In the wildcard game, the Winnipeg Kelvin Clippers dispatched the Fort Richmond Centurions 57-49. The Clippers took a 33-24 lead at the half but the Centurions rallied to within one with five minutes to play before Kelvin shifted its defence and pulled away down the stretch. “We went back to a man-to-man defence,” Kelvin coach Donna Crowe told the Winnipeg Free Press. “They were killing us on the boards so we had to change the tempo of the game.” Tracey Shields led the Clippers with 15. Colleen Trush added 14 and Shannon Laykins 10. Donna Whitmore led the Centurions with 16. Sheryl Hnylycia added 14.
In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Brandon Vincent Massey Vikings defeated the 16th-seeded Winnipeg Transcona Titans 92-48. “It’s nice to have an easy game to open the tournament,” said Vikings coach Stew Farnell told the Brandon Sun. “But I didn’t want one that easy.” The Titans took seven minutes to score their first points and trailed 55-15 at halftime. Titans coach Ted Bisson said “they’re a pretty powerful team. I’ve been following them closely this year and it was pretty obvious that we could only hope to keep it fairly respectable.” Farnell said “the only really positive thing about it was the fact that the bench played a lot. It helped them because they’re not going to get much playing time after this.” Lorna Braaksma led the Vikings with 19. Cindy Gabor added 19, Lynn Zemliak 11, Lisa Mazur 10 and Laura Shawluk 10. Heather Kramble paced the Titans with 19. Paula Gabor had 9 steals in the first half. The Titans also included Suzanne Scott. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Daniel McIntyre Maroons dusted the Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen 53-48 as Rhonda Hackbart scored 17. Jody Bright paced the Plainsmen with 16. “We fell apart,” Crocus coach Bob Hamilton told the Brandon Sun. “We only scored four points in the last quarter. Everything we tried didn’t work.” The Plainsmen (coached by Bob Hamilton) also included Teresa Janz, Sandi Epp, Sherri Draper, Patti Jo Hawkins, Jodi Shyiak, Jodi Rathwell, Leanne Yarish, April Misanchuk, Roxanne Gosselin, Michelle Andresen and Teresa Janz. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Winnipeg Grant Park Pirates dispatched the 8th-seeded Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions 88-62. The Lions included Tracey Douma, Andrea Cox. …………………………………………………… The wildcard Selkirk Lord Selkirk Regional Royals edged the Winnipeg Kelvin Clippers 52-48 as Joanne Onishko scored 13 and Carol Ellison 12. Tracey Shields led the Clippers with 14. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans defeated the Winnipeg Sisler Spartans 44-28 as Arlyn Adam scored 16. Diana Kowalik led the Spartans with 11. The Spartans also included Christine Gmitrowski, Donna Kowalik, Nancy Haze, Susan Dondo. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Kildonan East Reivers crushed the Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders 61-44. The Raiders included Lonny Dryland. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg West Kildonan Wolverines crushed the Winnipeg Nelson McIntyre Normacs 73-41. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Dakota Lancers clipped the Winnipeg Westwood Warriors 55-38. The Warriors included Lisa Mackie, Maureen Bray.
In the quarterfinals, the Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans edged the Selkirk Lord Selkirk Regional Royals 62-58. “I never dreamed that my Grade 10s would come on so strong,” Trojans coach Dave McNabb told the Winnipeg Free Press. Arlyn Adam paced the Trojans with 16. Suzanne Butler added 16, Susan Sommerfeld 13 and Kelly Whynn 5. The Trojans were without Andrea Thompson. “The Butlers (Suzanne and Diane) played the best games of their lives tonight,” McNabb added. “But we needed a big game out of all five starters tonight and we got it.” Joanne Onishko paced the Royals with 24. Kristine Heidman and Carol Ellison each added 15. The Royals (coached by Wendy Goodbrandson, assisted by Dean Goodbrandson) also included Karen Andrechuk, Eileen Preun, Joanne Onishko.
The Brandon Vincent Massey Vikings stomped the Winnipeg Grant Park Pirates 73-40. The Vikings led 57-20 at the half. Lorna Braaksma paced the Vikings with 19 points and 21 boards. Lynn Zemliak scored 16, Cindy Gabor 13, Lisa Mazur 13 and Paula Gabor 9, along with 8 steals and 8 boards. Signy Arnasson paced the Pirates with 25. Arnasson “just needed four people to play with,” said Massey coach Stew Farnell. The Pirates also included Amy Mohr.
