In the opening round, held in Kingston: …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Sarnia Northern Vikings defeated the top-seeded Timmins HVS Blues 50-44 as Seve McGregor scored 13, Dan Rothenbury 12 and Peter Kaija 11. Vikings coach Hugh Meyer sat out his top player Willem Verbeek and two other starters because he didn’t want to risk injury. “It’s a choice to go in and go gung-ho and risk it when the game, in essence, only sends you to one side of the other,” said Meyer, a Queen’s grad. “I just don’t figure you can risk that when you’ve got five games to play. Every team here is in the same boat starting tomorrow. You lose the next one and you’re out. Obviously, I would have preferred to have won, but I just wasn’t about to try to risk anything in order to do it.” Luc Riel led the Blues with 9. Mike Dallaire added 9 and Ken Mattien 8. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Chatham-Kent SS Golden Hawks defeated the 2nd-seeded Etobicoke Burnhamthorpe Bucs 55-49 as Andy Rambouts scored 16 and Corky Butcher 12. Paul Riley led the Bucs with 19. Jim Ebanks added 13. …………………………………………………… The Kingston Frontenac Falcons defeated the Uxbridge Tigers 68-32 as Rob J. Carnegie scored 12, Eric Vreeken 12 and Dave Reynolds 8. Eric Vreeken scored 8 of the Falcons first 22 points and dominated the boards. The Falcons led 34-16 at the half. Falcons coach Bruce Black told the Kingston Whig-Standard that “we caught them flat. … When you’re flat you have trouble rebounding and we outrebounded them badly. We got some boards, the big guys started scoring and the scoring was scattered around. Rob Atkinson led the Tigers with 7. Tigers coach Jim Schwan said “the kids weren’t up for the game. … We didn’t hustle. We missed early and lost our confidence. Frontenac shot well and they were more aggressive on the boards. We were too tentative.” …………………………………………………… The North Bay Chippewa Secondary Raiders defeated the Smith Falls Red Hawks 49-47 as Cliff Riopelle nabbed a defensive board and fed it up the court to Jeff Adkins, who notched the winner at the buzzer. Brian Lancaster led the Raiders with 22. Cliff Riopelle added 10. Rod Hunt led Red Hawks with 21. Chippewa coach Dick Stewart was worried. His troops had lost a lot of close games and had relinquished a 14-point lead. Stewart told the North Bay Nugget that “I call it our overtime syndrome. I could almost see it coming. Maybe this will change our thinking.” Stewart told the Kingston Whig-Standard that “they started playing better and we started turning the ball over. Whether that was a result of fatigue, I don’t know. We pressed for the whole game.” …………………………………………………… The Dryden Eagles dumped the South Carleton Redskins 61-52 as Chuck Schmitt scored 23, Darryl Mousseau 14 and Gary Nickle 12. The Eagles broke to a 21-4 lead but the Redskins rallied to within 31-29 at the half. Rob Warren led the Redskins with 19. Kevin Perkins added 11. …………………………………………………… The Timmins E.C.S. Flammes edged the Owen Sound West Hill Raiders 45-44 as Gilles Philion scored 18 and Brian Feldman 9. Geoff Cole led the Raiders with 12. Todd Goetz added 12, Drew Robertson 8, Paul White 7, Sean Dantas 3 and Rob Webb 2. The Raiders led 10-8 after one quarter and 20-18 at the half. The score was knotted at 29 after three quarters. Raiders coach Lorne Johnson told the Owen Sound Sun Times that “we played timidly at times but just poorly. There was no excuse.” …………………………………………………… The Hamilton Hillfield-Strathallen Trojans whipped Brampton Mayfield 63-39 as James Green scored 28 and Dan Walters 11. Kelly Hanczyk led Mayfield with 20. …………………………………………………… The Orillia District Blues clipped the St. Catherines West Park Warriors 63-51 as Mike Tucker scored 19, Shurland Hakh 13 and Greg Murrell 13. Chris Ford led the Warriors with 17. Ernie Alligood added 11.