In Pool A round robin play, held in Hartney: …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Hartney Hornets stunned the 4th-seeded Pilot Mound Pilots 40-37 as Brenda Jasper scored 18. Stacy Manning paced the Pilots with 16. …………………………………………………… The Grandview Spartans nipped the Pilot Mound Pilots 38-34. …………………………………………………… The Grandview Spartans edged the Hartney Hornets 39-36.
In Pool B play: …………………………………………………… The Hamiota Huskies stomped The Pas Joe A. Ross Flyers 102-43 as Kristi Prawdzik scored 25 and Kyla Wilson 15. Angie Bignell led the Flyers with 18. …………………………………………………… The Pinawa Panthers edged The Pas Joe A. Ross Flyers 47-42 as Lesley Zetaruk scored 14. Andrea Constant led the Flyers with 17 …………………………………………………… The Hamiota Huskies defeated the Pinawa Panthers 61-30. The Panthers included Lesley Zetaruk, Jennifer Allen.
In Pool C play: …………………………………………………… The St. Laurent Hawks crushed the Rivers Rams 60-12 as Heather Lambert and Shelly Ducharme each scored 19. …………………………………………………… The Steinbach Christian Flames clipped the Rivers Rams 44-31. …………………………………………………… The St. Laurent Hawks dispatched the Steinbach Christian Flames 53-31. The Flames (coached by Dwayne Martens and Merril Friesen) include Jennifer Klassen, Darcia Barkman, Tamara Friesen, Angela Reimer, Gloria Hiebert, Crystal Wiebe, Karen Thiessen.
In Pool D play: …………………………………………………… The Treherne Tigers whipped the Shoal Lake Sharks 65-15. …………………………………………………… The Rosenort Red Hawks edged the Shoal Lake Sharks 38-36. The Sharks included Lori Hogg, Mandy Kokorudz. …………………………………………………… The Treherne Tigers crushed the Rosenort Red Hawks 51-26.
In the semis, the Hamiota Huskies dusted the Grandview Spartans 49-22 as Karen Bray scored 16.
In the other semi, the St. Laurent Hawks edged the Treherne Tigers 52-45.
In the bronze medal match, the Treherne Tigers dumped the Grandview Spartans 48-41 as Lee-Ann Purkess scored 17 and Shelley Purkess 13.
In the final, the Hamiota Huskies edged the St. Laurent Hawks 47-45 to capture their third consecutive provincial title. Tournament MVP Karen Bray paced the Huskies with 21. Kristi Prawdzek added 12. Heather Lambert led the Hawks with 23. St. Laurent coach Art Koop coached both the Hawks girls’ and boys’ teams to the provincial final. The girls won silver and the boy’s bronze. “It was a very up and down day,” said Koop. “One moment you’re totally ecstatic and then later you’re down again.” The girls were seconds away from overtime but a foul was called in the final seconds and Bray hit a pair from the line to win it for Hamiota. “It was really disheartening at first, the girls took it hard but they did an outstanding job,” said Koop. “But I realized they team had come a long way. We had a lot of support from parents and it was nice to be in the finals.” Koop said he was able to coach both teams because of assistant Tim Juer. “I’d rather be coaching a lot of games than just sitting around and waiting to coach one game in a day. I have no problem getting up for coaching. Having Tim helps a lot and a lot of things couldn’t get done if it wasn’t for the managers, Shelley Allard and Judy Chartrand.” Koop, a former University of Winnipeg Wesmen basketball star, has been working on the St. Laurent basketball program ever since his arrival at the school six years ago. This year almost a third of the school population (approximately 75) is represented by the two basketball teams (25 players). “Six years ago, it was difficult to get kids committed to coming to practice,” said Koop. “Now we don’t have a problem, we’ve got Grade 8s and 9s that are pumped to be part of the program. And more parents are coming out to watch the kids. You can really see the glow in the kids’ eyes when the parents show up to watch a game.”
The bronze medalist Treherne Tigers: Lee-Ann Purkess; Shelley Purkess;
The silver medalist St. Laurent Hawks: Heather Lambert; Denise Kerbrat; Shelly Ducharme; Tanya Chartrand; Nicole Kerbrat; Vicki Lambert; Krista Millar; Rachelle Ducharme; Lesia Bruce; Melissa Buors; Michelle Dumont; Shelley Allard, Bobby Jo Lavallee; Lisa Diell; Chantelle Gratton; Danielle Kerbrat; coach Art Koop; assistant Tim Juer; manager Shelly Allard; manager Judy Chartrand
The gold medalist Hamiota Huskies: Karen Bray; Charlene Mathison; Kristi Prawdzik; Treena Anderson; Ryan Hodgson; Kyla Wilson; Trina Mathison; Lisa Hamilton; Carolyn Sangster; Shelley Preston; Tara Dale; Stacie Wilson; Jody Desrochers; Stacey Sararas; Karen Madsen; coach Lorna Robertson; assistant Ralph Clark