In the interzone playoffs, the zone 13 champ Steinbach Sabres whipped the zone 12 representative Winnipeg St. Mary’s Academy Flames 61-34 as Kim Balan scored 18, Charlene Melnyk 16 and Martha Klassen 14. The Sabres led 21-7, 37-18 and 54-25 at the quarters.
In the wild card game, the Russell Major Pratt Trojans defeated the Gimli Lakers x-x (by 60). The Lakers (coached by Pam Lamb) included Janet Groat, Caroline Tennbrink, Michelle Chudd, Kim Yanciw, Angel Olafsson, Karen Cherniak.
In the quarterfinals, held in Dauphin, the top-seeded Elie St. Paul’s Barons clocked the 8th-seeded Warren Wildcats 77-39 as Julie Murray scored 28 and Chris Toews 22. “Actually, I thought the girls played a good game, we came within ten points of them in the second quarter,” Wildcats coach Ken Overby told the Stonewall Argus. “But Elie is too strong to maintain pressure on them.” Heather Brotherston paced the Wildcats with 8. The Wildcats (coached by Ken Overby) also included Andrea Gill, Val Proctor, Sandy Spicer, Leanne Palmer, Leanna Johnson, Heather Brotherston, Lori Irwin, Heather Major.
The 2nd-seeded Dauphin Clippers dusted the 7th-seeded Killarney Raiders 54-28 as Tanya Hudyma scored 14 and Jackie Chernecki 13. The Raiders also included Carla Nichol.
The 3rd-seeded Portage la Prairie Arthur Meighen Squires whipped 6th-seeded The Pas Margaret Barbour Spartans 77-59. The Spartans included Shannon Vochuk.
In the last quarterfinal, the 4th-seeded Steinbach Sabres clubbed the 5th-seeded Russell Major Pratt Trojans 77-57. The Trojans (coached by Lynn Dreilich) included Patsy Ireland, Maureen MacIsaac, Marylou Johnson, Elaine Woodhouse, Deanna Cook.
In the semis, the 3rd-seeded Portage la Prairie Arthur Meighen Squires edged the 2nd-seeded Dauphin Clippers 47-44. Clippers guard Carolynn Wachsmann told the Dauphin Herald that “nothing happened, that’s the problem. We played okay defence, but no offence.” Tanya Hudyma topped the Clippers with 20. Jackie Chernecki added 12. Sharon Nicola, an exchange student from Australia, led Arthur Meighen with 19. Marnie Switzer added 13. “That one kid (Nicola) beat us,” McDougall said, who thought an Australian shouldn’t be eligible to play, having graduated from school in Australia. “But we beat ourselves with the fact we weren’t playing 100 per cent.”
In the other semi, the top-seeded Elie St. Paul’s Barons clipped the 4th-seeded Steinbach Sabres 58-47 as Chris Toews scored 11.
In the bronze medal match, the 2nd-seeded Dauphin Clippers clipped the 4th-seeded Steinbach Sabres 72-54 as Tanya Hudyma scored 40. Martha Klassen led the Sabres with 27. The Clippers led 31-18 at the half. “Everything was there,” Clippers coach Larry McDougall told the Dauphin Herald. “But a day late. This should have been yesterday instead of today.” Hudyma dominated the paint. “They killed us on the offensive boards,” Sabres coach Mike Fuellbrandt said. The Sabres (coached by Mike Fuellbrandt) also included Charlene Melnyk, Kim Balan, Teri Taylor, Rosella Adrian, Ang Ewonchuk, Rhonda Friesen and Frances Farrell.
In the final, the top-seeded Elie St. Paul’s Barons defeated the 3rd-seeded Portage La Prairie Arthur Meighen Squires 65-49 as tournament MVP Chris Toews scored 21 and Cheryl Cyrene 10. Sheryl Ross led the Squires with 19. Sharon Nicola added 12. “There’s (St. Paul’s), and then there’s the rest of the province,” said Arthur Meighen coach Jim Lehman. “They score from so many positions.” Toews said “we’ve been together for so long, we think like a team. So it’s easy for us to play.” Guard Janet Kopilas added that “we beat them four times before this year, so I guess we were pretty confident going into the game. They have such a small team, we just had to get them into foul trouble and we had them down.” Barons coach Court Reyda said “we knew exactly what we wanted to do. It was a matter of going out and executing. The first half was flawless.” The Barons broke to a 9-1 lead, led 20-11 after one quarter and 40-21 at the half. Squires guard Marni Switzer said “their press worked really well. It was frustrating. You work all the way through it and then you have to have the patience to get back into offence.”
The bronze medalist Dauphin Clippers; Tanya Hudyma; Jackie Chernecki; Carolyn Wachsmann; Dietra Stoesz; Dana Race; Cindy Paul; Allison Makar; coach Larry McDougall
The silver medalist Portage La Prairie Arthur Meighen Squires: Sharon Nicola; Sheryl Ross; Marni Switzer; Suzie Howden; coach Jim Lehman
The gold medalist Elie St. Paul’s Barons: Chris Toews; Julie Murray; Leanne Shirtliffe; Cheryl Cyrene; Janet Kopilas; Sheryl Reese; coach Court Reyda; assistant Richard Kleban