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The Sarnia Northern Vikings, Timmins HVS Blues, Chatham-Kent SS Golden Hawks and Etobicoke Burnhamthorpe Bucs received byes. …………………………………………………… The Kingston Frontenac Falcons defeated the 5th-seeded Owen Sound West Hill Raiders 69-50 as Sanjaya Wijayakoon scored 23, including 12 in the open quarter. Chris Boston added 11 and Jim Latimer 10. Geoff Cole led Raiders with 16. Paul White added 14. The Raiders (coached by Lorne Johnson) also included Todd Goetz, Drew Robertson, Mike Potocki, Sean Dantas, Rob Webb. …………………………………………………… The Chatham-Kent SS Golden Hawks defeated Brampton Mayfield 77-41 as Corky Butcher scored 18, all in the first half. Jim Wheeler added 12. Kelly Hanczyk led Mayfield with 15. …………………………………………………… The Orillia District Blues, with a line-up of only seven players, defeated the Smith Falls Red Hawks 51-50 as Derek Swales scored 27. Rod Hunt led the Red Hawks with 28. Chris Lynn added 14. The Red Hawks (coached by Hugh Lynn) also included Rod Hunt, Warren Newberry. Orillia led 25-19 at the half and 38-30 after three quarters. …………………………………………………… The Timmins E.C.S. Theriault Flammes defeated the Uxbridge Tigers 60-27 as Guy Fillion scored 16 and Rene Bellaird 12. Rob Atkinson led Uxbridge with 14. …………………………………………………… The Timmins HVS Blues defeated Dryden Eagles 58-35 as Willem Verbeek scored 20, including 19 in the first half. Ken Mattinen added 18, including 14 in the second half. Mike Lalonde and Chuck Schmitt each scored 10 to pace the Eagles. The Eagles also included Darryl Mousseau, Gary Nickle. …………………………………………………… The Etobicoke Burnhamthorpe Bucs thrashed the Hamilton Hillfield-Strathallan Trojans 91-57 as Paul Riley scored 17, Otis Williams 10 and Tom Pallin 10. James Green led Hillfield with a tournament high 31. Oliver Uppal added 13. The Trojans (coach Mark Hudson) also included Dan Walters, Seamus Darracutt, Matt Luchak, Murs Gafoor, Mark Hunter, Doug Dunham, Mark Gowland and Peter Glover. …………………………………………………… The Sarnia Northern Vikings whipped the Ottawa South Carleton Redskins 73-56 as Steve McGregor scored 15, Mike Acton 12 and Virgil Hill 12. Redskins coach Larry Scouten told the Ottawa Citizen that “we’re pleased with our showing. The other team was older – they had almost all 18- or 19-year-olds. Eight of our 12 players are 16 or less.” Doug Clarke paced South Carleton with 17. The Redskins also included Robb Warren, Kevin Perkins, Brad Rollo. …………………………………………………… The North Bay Chippewa Secondary Raiders clipped St. Catharines West Park Warriors 59-52 as Brian Lancaster scored 23, Kurt Dreger 12 and Mark Reiss 10. Chris Ford paced West Park with 26, including 17 in the second half. The Warriors also included Ernie Alligood.
In the quarterfinals, the Etobicoke Burnhamthorpe Bucs defeated the Timmins E.C.S. Theriault Flammes 48-40 as Paul Riley scored 18 and Jim Ebanks 17. Guy Fillion paced Theriault with 15. Rene Belliard added 10. Burnhamthorpe led 19-18 at the half.
The 4th-seeded Chatham-Kent SS Golden Hawks dumped the Kingston Frontenac Falcons 55-48. The Golden Hawks led 19-15 after one quarter and 35-21 at the half. The Falcons were able to draw no closer than five. “I’m happy with the way we came back,” said Frontenac coach Bruce Black told the Kingston Whig-Standard. “We were almost there. We just needed something to get over the brink. … Today, we weren’t hitting and to beat a team of that caliber you need to be clicking on all eight cylinders. You need to be on top of everything. If we had shot 50 per cent, we would have been close. … We stayed with our smaller guys in order to be quick on defence. We knew we’d have to live on the outside shot and maybe breeze by for the odd inside one. It was hard to get inside. Our guys did extremely well to get the boards they did.” Golden Hawks coach Ed Myers called it “a scrappy game. They gave us everything we could handle.” Frontenac shot 19-48 from the floor and were overly reliant on the perimeter game. Corky Butcher led Chatham-Kent with 19. Andy Rombouts added 18 and John Leland 11. Sanjaya Wijayakoon led Frontenac with 13. Scott Burggraff added 12, all in the second half. The Falcons (coached by Bruce Black) also included Chris Boston, Rob J. Carnegie, Rob A. Carnegie, Jim Latimer, Dave Reynolds, Peter Ascough, Mario Fabbro, Eric Vreeken, Valiant, Aston, Norman, O’Connor and Scott Graham.
The top-seeded Timmins HVS Blues defeated the Orillia District Blues 57-40 as Mark Holmes scored 15, including 11 in the second half. Kent Mattinen and Willem Verbeek each added 13. Timmins led 24-16 at the half. Shurland Hakh paced Orillia with 18. The Blues also included Mike Tucker, Greg Murrell, Derrick Swales.
