In the wildcard game, the Brandon Vincent Massey Vikings thrashed the Winnipeg Silver Heights Huskies 101-78 after leading 57-45 at the half. Roger Watchorn paced the Vikings with 35. Ken Krahn added 30 and Peter Halamendaris 22. Sean Bennett led the Huskies with 20.
In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg John Taylor Pipers edged the Winnipeg Mennonite Brethren Hawks 76-70. The Hawks included Jon Labun, John Bergmann. …………………………………………………… The 12th-seeded Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen nipped the 5th-seeded Winnipeg Grant Park Pirates 69-67. The Plainsmen slowed the game to a crawl and were control for most of the affair until late treys by the Pirates made the score respectable. “They (the Plainsmen) controlled the tempo and maintained their composure,” Crocus coach Dwight Kearns told the Brandon Sun. “They’re pretty tough when they get the lead. I’m impressed with them.” Mark Kozak drove the paint at will and finished with 22 points. “He’s tough, and he makes good decisions,” said Kearns. “He’s so quick with the ball. He draws contact and finishes off the play.” Randy Cullen paced the Plainsmen with 29. Mike Bryan led the Pirates with 25. Adrian Jarden added 12. The Plainsmen effectively contained Bryan, said Pirates coach Gerry Boehm. “I believe they ran a box-and-one on Bryan and that took him out of the game.” The Pirates led 18-12 after the first quarter but trailed 35-31 at the half. “Their pressure hurt us for a while,” said Boehm. “That brought them back into the game.” The Pirates included Mike Graham, Mike Bryan. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Westwood Warriors defeated the Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions 72-65. The Centurions included Chris Binns, Scott Waugh, Brian Kastiuk, David Fisher. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Kildonan East Reivers dispatched the Winnipeg Daniel McIntyre Maroons 90-79. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Winnipeg St. James Jimmies clipped the 13th-seeded Brandon Vincent Massey Vikings 65-63. The Vikings struggled with turnovers. “We were the cause of our own demise,” Vikings coach Tom Price told the Brandon Sun. “Our guys just didn’t go out and play.” Massey’s downfall began late in the third quarter when they had a nine-point lead. St. James hit a three-pointer and then converted on two consecutive turnovers by Massey to make it a two-point game. Massey outscored the Jimmies 24-8 in the second quarter to take a 35-28 halftime lead. “They’re pretty tough when they get the lead. I’m impressed with them,” said Vikings coach Dwight Kearns. “We made awful choices as to what to do with the ball. Our decision- making was terrible. Our guys never learned to play with a lot of composure.” Massey guard Roger Watchorn said the team had trouble all season in close games. “All through the year in the close games, we couldn’t pull it out.” Bob Heighton led the Jimmies with 20. Scott Labonte added 15 and Sheldon Stadnick 12. Roger Watchorn led the Vikings with 22. Peter Halamandaris added 18 and Ken Krahn 13. The Vikings (coached by Tom Price) also included, Cory Delbridge, Dean Oakden, Barry Roney, John Shinske, Richard Youdell, Shawn Guest. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals whipped the Winnipeg St. Johns Tigers 126-77. The Tigers included Richard Delarande. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders dumped the Winnipeg J.H. Bruns Broncos 73-50. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Tec Voc Hornets stomped the Winnipeg Westgate Wings 79-56. The Wings (coached by Neil Taylor) included Jules Martens.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals stomped the Winnipeg John Taylor Pipers 83-62. The Pipers (coached by Brent Corrigan) included Colin Bartlett, Chris Winton, Ismael Mustapha, Jason Hopps, Darren Burgener, Graeme Fraser.
The 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders edged the Winnipeg Kildonan East Reivers 65-59. The Reivers (coached by Ross Wedlake) included Ken Antonio.
The Winnipeg Tec Voc Hornets crushed the Winnipeg Westwood Warriors 89-67. The Warriors included Jason Hallman, Mark McKay, Jason Archer.
