In the interzone playoffs, the Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans stomped the Virden Golden Bears 112-42 as Steve Shields scored 20 and Sterling Nostadt 16.
In the wildcard games: …………………………………………………… The Winnipeg Nelson McIntyre Wolverines crushed the Winnipeg College Beliveau 77-44. …………………………………………………… The University of Winnipeg Collegiate Wesmen edged the Winnipeg Windsor Park Royals 81-78.
In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Elmwood Giants defeated the 9th-seeded Flin Flon Hapnot Kopper Kings 62-36. The Kopper Kings (coached by Tony Ticzon, assisted by Pat Neufeld and Rick Bacon) included Chadd Ticzon, Peter Weber, Jedidiah Reeves, Kyle Reeves, Josh Whitbread, Nick Hamilton, Marcos Hurtado, James Lytwyn, Kevin Spence, Riley Bergen, Brett Belfry, Chris Renard, Michael Galay and Tanner Boutieller. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded University of Winnipeg Collegiate Wesmen defeated the 10th-seeded Dauphin Clippers 68-46. The Clippers (coached by Trevor Beals) included Kevin Thompson, Phil Fafard, Tim Swan, Brett Orpin, Matt Strilchuk, Evan Kostelnyk, David Roehl, James Kuzyk, Jordan Hafichuk, Zach Clark and Jordan Campbell.
In the quarterfinals, the 5th-seeded Winnipeg Linden Christian Wings whipped the 4th-seeded St. John’s Ravenscourt Eagles 74-49. The Eagles (coached by Darren Johnson, assisted by Zach Hirshman and Guy Magnusson) Rajiv Kotecha, Aaron Cram, Jeff Yoon, Quin Rusnak, Matthew Asaminew, P.J. Lederman, Ahmed Warraich, Brett Basher, Jon Lim, Chris Ferguson, Haoxin Shi, Eric Fong and Michael Lim.
The top-seeded Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans clubbed the Winnipeg Elmwood Giants 89-22. The Giants (coached by Jeff Stead, assisted by Rob Bell) included Matt Lamoureux, Nigel Basilio, Mark Lanoria, Everad Jackson, Kyle Lohrson, Desmond Pottruff, Tony Khamphavong, Chris Isaac, Cory Clarke, Jamaal Winston, Alex Pop and Chris Daniels.
The 2nd-seeded St. Norbert Celtics defeated the 7th-seeded University of Winnipeg Collegiate Wesmen 86-79. The Wesmen included Zev Permack, David Nepon, Navrattan Parmar, David Walford, Eric Zelcer, Zach Gilmore, Nick Goszer, Kevin Oman, Robyn Selby, Josh Weiss, Given Isaac and Zach Zaharia.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Sanford Sabres pounded the 6th-seeded Winnipeg Nelson McIntyre Wolverines 72-58. The Wolverines (coached by x) included Rhys Crawford, Kyle cooper, Waldemar Koos, Julien Dupont, Ted Oakley, Richard Zhang, Pat Anderson, Seung Yeon Hong, Dan Hidalgo, Joey Simon and Matt Vezue-Richer.
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded St. Norbert Celtics clipped the Sanford Sabres 83-66.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans dumped the Winnipeg Linden Christian Wings 67-58.
In the bronze medal match, the Winnipeg Linden Christian Wings defeated the 3rd-seeded Sanford Sabres 67-58. The Sabres (coached by Hank Nyman and David Barber) included Bryce Croft, Julien Barber, Cooper Croft, Matt Bunkowsky, Marshall Reimer, Josh Weidman, Jeremy Barber, Mike Kostal, Will Reimer and Ryan Cullen.
In the final, the top-seeded Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans stomped the 2nd-seeded St. Norbert Celtics 104-58. “These guys have been in all kinds of games this season,” Spartans coach Don Thomson told the Brandon Sun. “They saw the prize at the end of the rainbow, focused on strong defence and went after it.” Steven Shields paced the Spartans with 23, along with 15 boards and 6 blocks, Garrett Popplestone 19, including 4 treys, while point guard Sterling Nostedt scored 16. “I can’t think of a better ending,” said Nostedt. “We made it to three finals in the past three years, but finally finished it off. That’s why this one means so much.” Thomson said Nostedt’s play meshed well with Shields. “Sterling knows when the ball has to go to Steven and Steven knows how to reward him for that.” After taking a 15-point lead into the first intermission, Neelin took charge with a 34-17 second-quarter run. “They full-court pressed us to start the quarter and that really helped our transition game,” Thomson said. “One of our game plans for this game was to attack them for 40 minutes and we attacked them.” A deep bench allowed the Spartans to press for the entire contest. “We had more stamina and we were a deeper team,” Thomson said. “That was probably our key to success. Our kids from six to 10 or 11 on our bench improved so much through the year that we could actually pick up a step when we went to the bench. … For a lack of a better term, Steven was a beast in the key. There was no one here who could stop him and he kept himself out of foul trouble.”
The bronze medalist Winnipeg Linden Christian Wings: Shaun Nemetchuk; Brett Williams; Jason Miller; Tyler Danley; Justin Rowan; Matt Eisbrenner; Greg Sherk; Dustin Murdock; Ian Campbell; Daniel Chandran; Jared Fitzpatrick; Steve Cameron; coach N. Janzen; coach D. Rempel
The silver medalist St. Norbert Celtics: Shane Gibbons; K.C. Asagwara; Steven Learning; Nehamiah Kleinsasser; Keith Thede; Adam Holik; Raymond Zeaton; Joshua Zeaton; Matthew Wiebe; Jaymee Allison; Michael Trapp; Jordan Sorokowski; James Stanley; Todd McMullan; coach Graham Collier; assistant Raffaele Borelli; manager Chantel LeBlanc
The gold medalist Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans: Sterling Nostedt; Steve Shields; Garrett Popplestone; Curtis Stewart; Cole Dickson; Dan Hanna; Marcus Kobylka; Kevin Sutherland; Blake Majcher; Sasha Olekshy; Anthony Koroscil; Darcy Ruskin; Conner Ketchen; Matt Warren; Mike Kuzmicki; coach Don Thomson; assistant David Sutherland; assistant Jeremy Wielenga