In the last quarterfinal, the Sarnia Northern Vikings crushed the North Bay Chippewa Secondary Raiders 52-39 as Steve McGregor scored 29. Virgil Hill added 10. Cliff Riopelle scored 16 for the Raiders. The Vikings led 31-18 at the half. The Raiders also included Kurt Drieger, Mark Reiss, Brian Lancaster.
In the semis, the Timmins HVS Blues defeated the Chatham-Kent SS Golden Hawks 36-33 as Willem Verbeek scored 12, Ken Mattinen 8 and Jim Schaffer 8. Corky Butcher led Chatham-Kent with 12. Andy Rombouts added 10.
In the other semi, the Sarnia Northern Vikings dumped the Etobicoke Burnhamthorpe Bucs 63-57 as Pete Kaija scored 20, Steve McGregor 18 and Virgil Hill 12. Paul Riley led Burnhamthorpe with 19. Tom Pallin added 14.
In the bronze medal match, the Etobicoke Burnhamthorpe Bucs crushed the Chatham-Kent SS Golden Hawks 69-54 as Jim Ebanks scored 19 and Paul Riley 18. Andy Rombouts led Chatham-Kent with 19, including a free throw awarded on a technical before the game started when a Buc dunked the ball during warm-ups. The Golden Hawks also included John Leland.
In the final, the Timmins HVS Blues captured their third straight crown by dumping the Sarnia Northern Vikings 57-48. The Blues experience and hot free throw shooting (13-17) from the line in the final quarter, proved the difference. Coach Hugh Meyer had all his starters on the floor for the final. “The five guys we had on the floor were in the championship game last year,” he told the Kingston Whig-Standard. ‘Experience in a game like this, where all the chips are on the table, is a big factor. We made a lot of shots under pressure. Our defence also tightened up and I think they rushed their offence a little. That was big plus for us.” Sarnia Northern coach John Thrasher noted that the Blues “have got poise. We’ve got four starters who have never been in an OFSAA final and they don’t. They make the shots when they have to.” Sarnia Northern led 36-34 heading into the final quarter but were outscored 23-12 by the Blues. Willem Verbeek led the Blues with 20, including nine free throws in the final quarter. Mark Holmes added 15. Sean Allen led Sarnia Northern with 22. Steve McGregor added 16. Meyer’s troops did an excellent job of defending star Vikings point guard Pete Kaija. “Number one, we force him into some off-balance shots. In the first half he was beating our guards,” said Meyer. “Number two, we covered his lob passes to the inside and got a fair number of steals off those lobs. Number three, our game plan was to run them a little bit. I thought they were a little tired in the fourth quarter.” Thrasher thought it slipped away in the second quarter, when Timmins outscored his troops 15-9 while building a 24-21 lead heading into the lockers. “We’re not a good zone team but we played it against Burnhamthorpe this morning because they’re so quick so I figured we’d play it again tonight. We have a tendency to stand still in the zone and we do the same thing on offence.” When we’re playing man-to-man, we’re moving on offence. We were blah. You can’t make three baskets and win.” Verbeek played with a separated right shoulder but was still a force. “He’s one of the quality players in Ontario, one of the top five,” said Meyer. “He’s not just a scorer. The threat of him scoring opens up other players. Holmes got shots he wouldn’t have got if Verbeek wasn’t out there. He didn’t shoot well in our first four games. I’m glad he picked the right game to shoot well.” Thrasher noted that “it’s the first time all years we’ve lost to anybody who shoots from outside. I told the kids we’re not going to lose to any team that shoots from outside. I was wrong once and it was a hell of a time to be wrong.”
The bronze medalist Etobicoke Burnhamthorpe Bucs: Paul Riley; Tom Pallin; Jim Ebanks; Otis Williams;
The silver medalist Sarnia Northern Vikings: Steve McGregor; Virgil Hill; Pete Kaija (Caya?); Sean Allen; Mike Acton; Cam Clarke; Mike Brooks; Dave Weber; Kris Pauley; Dan Rothenbury; Corey Whitson; Steve Partridge; Cam Elliott; coach John Thrasher; assistant Mr Weber; manager? Scott Hyde
The gold medalist Timmins High & Vocational School Blues: Willem Verbeek; Mark Holmes; Ken Mattinen; Jim Schaffer; Luc Riel; Mike Dallaire; Richard Jakubiszyn; Joel Legasy; coach Hugh Meyer