In the last quarterfinal, the Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen edged the Winnipeg St. James Jimmies 54-47. The Jimmies led 28-21 at the half. But the Plainsmen gained the lead in the third quarter and went to a four-corner stall. “When we started to come back, I thought if we got one or two up, we’ll make it tough (with the stall),” Plainsmen coach Dwight Kearns told the Brandon Sun. The Jimmies began to foul and the Plainsmen hit 13-18 from the line down the stretch. “We’ve done that all year,” said Crocus guard Mark Kozak. “We’re getting really good at it, stalling and converting the free throw.” St. James coach Al Friesen said the discrepancy in fouls (26-9) proved the difference. “That’s the whole game right there. The guy (ref) from Brandon had two calls against Brandon. That’s all he called. I’m not whining but that’s an amazing statistic, an unbelievable statistic.” Kozak and Randy Cullen each scored 18 to pace the Plainsmen. Ron Lloyd added 10. Sheldon Stadnick paced the Jimmies with 13. Bob Heighton added 12. The Jimmies also included Scott Labonte.
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders clipped the 3rd-seeded Winnipeg Tec Voc Hornets 71-61. Mike Berg paced the Hornets with 25 points and 15 boards. “I was pretty pleased with my game,” said Berg. Hornets coach Joe Di Curzio said “we would have a very serious problem (without Berg) because we didn’t have much height or toughness inside. He’s an excellent inside player. He’s probably the best inside player, in my opinion, in the province.”
In the other semi, the top-seeded Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals clocked the Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen 88-66. “We were a big, hungry team tonight and we deserved to win,” Royals coach Brian Thompson told the Winnipeg Free Press. “Our size enabled us to rebound well, and the boys played great both ways.” Jeff Foreman said “we were just too big for them. I think all of us were nervous at the beginning of the game. But then we got going and we were on our way.” The Royals led 35-19 at the half. Jeff Poole scored the first seven points of the second half for the Royals as they put the outcome well out of the Plainsmen’s reach, leading 73-37 at the three-quarter mark. “They are as good as I’ve seen in a long time,” Plainsmen coach Dwight Kearns told the Brandon Sun. “In the 12 years I’ve been coaching, those are the best five athletes I’ve seen play at once. We tried to slow them down, but we didn’t slow them down enough. They’re a good team, probably better than the 1985 Tec Voc team that won it all, but they’ve got greater size.” Jeff Foreman paced the Royals with 33. Eric Christiansen added 21. Randy Cullen led the Plainsmen with 23. Mark Kozak added 19. “You can’t be unhappy with them,” said Kearns. “We got down about 35, they never substituted much and the kids cut it (the lead) down. They did a good job. Getting to the Final Four is a credit to them.”
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders defeated the top-seeded Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals 66-60 as Rhett Turner scored 24. “We knew we couldn’t play catch-up basketball against those guys. We had to stay close to them and stay out of foul trouble. As it turned out, they were the ones in foul trouble,” Turner told the Winnipeg Free Press. The score was knotted at 26 at the half. The Raiders exploded with a decisive 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to claim their first provincial crown. The heavily favored Royals had entered the final with a (39-2) record.
The all-tournament team featured: MVP Rhett Turner (Oak Park); Mike Berg (Tec Voc); Sean Lepper (Oak Park); Eric Christianson (Windsor Park); Jeremy Rattai (Oak Park); and Jeff Foreman (Windsor Park)
The co-bronze medalist Winnipeg Tec Voc Hornets: Mike Berg; Amaelito Camaclang; Courtney Murray; Tom Nott; coach Joe Di Curzio
The co-bronze medalist Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen: Randy Cullen; Mark Kozak; R.J. Pratt; Ronny Lloyd; Joe Danis; Ti Vongnaraj; Kim Peters; Carl Scott; Jamie Webster; Dennis Malowski; Chris Palmer (season ending ankle injury); coach Dwight Kearns
The silver medalist Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals: Jeff Foreman; Jeff Poole; Jeff Christianson; Neil Armstrong; Kerry Muhammed; Eric Christianson; Sean Brooks; coach Bryan Thompson
The gold medalist Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders: Rhett Turner; Sean Lepper; Jeremy Rattai; coach Randy Kusano; coach Darren Klapak