In the interzone playoffs, the Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen whipped Portage 70-47. The Plainsmen broke to a 25-6 lead and led by at least 25 for most of the affair. Danielle DeGagne led Crocus with 19. Tia Coulter added 14. “It’s a little difficult when you get up as much as we got up, but we told the kids at half time that they have to play the game,” Plainsmen coach Dave Malowski told the Brandon Sun. “As the game went, we kind of backed off and stopped pressing and when we did that, it became a passive game.” Portage included Brittany Dinwoodie, Deanna Mitchell.
In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Winnipeg College Louis Riel Voyageurs stuffed the 9th-seeded Winnipeg Daniel McIntyre Maroons 54-39. The Maroons included Jade Slobodian, Christine Cosino, Jhonnaleen Ponce, Crysta Custodio. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions crushed the 12th-seeded Winnipeg Garden City Fighting Gophers 76-48. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Selkirk Lord Selkirk Royals crushed the 11th-seeded Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs 92-62. Megan Cyr paced Selkirk with a team-high 30 points, including several key buckets in the latter stages of the first half as the Royals built a 49-34 lead at the break. Other top Royal scorers included Amanda Hallson with 15 while Chelsea Fielding and Miranda Grayson each added 10. Garden Valley’s Kate Dyck led all scorers with 31. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Winnipeg River East Kodiaks stomped the 10th-seeded Winnipeg Glenlawn Lions 77-42. The Lions included Kate O’Toole, Ayse Kalkan.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen whipped the 8th-seeded Winnipeg College Louis Riel Voyageurs 71-53 as Danielle DeGagne scored 34. Josee Deezar led the Voyageurs with 18. Plainsmen coach Dave Malowski told the Brandon Sun that making the Final Four was a “big step” for the school. “It’s obviously a reward for the hard work the kids have been putting in. I think we’re still hungry to get another one and get the final one, and the kids are pretty excited about going to the final. It’s definitely a positive step for our program.” Daniele DeGagne paced the Plainsmen with 34, along with 15 boards. Tia Coulter added 10, along with 7 boards. The Plainsmen led by 20 in the first half and the Voyageurs rallied no closer than 10. Josee Deezar paced the Voyageurs with 18.
The 5th-seeded Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions upset the 4th-seeded Winnipeg Oak Park Raiders 77-59 as Morgan Cross scored 28. Alyssa Grant led Oak Park with 21. The Raiders also included Gillian Sidon, Karen Oswald.
The 6th-seeded Lord Selkirk Royals stunned the 3rd-seeded Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans 68-60 in overtime as Megan Cyr scored 25, Chelsea Fielding 15, Amanda Hallson 12 and Deanna Gilbart 11. Christine Laforge led the Trojans with 16. The Royals trailed 53-51 in the waning seconds before Megan Cyr ripped down a huge offensive board and then quickly added a pivotal bucket to tie the score and force the overtime. In the extra frame, Selkirk played arguably its best basketball of the contest as the Royals outscored the Trojans 15-7. “In overtime, our game plan was to get them in foul trouble and they began to foul out,” said coach Doran Reid. Selkirk’s offence caught fire in the overtime, but it was significantly cooler in the first half as the Royals could not find an offensive rhythm. The result was a 32-22 halftime deficit, one of the Royals’ lowest offensive totals all season, and it forced Selkirk to play catchup throughout the game. “We couldn’t make a shot,” said Reid. “We trailed (by 10) at the half and our struggles continued early in the third.” Hallson agreed the Royals struggled abysmally at times, but gave the squad full credit for pulling out the dramatic comeback. “It was an ugly display, (Vincent Massey) played physical, and nothing went in for us,” said Hallson. “They fouled like crazy, they are definitely ready for the university game, but by the end of the game, they had six players foul out.” Hallson said the Royals appeared to feed off the boisterous crowd of Selkirk supporters. “It was a gutsy effort and I really think the fans got them back into it,” said Hallson. “The girls were a very determined group. They had a lot of tenacity and kept playing hard defensively and we owned the third quarter.” The Trojans also included Rebecca Cohen, Amy Brown, Deanna Hiebert, Danielle Baril, Adele Baril.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Sisler Spartans stuffed the 7th-seeded Winnipeg River East Kodiaks 71-55 as Debbie Yeboah scored 26. Jenn Lloyd led the Kodiaks with 18. The Kodiaks also included Krysta Scouten, Kelsey Rutherford, Kerri Remple.