The Winnipeg Kildonan East Reivers stunned the Winnipeg Daniel McIntyre Maroons 73-65. The Maroons (coached by Barbara Hall) included Kendra Wilks, Heather Leekin, Rana Hackbart.
In the last quarterfinal, the Winnipeg Dakota Lancers dusted the Winnipeg West Kildonan Weskays 69-38. The Weskays included Chantelle Roersma, Tammy Klos.
In the semis, Brandon Vincent Massey defeated the Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans 56-50. They were ahead 14-12 at the quarter, 29-25 at the half and tied at 41 at the three-quarter mark. Winnipeg Vincent Massey “has improved all year,” said Brandon’s Cindy Gabor who scored 20, adding that the team was motivated by the burden of being rated number one. “It gives you something to work for. Being number one you have to win every game to prove to people that you deserve to be there.” Lorna Braaskma added 17 and grabbed 10 rebounds. Lynn Zemliak had 11 and 7 boards and Paula Gabor 8. Arlyn Adam led Winnipeg with 16 points. Linda Schwetz added 10 and nabbed 12 boards. Gabor said “in the final last year, we were down so we had the experience of playing in that kind of game. I think it really helped a lot. We kept our cool and didn’t panic.” Brandon coach Stew Farnell told the Winnipeg Free Press that “we didn’t lose our cool. And the leadership that Cindy gave us at the end, when we needed the points, was the key.” Farnell told the Brandon Sun “that the basic story was it should have been over early. But we lost at least 14 first-half points just missing layups.” Trojans coach Dave McNabb said that “at first we seemed just to want a respectable game. But that started to change at halftime when they realized that they had a good chance to win.” In the tight second half, “surprisingly enough, we didn’t lose our cool when we kept falling behind,” said Farnell. Gabor hit 7-8 free throws down the stretch.
In the other semi, Corinne Doerksen sank two free throws with 10 seconds to play to lead the Winnipeg Dakota Lancers past the Winnipeg Kildonan East Reivers 50-48. Sandra Baker led Winnipeg Dakota with 21. Kyla Bremner added 14. Paulette Jerrard led the Reivers with 18. Lael Durnin added 16.
In the final, the Brandon Vincent Massey Vikings defeated the Winnipeg Dakota Lancers 60-42 to capture their second consecutive title. They took a 15-2 lead out the gate and were ahead 19-10 at the quarter, 35-23 at the half and 48-31 at the three-quarter mark. Gabor scored 26, Lynn Zemliak 14, Lisa Mazur 12 and Lorna Braaskma 5. The Lancers were led by Sandra Baker’s 16 points. Corinne Doersken added 10. Brandon won the battle of the boards 36-32. Zemliak grabbed 12 boards. Baker had 12 rebounds for the Lancers. “I can tell you now,” Vikings coach Stew Farnell told the Brandon Sun. “This team is better” than the 1985 champs. “I told them that they were the best we’ve ever had,” he said, adding that when the Vikings took the early 15-2 lead “I thought the game was over at that point.” Assistant coach Mike Hill said Lorna Braaksma’s defence on Lancer star Sandra Baker was exceptional. “Lorna just shut Baker down. Every other team in
the province has to double Baker, but we didn’t.” Dakota coach Jeff Gosman said his troops couldn’t handle the pressure defence. “Pressure has been a problem for us. We were going to give them three different looks on the press break and only gave them two.” Cindy Gabor repeatedly pilfered the ball for runout layups, though asserting that “I really didn’t think our press would work as well as it did.” Massey outrebounded Dakota 36-32. Brandon Vincent Massey finished (30-1) on the season.
The co-bronze medalist Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans: Arlyn Adam; Susan Sommerfeld; Kelly Whynn; Suzanne Butler; Linda Schwetz; Andrea Thompson; coach Dave McNabb
The co-bronze medalist Winnipeg Kildonan East Reivers: Paulette Jerrard; Lael Durnin; Corrine Kibsey;
The silver medalist Winnipeg Dakota Lancers: Sandra Baker; Kyla Bremner; Melinda Hiltz; Corrine Doerksen; coach Jim Gosman; coach Jeff Gosman
The gold medalist Brandon Vincent Massey Vikings: Cindy Gabor; Lynn Zemliak; Lorna Braaksma; Lisa Mazur; Leslie Carroll; Paula Gabor; Laura Shwaluk; coach Stew Farnell; assistant Mike Hill