In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Winnipeg Tec Voc Hornets edged the Winnipeg Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Hawks 75-70. The Hawks (coached by Ken Opalko) included Dale Nikkel. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg St. John’s Tigers clipped the Winnipeg Transcona Titans 106-96. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans dumped the Winnipeg Kelvin Clippers 76-67. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Elmwood Giants edged the Winnipeg Shaftesbury Titans 71-68 as Darryl Baptiste scored 23, Ryan Knelsen 14 and Allan Doucette 14. Todd Shortt led the Titans with 21.
In the quarterfinals, the 10th-seeded Winnipeg Tec Voc Hornets stunned the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders 63-58 in double-overtime. The Raiders (coached by x, assisted by Darren Klepak) included Dave Craw, Mike Burgoyne, Scott Johnson.
The top-seeded Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen dumped the 8th-seeded Winnipeg Elmwood Giants 71-63. “(Elmwood) is a very tough team and we weren’t about to take them lightly. We won’t take anyone lightly because the top seven or eight teams have a shot at winning it all this year, so rankings don’t mean all that much,” Plainsmen coach Dwight Kearns told the Brandon Sun. The Plainsmen were sluggish early, trailing 6-0 and taking five minutes to score. But Jason Scott hit the first of four treys to ignite the offence. “We weren’t very sharp at the beginning, but I put one in and we got going,” Scott said. Crocus ripped off an 11-0 run and led 36-25 at the half. They maintained an 8-14-point lead for most of the second half until the Giants rallied within three with five minutes to play. Scott paced the Plainsmen with 19. Sean Williams added 18 and Duane Baker 15. Darryl Baptiste led the Giants with 21. “That kid is a tremendous athlete,” said Kearns. “And he’s young. We’re going to hear about him for a long time.” Allan Doucette added 18 for Elmwood. The Giants (coached by Jeff Leblanc and Dave Lyon) also included Darryl Baptiste, Ryan Knelsen.
The 5th-seeded Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans clocked the Winnipeg Daniel McIntyre Maroons 70-52.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Winnipeg Kildonan East Reivers stuffed the 6th-seeded Winnipeg St. John’s Tigers 80-66.
In the semis, the 5th-seeded Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans nipped the top-seeded Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen 56-54 as Mike Ha hit a 15-foot baseline jumper off an inbounds pass from Paul Unruh at the buzzer. “We called a timeout, and the idea was to get the ball to Sheldon (Nemeth). We had to get it in quick. I can’t believe it came to me. I didn’t have time to think. I just got the ball and shot it . . . and it went in. This is amazing,” Ha, who scored 7, told the Brandon Sun. “We said just get the ball in as quickly as possible.” The Trojans had called a timeout with two seconds remaining after officials charged the Plainsmen with travelling off a rebound scramble under their basket. “To be counted out all along and then to come in and show everybody what we could do,” said forward Sheldon Nemeth, who scored 23. Plainsmen coach Dwight Kearns said “this is a tough one to lose. We played man-to-man on that last play and we had the right guys tied up. But they got it to a guy who usually doesn’t do it for them. Tonight, he did it for them. The kid just turned and shot it, and unfortunately for us, it went in.” With five seconds left on the clock and the score knotted 54-54, Nemeth missed a layup. Crocus forward Sean Williams gave Nemeth a bump on the ensuing rebound and he was charged with a foul. Time expired while the infraction was being called, and after a brief conference, two seconds were put back on the clock. “It’s a discretion call,” said Kearns. “They felt the timekeepers had let a few seconds tick away, That’s the way it goes. I’m not going to let my guys blame this on the refs. A lot of things in that game happened that we could control, like our poor shooting. The refs we can’t control, so the guys can’t even worry about it.” The Plainsmen hit 22-49 (.450) from the floor and 2-19 from the arc. Duane Baker and Trevor Penner each scored 10 to lead the Plainsmen. Jason Scott added 9. “They deserved it,” said Penner. “Nemeth had a great game and Ha made the big shot. We had our own troubles on offence, but you can’t take anything away from their win.”
In the other semi, the 10th-seeded Winnipeg Tec Voc Hornets dumped the 3rd-seeded Winnipeg Kildonan East Reivers 69-44. “After Joe Vieira quit, we had a lot of problems,” said Kevin Chief, who scored 26, including six treys. “We can win if our players work together. Obviously, the shots have to go in but our defence is just unbelievable.”
In the final, the 10th-seeded Winnipeg Tec Voc Hornets defeated the 5th-seeded Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans 69-58. For the first time in MHSAA history, a grade 10 player, Kevin Chief, was named tournament MVP. Chief credited coaches Greg Bouchard and Scott Martin for his success. “They pushed me and motivated me and whenever I made a mistake, they didn’t just pull me off the court,” Chief, who scored 22, told the Winnipeg Free Press. Tec Voc had to overcome the defection of its prime scorer (Joe Vieira) in midseason to reach the playdowns. “We knew that we were capable of playing competitive defensive basketball,” said Bouchard, who coined the nickname ‘Hungry Nine’ for his tenacious bunch. “Look at the score. In the last two games nobody scored more than 60 points on us. That was our goal. We did it. It was simple as that.” The Hornets made several adjustments in the second half to free up Chief, Clint Lake and Lawrence Mangaron. “Their coaches made a tremendous adjustment,” said Massey coach Jerry Hildebrand. “I told them before: if you win bring your heads down, if you lose hold your heads high.” Sheldon Nemeth led Massey with 18.
The all-tournament team featured: MVP Kevin Chief (Tec Voc); Sheldon Nemeth (Winnipeg Vincent Massey); Drayson Cowan (Brandon Crocus Plains); Elliott Unger (Kildonan East); Lawrence Mangaron (Tec Voc); and Clint Lake (Tec Voc)
The co-bronze medalist Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen: Duane Baker; Trevor Penner; Sean Williams; Ter Vongnara; Jason Scott; Drayson Cowan; Bart Walker; Ian Boreyko; Shane Smith; Brad Dodds; Ken McLaren; Murray Matheson; coach Dwight Kearns
The co-bronze medalist Winnipeg Kildonan East Reivers: Garnet Sinclair; Kirk Forteau; Elliot Unger; Arby Bumbry; Jason McDonald; Paul Bedard; Adam Wedlake; Sean Wedlake; coach Ross Wedlake
The silver medalist Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans: Sheldon Nemeth; Mike Ha; Paul Unruh; Peter Young; coach Jerry Hildebrand
The gold medalist Winnipeg Tec Voc Hornets: Kevin Chief; Lawrence Mangaron; Clint Lake; Joe Vieira; Ferdie Cristomo; Clint Lake; coach Greg Bouchard; assistant Scott Martin