Rick Baldwin, Mike Hoas, Chris Fleury, Chris Galbraith, Blaine Tully.
The 2nd-seeded Portage Collegiate Trotters stuffed the 7th-seeded The Pas Margaret Barbour Spartans 76-64.
The 4th-seeded Dauphin Clippers edged the 5th-seeded host Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs 78-77 on a pair of free throws by Clinton Toews in the final seconds. “It was good for the boys. It gave them their first big win,” coach David Bosiak told the Dauphin Herald. “It is a good type of win for the players but it’s the kind of win that’s hard on a coach.” The Zodiacs (coached by John Klassen) included Will Braun, Derek Kroeker.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Virden Golden Bears dispatched the 6th-seeded Swan River Swan Valley Tigers 71-62. The Tigers (coached by Duane Whyte, assisted by Ken McClintock, manager Alisha Sims and Shayne Leadbeater) included Garrett White, James Rivard, Harley Haas, Larry Solomon, Bill Schell, Casey Sullivan, Blair Campbell, Jerry White, Don Lumas, Darrell Carter, Jodi Sylvester and Jerry Nemetchuk.
In the semis, the 3rd-seeded Virden Golden Bears edged the 2nd-seeded Portage Collegiate Trotters 75-73 in overtime. Portage matched up well against us, said Golden Bears coach Steve Densmore. “We’ve played them before (twice) and they beat us once. They knew what they had to do to beat us and almost pulled it off. It was a tough game.”
In the other semi, the 4th-seeded Dauphin Clippers dumped the top-seeded Steinbach Sabres 94-76 after ripping off a 28-7 run in the fourth quarter. The Clippers scored 32 in the first quarter but only led 51-47 at the half. The Sabres opened up a double-digit lead in the third quarter but soon found themselves in foul trouble and folded.
In the bronze medal match, the 2nd-seeded Portage Collegiate Trotters stomped the top-seeded Steinbach Sabres 102-68. The Trotters led 27-10 after one quarter and 50-28 at the half. The Sabres (coached by Dwight Propp, assisted by Allan White) include Jeff Patmore, John Janzen, Mark Reimer, Curtis Friesen, Mike Desmarais, Curtis Peters, Andrew Giesbrecht, Phouba Pathammavong, Sheldon Schroeder, Jon Rempel, Kris Doerksen, Andrew Derksen and Mike Pathammavong.
In the final, the 3rd-seeded Virden Golden Bears defeated the 4th-seeded Dauphin Clippers 67-63 to win their first provincial title. “We were just happy to get the game won.” said Golden Bears point guard Russell Watts. “A lot of people at our school expected us to win.” Robin Smith paced the Golden Bears with 30. Russell Watts added 23. “The final was the best I’ve seen Robin and Russ play together,” said Golden Bears coach Steve Densmore. “It always seemed that one or the other would have an outstanding game. This time they played their best at the same time and that’s hard for a team to stop.” The Golden Bears led 23-12 after one quarter but the Clippers rallied to a lead in the final frame. Key drives by Smith and Watts, and timely free throw shooting, proved the difference. “We worked a lot on foul shots for the past month,” said Densmore. “A player had to sink 25 per practice and by the time the provincials rolled around the guys were easily making 30 shots at practice. … Dauphin was a team of good athletes, a team that could sprint through a whole game and we wanted to stay away from that.” Watts dictated the tempo and finished with 72 points in three games. “Russ is the team clown as well as a team leader,” said Densmore. “He is also a good playmaker who controls the game.” Clippers coach David Bosiak told the Dauphin Herald that “just about anybody could have won (the tournament). The competition was that tight. I told the guys that winning is great and we want to win but if everybody gives 100% then we have nothing to be ashamed of. They were disappointed with the outcome but there was no antagonism towards the other team.” Clippers centre Bassem Elias said “we were up by five with three minutes left in the game and we started to push too much. We made some mistakes and we got frustrated and it got worse. We took some very bad fouls. Virden is a very good team. They are going to take advantage of everything you do wrong. They had the experience. They were in the final last year. There wasn’t a team in Winkler that didn’t deserve to win. We came out second best in the province. That is pretty good.”
The bronze medalist Portage Collegiate Trotters: David Puff; Conrad Martens; Trevor Wiebe; Kevin Huford; coach Ryan Green
The silver medalist Dauphin Clippers: Clinton Toews; Cameron Towle; Barry Kowal; Bassam Elias; Shawn Gavin; Chris Zaplitny; Darcy Chrisp; Chad Fournier; Brain Freiheit; Greg Earl; coach Dave Bosiak; assistant Greg Acevedo
The gold medalist Virden Golden Bears: Robyn Smith; Russell Watts; Julian Heath; Shawn Zorn; Chris Bean; Cal Wilson; Grant Hunter; Rodney Pearn; Nathan Penner; Chris Sundell; Nathan Lesage; coach Steve Densmore