In the opening round, the Morris Mavericks defeated the Winnipeg Immanuel Christian Falcons 77-70 as Morgan Stewart was chosen player of the game. Calvin Nobel earned the laurels for the Falcons. The Falcons also included Mark Kuik. …………………………………………………… The Roblin Goose Lake Raiders dumped the The Pas Joe A. Ross Flyers 93-35 as Neil Friesen was chosen player of the game. Tron Michelle earned the laurels for the Flyers.
In the quarterfinals, held in MacGregor, the top-seeded host MacGregor Mustangs dumped the 8th-seeded Morris Mavericks 82-63 as Dale Lewis scored 18 and Braden Nicoll 16. Dale Lewis was chosen player of the game for the Mustangs, while Morgan Stewart earned the laurels for the Mavericks.
The Roblin Goose Lake Raiders crushed the Niverville Panthers 84-63 as Karl Messinbird was chosen player of the game. Connor Screpnek earned the laurels for the Panthers.
The Forrest Elton Sabres nipped the Warren Wildcats 78-76 as Steven Stiff was chosen player of the game. Kevin Magura earned the laurels for the Wildcats. The Wildcats (coached by Cathy Pleskach) also included Bryce MacMillan, Kavin Miller, Zach Purdy, Justin Custance, Ryan Hueging, Blair Tully, Kyle Porteous, Kyle Vandenheuvel.
In the last quarterfinal, the Minnedosa Chancellors clipped the Treherne Tigers 51-41 as Sean Dyck earned player of the game laurels. Toby Baron earned the honours for the Sabres.
In the semis, the Minnedosa Chancellors stomped the Roblin Goose Lake Raiders 62-42 as Sean Dyck was chosen player of the game. Neil Friesen earned the laurels for Goose Lake.
In the other semi, the top-seeded MacGregor Mustangs edged the Forrest Elton Sabres 86-82 as Kelly Savitzky scored 25. “Kelly was the big reason we beat Elton,” Mustangs coach Myron Friesen told the Portage la Prairie Central Plains Leader. “Not just for his hot shooting, but more so for the way he controlled the game for us.”
In the bronze medal match, the Robin Goose Lake Raiders nipped the Elton Sabres 61-60.
In the final, the top-seeded MacGregor Mustangs edged the Minnedosa Chancellors 58-50 as tournament MVP Dale Lewis scored 24 and Darcy Vermeulen 14. The Mustangs trailed with 13 with six minutes to play. “I called a time out and the guys were kind of snipping at each other in the huddle,” Mustangs coach Myron Friesen, a pastor at a community church, told the Portage la Prairie Central Plains Leader. “Once they settled down, I simply told them, ‘Guys, we’re going to win this game.’ They went out, got a couple of steals, a couple of good looks, the press started to click and we’re lucky Minnedosa went cold. For 35 minutes, Minnedosa played perfectly. I don’t know what happened to make them change, except we stepped up when it counted. All year, we won as a team and lost as a team. We knew we could do it. … (Lewis) willed us to that victory. He made the shots when it counted, and he clearly deserved the MVP in my estimation. … (Vermeulen), all year, Darcy’s been a steady performer, not flashy, but he got the job done for us. Considering he never played basketball seriously before last year, for him to get 10o to 25 rebounds every game at the provincials … what can you say? He’s a great athlete and a better kid. He’s one of the nicest people you’re ever going to meet.” The provincial title “brought me back to my many disappointments at high school provincials as a player, and it was great to know I finally got (to win a championship),” Friesen added. “I called my high school coach after the game, and he was ecstatic. It’s amazing how many people know about it and are excited about it. People stop you on the street and congratulate you. We had never won the zone before, let alone get to provincials. To do it here in front of the home crowd, it means a whole lot more.”
The bronze medalist Roblin Goose Lake Raiders: Neil Friesen; Trent Becker; Bobby Neufeld; Caleb Smith; Karl Messinbird; Logan Kucherhan; Skyler Vandoorne, Michael Hunter; Tyson Stelter; Cody Stephanow; Andrew Sorochuk; coach Brant Neufeld; assistant Mackenzie Zimmer
The silver medalist Minnedosa Chancellors: Cory Butler; Jordan Higgins; Angus Cheung; Brad Johnson; Trevor Crook; Scott Firby; Andrew Firby; Alex Graham; Landon Little; David Comrie; Sean Dyck; Josiah Quesnel; coach John Potter, assistant Dan Charles
The gold medalist MacGregor Mustangs: Dale Lewis; Alex Ferguson; Spencer Cleaver; Braden Nicoll; Darcy Vermeulen; Tyson Guenther; Darryl Wiebe; David Sattler; Kelly Savitzky; Devin Makinson; Adam Hawley; Mike Wiebe; coach Wayne Friesen, assistant Myron Friesen