Using a revised format, the MHSAA held one large jamboree in Brandon, with four regional tournament winners in each of the four divisions of play invited to the party. The AAA division was defined as Winnipeg schools with between 100-400 students and rural schools with more than 300 students.
In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals clubbed the Winnipeg Westgate Mennonite Wings 71-52. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Westwood Warriors stomped the St. Norbert Celtics 89-45. …………………………………………………… The Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs whipped the University of Winnipeg Collegiate Wesmen 94-62. …………………………………………………… The Virden Golden Bears dumped the Swan River Swan Valley Tigers 78-64. The Tigers (coached by Duane Whyte, assisted by Laurie Munroe and Ronn Vestby, managers Kerri Trevellyan, Carmel Davy, Jayleen Jones, Corinne Brischuk and Michelle McDonald) included Allen Church, Wade Patience, Scott Martin, Kenzie Homer, Quinton Didyk, Jerry Nemetchek, Ken Duncalfe, Jerry White, Pat Harness, Don Lumas, Donnie Currie, Casey Sullivan and Clayton White). …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg St. John’s Ravenscourt Eagles clipped the Winnipeg College Belliveau Barracudas 85-73. …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Churchill Bulldogs dumped the Stonewall Rams 78-69. …………………………………………………… The Dauphin Clippers dispatched the Thompson R.D. Parker Trojans 85-70. …………………………………………………… The Portage la Prairie Arthur Meighen Squires defeated The Pas 60-50.
In the quarterfinals, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals smacked the Winnipeg Westwood Warriors 85-65. The Warriors included Jason Klos, Matt Kiesman, Chris Silva.
The top-seeded Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs crushed the Virden Golden Bears 112-82.
The 4th-seeded Winnipeg St. John’s Ravenscourt Eagles clipped the Winnipeg Churchill Bulldogs 78-68.
In the last quarterfinal, the Portage la Prairie Arthur Meighen Squires whipped the Dauphin Clippers 73-40. “We came out strong but we just fell apart,” Clippers coach Cam Bennett told the Dauphin Herald. “I don’t know what our problem was. We got into foul trouble. We weren’t allowed to play our type of game and the guys weren’t too sure on physical they could all play. And offensively, we couldn’t see to get going. We just couldn’t hit our shots. Maybe the guys wanted it too much and they were trying to force it. … It comes down to experience. We haven’t played a lot of games with teams of comparable experience and skill. … All in all, provincially we finished ranked fifth or so in the province, in the top eight anyway, and if you look at it that way it’s not that bad. It’s just that the provincials is a final four this year instead of the eight it has been in the past. It makes it a little harder but the guys seem to be taking it okay.” The Clippers (coached by Cam Bennet) included Brad Senkiw, Ty Schmidt, Desmond Strilchuk, Steven Hudyma, Ron Buhler.
In the semis, the top-seeded Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs smacked the 6th-seeded Portage la Prairie Arthur Meighen Saints 70-52.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals nipped the 4th-seeded Winnipeg St. John’s Ravenscourt Eagles 57-56.
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded Winnipeg St. John’s Ravenscourt Eagles dumped the 6th-seeded Portage la Prairie Arthur Meighen Squires 40-24. The Squires (coached by Greg Simcoe and Grant Watson) included Sean Borland, Aaron Turner, Kevin Huber, Jamie Brownlee, Paul Davis, Lee Turner, Terry Corrigan, Nick Davis, Chris Diggle, Jamie Tully, Sean
Borland, Cory Huber and Sean Close.
In the final, the top-seeded Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs defeated the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals 66-59. Zodiacs forward Chad Elias said “when teams take us lightly, like the city teams thinking we’re hicks and we’re not good, that gets us going. We like to prove that we’re just as good as they are and we sure did that today.” The Zodiacs led 47-40 at the half, but the Royals rallied to knot the score at 52 after three quarters. Zodiacs point guard Line Neufeld said “because we were here last year, we knew what it’s like to be a champion and just how much pressure there is in the final. We knew we had a really good chance of winning and we just had to keep our heads in it and stay calm.” Guard and Paraguay-native Werner Dyck, named tournament MVP, said defending the title was a challenge. “There was never any doubt that we were up for it. We knew we could go down any time but there’s just too many hard-working guys to let that happen.” Dyck scored 23. Paul Harms led the Royals with 22.
The bronze medalist Winnipeg St. John’s Ravenscourt Eagles: Willie Reid; Jay Scherer; Jon Margolis; Jeff Powell; Adam Rodin; Rob James; Curtis Beardy; Nikola Krpan; Paul Komenda; Samir Khanb; coach Henry Verbeek
The silver medalist Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals: Paul Harms; Jason Shannon;
The gold medalist Winkler Garden Valley Zodiacs: Werner Dyck; Chad Elias; Line Neufeld; Ron Dyck; Greg Froese; coach John Klassen