The MHSAA goes to a six-team format because several coaches believed it was unfair for Winnipeg teams to receive multiple entries.
In the quarterfinals, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Dakota Lancers defeated the Brandon Vincent Massey Vikings 66-37 after leading 25-19 at the half. John Taylor led the Lancers with 26 points and 9 boards. Dana Erickson added 13 and Ralph Pearce 9 and Graham Wilcox 8. Max Clark paced the Vikings with 12. Gary Browett added 8, Murray Lindenberg 8 and Don Jackson 5. “It stands to reason that a good big team will beat a good small team,” Bradshaw told the Brandon Sun. “The Vikings are good mainly because they’re well coached but the difference in size had to tell eventually.” Bradshaw told the Winnipeg Free Press that “I really thought we played a terrible first half. We were nervous, but we did play up to our potential in the second half. The only thing that kept us in the game was (John) Taylor. We’ve always been a second-half team though. Hey, listen, I don’t want to run my team down. They just get nervous early in the game, but when they’re playing up to their capabilities, they’re the best team I’ve ever coached.” Vikings coach Aubrey Ferris said “they were just too big for us, that’s all. We stayed close to them for a while. I said before we came here one of our goals was to be competitive and we weren’t competitive tonight. What I mean by competitive is being in the position to win the game at all times. We weren’t in that position tonight. But they’re not going to win this tournament, if they can let us come this close.” The Lancers led 35-28 when Graham Wilcox notched a runout off a turnover and then hit a jumper off another turnover as part of an 8-0 run. The Vikings (coached by Aubrey Ferris) also included Rob Kendel, Kevin McLachlan, Ralph Browlett, Gary Browett, Rob Kendall.
In the other quarterfinal, the Winnipeg Westwood Warriors clipped the Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals 54-40. Westwood held a 24-19 lead at the half but let Windsor Park catch up in the fourth quarter, and with 1:18 left in the game only led by four. But they promptly forced several turnovers and pulled out the win. “We were making a few mistakes
out there,” said Westwood coach Dave Guss. “But Windsor Park didn’t surprise me at all. I knew they could play good ball, and they did. They played great ball.” The Warriors hit 20-21 from the line, included 12-12 by Rudy Friesen, who scored 22. Grant Milne added 10. Wayne Jones led the Royals with 10. The Royals (coached by Keith Radford) also included Greg Simcoe, Steve Groslak.
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Dakota Lancers defeated the Winnipeg Sisler Spartans 48-31 as guard Brian Ottenbreit hit 8of-13 from the floor and 1 of 2 from the line to score 17 points. He also grabbed 6 rebounds. Guard Ralph Pearce added 6 points. Bob Magel paced Sisler with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
In the other semi, the Winnipeg Mennonite Brethren Hawks defeated the Winnipeg Westwood Warriors 48-42 as 6-1 forward Waldy Derksen scored 21 points, grabbed seven rebounds and shot .640 from the floor and .750 from the line. Dave Unruh added 17. Hawks coach Neil Buller told the Winnipeg Free Press that his troops “simply played great defence. Also, it was our fast break and our ability to break their press which did it for us.” The Hawks out-rebounded Winnipeg Westwood 32-21 and outshot them .440 to .350. Rudy Friesen paced the Warriors with 25.
In the bronze medal match, the Winnipeg Sisler Spartans clubbed the Winnipeg Westwood Warriors 60-30 as Bob Magel scored 28. The Warriors (coached by Dave Guss) included Ken Friesen, Steve Spa vital, Dave Smith, Dan Sharples, Rudy Friesen, Greg Doull, Rich Slade, Dale Ricker, Brent Graham, George Rugg, Robert Dewalt, Gord Connon, Ron Zarney and Grant Milne.
Winnipeg Dakota’s height proved the difference in the final, as a 6-6, 6-4, 6-2 front line dominated the glass. 6-4 Dana Erickson repeatedly nabbed lobs into the low post for easy layups as 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Dakota pounded the Winnipeg Mennonite Brethren Hawks 50-36. Erickson finished with 19 points and hit 8-19 from the floor, 3-3 from the line and grabbed 11 boards. 6-6 centre Winnipeg John Taylor added 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Lancers out-rebounded the Hawks 32-21 and led 22-6 at the quarter, 32-20 at the half and 46-26 at the three-quarter mark. The veteran Hawks, who featured nine seniors, were paced by Gary Janzen’s 9 points and 7 rebounds. Rennie Redekopp scored 11 and grabbed 6 boards. Dave Unruh added 10 for coach Neil Buller’s Hawks, who finished second for the second straight season.
The all-tournament featured: John Taylor (Dakota); Dana Erickson (Dakota); Brian Ottenbreit (Dakota); Dave Unruh (Mennonite Brethren); and Bob Magel (Sisler)
The bronze medalist Winnipeg Sisler Spartans: Bob Magel; Brent Corrigan; Tom Mokry; Dwayne Olson; Dan Kinaschuk; Brian Whitney; Ray Kinaschuk; Greg Shemely; Glen Zelenewich; Ernie Archia; Russ Horbal; Terry Symonds; Tom Bender; Roger Twerdun; Rod Stettinger; coach Gary Grubert
The silver medalist Winnipeg Mennonite Brethren Hawks: Waldy Derksen; Dave Unruh; Gary Janzen; Rennie Redekopp; Dana Erickson; Ernie Koop; Victor Bargen; Norm Derksen Bob Kowslowsky; Walter Thielman; Reggie Kehler; Herb Enns; Dave Huebert; John Track; Leo Ezirins; coach Neil Buller
The gold medalist Winnipeg Dakota Lancers: Dana Erickson; Peter Falk; Jeff Wray; Brian Ottenbreit; Kevin Drummond; Craig Hornby; Al McDermid; Ralph Pearce; Graham Wilcox; Bob Gross; Jim Kentel; John Taylor; coach Dale Bradshaw; assistant Bill Noyes; manager Randy Bigourdin; manager Rick Frischy; manager Wilf Smith