In the quarterfinals, held in Thompson, the Winnipeg Sisler Spartans defeated the Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals 66-28 as Martin Riley scored 14 despite playing less than half the match. Ben Szymkow added 14. Steve Groshak led the Royals with 8. The Royals also included Jack Van Dam, Howard Stewart, John Sisler, Rick Lafrancois.
The Winnipeg Westwood Warriors nipped the Winnipeg Dakota Lancers 33-31 as Mark Ouellette scored 12. Lancer post Ralph Pearce was fouled at the buzzer and a pair of free throws to tie it. On the first, he motioned to shoot but drew back. The second time, he let the ball go and it bounced off the rim. John Taylor paced the Lancers with 16. The Lancers (coached by Dale Bradshaw) also included Kurt Pelzer, Al McDermid.
The Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions dispatched the Winnipeg St. John’s Tigers 46-37. Dale Mattson paced the Lions with 12. Greg Daniels added 11 and Charles 10. Andy Maslowski led the Tigers with 14. The Tigers (coached by Bill Wedlake) also included Tony Kurec, Bohdan Pisak, Ted Milian, Mike Gerbinski, Smith, Lehman.
In the last quarterfinal, the Winnipeg Mennonite Brethren Hawks whipped the Selkirk Lord Selkirk Regional Royals 58-34 as Ron Dyck scored 12, Henry Wiebe 11 and Rolfe Bergen 10. Greg Kuz led the Royals with 12. Rich Kartzmark added 10. The Royals (coached by Peter Gerbrandt) also included Rick Fewchuck, Min Lee, Dan Babaluk, Gunter Matysiak, Dwight Wilson, Dave Sterzer, Bruce Reid and Kevin Hartig.
In the semis, the Winnipeg Sisler Spartans defeated the Winnipeg Westwood Warriors 41-39 despite trailing most of the contest. The Warriors led 10-9 at the quarter, 18-17 at the half and 31-23 at the three-quarter mark before Riley caught fire, hitting 18 points in the second half, to finish with a total of 30. Winnipeg Westwood tried to kill the clock but turned the ball over with 20 seconds to go and Sisler’s Danny Kinaschuk drove in for a layup to tie the contest. Riley then hit a 20-foot jumper as the buzzer sounded to give Sisler the victory. Gary Hagen led the Warriors with 12.
In the other semi, the Winnipeg Mennonite Brethren Hawks defeated the Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions 69-66 in overtime in another thriller. The game was tied at 14 after a quarter. Mennonite Brethren moved ahead 35-24 at the half and were up 53-43 at the three-quarter mark, appearing in full control, when Glenlawn furiously rallied in the fourth to take a two-point lead 59-57 with four seconds to go on a pair of free throws by Gary Hewitt. Mennonite Brethren drove into Glenlawn territory and a jump ball was called. The tip bounced to Henry Wiebe who hit the tying bucket at the buzzer. In the overtime, three of Glenlawn’s starters fouled out and Mennonite Brethren hung on to win by three points. They were paced by Henry Wiebe’s 22, Rolfe Bergen’s 16 and Dan Unrah’s 14. Glenlawn was led by Henry Lemoine 15 and John Mitchell 13.
In the bronze medal match, the Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions dusted the Winnipeg Westwood Warriors 46-33 as Greg Daniels scored 18. The Warriors (coached by Dave Guss) included Rudy Pearce, Gary Hagen, Rudy Friesen, Mike Oulette, Brent Graham.
In the final, the Winnipeg Sisler Spartans defeated the Winnipeg Mennonite Brethren Hawks 42-40 to cap an undefeated 35-0 season. The Hawks controlled most of the first half, leading 12-10 at the quarter and by seven midway through the second quarter. But Martin Riley caught fire and led Sisler to a 23-23 tie at the half. Sisler took over in the second half and were leading 31-26 at the three-quarter mark before the Hawks rallied to within one. But Sisler responded with its own spurt and took by lead down the stretch. A bid to run out the clock almost failed as the Brethren press forced two turnovers. One yielded a field goal but the other resulted in a missed layup and Sisler hung on for the title. Riley, who received the Carl Ridd Award as the tourney’s outstanding player, scored 16 and Randy Propopanko 10 for Sisler. The Hawks were paced by Rolf Bergen and Henry Wiebe, who each scored 9. Riley had suffered mononucleosis early in the season, missing several weeks of practice. Hard-nosed Sisler coach Gary Grubert had made him regain his starter’s role. “He sat me,” Riley recalled years later. “He said everybody gets to play before you. They’ve been at practices the last few weeks and you haven’t. But he was like a father figure to me. He bought me my first pair of basketball shoes. They were like $8. My first ‘Cons’. We were really poor. We came out of the developments, single Mom. Five kids, that whole thing. If not for Gary Grubert, you would have been interviewing me for mass murder of something. The only board I would be in front of would be a parole board. We had seven or eight guys off that team who went on to play university ball. We had talent to run and gun but we were very disciplined.” Martin Riley paced the Spartans with 16. Randy Propopanko added 10, Ernie Archia 6, Benn Szymkow 4, Bob Magel 3 and Frank Douglas 2, while Dan Kinaschuk was scoreless. Henry Wiebe and Rolfe Bergen each scored 9 to lead the Hawks. Tom Guenther added 8, Ron Dyck 8, Derksen 2, Koop 2 and Dan Unruh 2.
The all-tournament team featured: MVP Martin Riley (Sisler); Henry Wiebe (Mennonite Brethren); Tom Guenther (Mennonite Brethren); Henry Lemoine (Glenlawn); John Taylor (Dakota); and Mike Ouellette (Westwood)
The bronze medalist Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions: Henry Lemoine; John Mitchell; Greg Mitchell; Greg Daniels; Peter Charles; Dale Mattson; coach Jim Bulloch
The silver medalist Winnipeg Mennonite Brethren Hawks: Ron Dyck; Henry Wiebe; Rolfe Bergen; Dave Unruh; Tom Guenther; Waldy Derksen; Ernie Koop; Wilmer Koop; Darrel Dyck; Ken Epp; Bob Koslowsky; Bob Reimer; Vic Bargen; Walter Tielmann; Rennie Redekopp; coach Bruce Enns; assistant Neil Buller
The gold medalist Winnipeg Sisler Spartans: Martin Riley; Danny Kinaschuk; Randy Propopanko; Terry Symonds; Glen Zelenewich; Frank Douglas; Benn Szymkow; Bob Magel; Ernie Aronis; Gary Rozak; Marshal Rosner; Les Sikora; Brian Whitney; Ernie Archia; coach Gary Grubert; assistant Russ Horball; manager Tom Mokry