In the semis, the top-seeded Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen stomped the 5th-seeded Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions 64-48 as player of the game Danielle DeGagne scored 23 and Tia Coulter 18, along with 18 boards. “We haven’t been that far but we have a tight group of kids,” Crocus Plains head coach Dave Malowski told the Brandon Sun. “One of our goals at the start of the year was to win the provincials — I thought it was far-fetched at the time — but you know what? The group of kids have come together. It helps when you have a couple kids like Danielle and Tia, they step up and play great games.” Tia Coulter said it “was hard to play like another game — it’s really exciting — and I think we did a really good job of keeping our composure.” Coulter, who dominated the boards on both ends of the floor, told the Winnipeg Free Press that “it’s (the schools’ making the final) has never happened before (a bid for a provincial title), everyone is pretty pumped up… It’s a great feeling and I’m so happy to be a part of it. Plainsmen coach Dave Malowski said his team began to demonstrate its capabilities when it finished second in the Pembina Trails tournament just before Christmas. “That to me sent a message that maybe we’re competitive enough and true to form, we’ve kind of battled right through to the end. One of our goals at the start of the year was to win the provincials. I thought it was kind of far-fetched at the time but the group of kids have come together. It helps when you’ve got a couple kids like Danielle and Tia and they step up. It’s a challenge, no question.” Centurion player-of-the-game Whitney Lodge-Zaparnick scored 15.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Sisler Spartans were powered by sharp-shooting guards Debbie Yeboah with 32 points and Cheryll Paranaque with 14 as they beat No. 6 Lord Selkirk Royals 75-58. The Spartans ripped off an 18-0 run while building a 32-20 lead at the half. Though the Royals fell behind by as much as 19, they attempted a fourth-quarter comeback but could not stop Yeboah. “This is really exciting for us, it might be history in the making and it’s the same for Crocus,” Yeboah told the Brandon Sun. “Our team has had its ups and downs but we really step it up when we need to. Everyone hits the shots we need to hit, everyone gets the stops when we need the stops. Against Crocus, we’re going to have to jam cuts and really get in their way.” Selkirk was led by three players who were also members of the Royals’ provincial AAAA volleyball champion team including Megan Cyr, who scored 17, Miranda Grayson and Chelsea Fielding, who scored 11. Royals coach Doran Reid told the Selkirk News that “we were ready for her and we played her well, but she had one more dimension. She showed patience, she would pull back and take it again (to the hoop). She took a secondary stab at it and got it there, but we actually played her quite well.” In the second half, “we pulled to within six and then they hit a couple of threes,” he added. “We played really well in the third and then took off in the fourth.”
In the final, the top-seeded Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen defeated the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Sisler Spartans 91-80 as Daniel DeGagne scored 41, while nabbing 16 boards and dishing 4 assists, Maria Dinsdale 23, along with 7 boards, and Tia Coulter 17, along with 13 boards. Debbie Yeboah led the Spartans with 38. Cheryll Paranaque added 15 and Hayleigh Bell 11. “We were kind of worried a bit but we just had to focus and play some good defence and it will take care of itself,” DeGagne told the Brandon Sun. “I just went to the hole a couple of times and tried to slow the game down. I think our defence was pretty good and the defence takes care of our offence. We scored a lot of points and we looked to score a lot too.” The Plainsmen led by 20 in the third quarter but Yeboah rallied the Spartans to within 82-78. DeGagne countered with a spin move and 10-foot jumper in traffic and the Plainsmen closed it out from there. “If you had said the score was going to be 91-80, I probably would have said we might not be on the right side of the scoresheet,” Crocus coach Dave Malowski said. “It was a treat to watch those kids. Danielle’s got a bit of a gamer attitude about her and, when push comes to shove, Danielle wants the ball at that time. She stepped up in key situations when we needed her to hit key shots.” The Plainsmen went to a box-and-one zone defence in the first half that concentrated on denying Yeboah the ball and it worked. For a bit. “We said we’ve gotta force her to put it on the floor but we wanted other kids to show on the drive lane and make her give it up,” Malowski said. “Early in the game she was doing that and giving it up but the other kids were heating up. Maria Dinsdale, Cherlyn Reid, those kids did a great job of limiting her touches. She’s an unbelievable offensive player and I thought our kids guarded her but, more importantly, our entire team stepped up.” Plainsmen co-coach Rick DeGagne told the Winnipeg Free Press that his daughter had “a good game. But you know what? We had a total team effort. A lot of kids played the best game of their life tonight. We had a little bit of adversity during the year, but they stuck together.”
The co-bronze medalist Winnipeg Fort Richmond Centurions: Allison Laferty; Whitney Lodge-Zaparnick;
The co-bronze medalist Selkirk Lord Selkirk Royals: Megan Cyr; Chelsea Fielding; Cheryll Paranaque; Amanda Hallson; Deanna Gilbart; Krista Johnson; Devan Heintz; Kat Fiddler; Julie Robertson; Dakota Blue; Kelsey Chaput; Miranda Grayson; coach Doran Reid; assistant Tricia Hallson
The silver medalist Winnipeg Sisler Spartans: Debbie Yeboah; Cheryll Paranaque; Joy Montierro; Jessi-Beth McCannell, coach Jill Watt
The gold medalist Brandon Crocus Plains Plainsmen: Danielle DeGagne; Tia Coulter; Samantha Lewis; Rachelle Premack; Katie McCallum; Kaitlyn Enns; Maria Dinsdale; Michelle Palmer; Lizzy Symons; Jessica McCharles; Erin Wedgewood; Cherlyn Reid; coach Dave Malowski