In the opening round, held in Sturgeon Falls: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Ridgetown District Royals dumped the 16th-seeded Sturgeon Falls Northern Braves 73-50 as Jim Grozelle scored 25, Mike Cofell 14, Steve Funks 12 and Ian Bossy 10. Dave Knoll led Northern with 12. Ray Chong added 9 and Darryl Korell 7. Braves coach Marc Lavigne told the North Bay Nugget that “I was very satisfied with the team effort. We missed too many shots in the first half but had an excellent second half.” …………………………………………………… Andrew Harvey and Geoff Rose each notched 17 as the 2nd-seeded St. Thomas St. Joseph’s Rams defeated 15th-seeded Smithville South Lincoln Bears 85-52. Dan Leddy added 12. Matt Witt led the Bears with 16. Eden Sasao added 10. …………………………………………………… Dave Braun scored 22 as the 3rd-seeded Parkhill North Middlesex Marauders dumped the 14th-seeded Gravenhurst Gryphons 76-36. Eric Yao added 10. The Marauders led 26-10 after one quarter and 40-18 at the half. Craig Hunter led Gravenhurst with 13. …………………………………………………… Dave Raphael scored 18 as the 4th-seeded Hamilton Hillfield-Strathallan Trojans dumped the 13th-seeded Atikokan Voyageurs 69-39. Jon Nameth added 15. Ray Lindsay led Atikokan with 17. …………………………………………………… Chris Steingart scored 25 as the 5th-seeded Kitchener Rockway Mennonite Flames dumped 12th-seeded Val Caron Horizon Catholic 83-57. Charlie Minnett added 17 and Greg Hallman 14. The Flames led 45-34 at the half and 62-38 after three quarters. Flames coach Roger Stover told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “we started a little flat and they got a jump on us early but once we settled down we were alright. It wasn’t our best basketball but we displayed some good defence after the opening eight minutes> Ghislain Roy led Horizon Catholic with 36. Eric Prevost added 9. …………………………………………………… Jamie Schouten scored 25 as 6th-seeded Sarnia Lambton Christian Panthers dumped the Port Hope Trinity Bears 63-52. Jason Schouten added 12 and Dan Uriesma 11. The Panthers led 28-16 at the half and 42-38 after three quarters. Robert MacGeoch scored 19 for Trinity. Denby Christ added 15. …………………………………………………… Duncan Cowan scored 18 as the 7th-seeded Athens District Warriors nipped 10th-seeded the Thornhill Waldorf School Wizards 57-55. Cory Perrin added 13 and Joe David 12. The Warriors led 34-22 at the half and 44-35 after three quarters. Daniel Martin led Waldorf with 27. Andrew Chapman added 11. …………………………………………………… Derrick Casselman scored 23 as the 9th-seeded Iroquois Seaway District Spartans dumped the 8th-seeded Kapuskasing District Kolts 57-53. Travis Thompson added 12 and John MacPherson 9. Seaway closed out the contest with a 4-0 run over the final two minutes. Joey Parent led Kapuskasing with 23. Mody Ayeni added 14.
In the second round: …………………………………………………… The Ridgetown District Royals clocked the Port Hope Trinity Bears 72-50. The Bears (coached by Tom Langrod, assisted by Chris Robert) included Brodie Christ, Casey Howell, Morgan Martin, Berk Sumen, David Crowe, Kenny Styles, Robert MacGeoch, Fraser Roberts, Karim Harrigan, Jordan Crandall, Andrew Purzner and Jimmy Yu. …………………………………………………… The Sarnia Lambton Christian Panthers clipped the Sturgeon Falls Northern Braves 84-73. Steve Bradley led the Braves with 14. Jason Lachapelle added 12 and Dave Rapp 10. The Braves (coached by Marc Lavigne) also included Dave Knoll, Ray Chong, Darryl Korell, Jason Sullivan, Andre Rivet, Scott Gagnon, Stephane Levac. …………………………………………………… The St. Thomas St. Joseph’s Rams defeated Val Caron Horizon Catholic 77-70. …………………………………………………… The Kitchener Rockway Mennonite Flames whipped the Smithville South Lincoln Bears 64-41 as Chris Steingart scored 13 and Charlie Minnett 8. Dan Smith led the Bears with 16. The Bears also included Matt Witt, Eden Sosso, Pete Dobrowski. …………………………………………………… The Iroquois Seaway District Spartans edged the Gravenhurst Gryphons 57-53. The Gryphons included Craig Hunter. …………………………………………………… The Parkhill North Middlesex Marauders dusted the Kapuskasing District Kolts 73-52. The Kolts included Joey Parent, Mody Ayeni. …………………………………………………… The Athens District Warriors stomped the Atikokan Voyageurs 58-31. The Voyageurs included Ray Lindsay. …………………………………………………… The Hamilton Hillfield-Strathallen Trojans crushed the Thornhill Waldorf School Wizards 69-40. The Wizards included Daniel Martin, Andrew Chapman.
In the quarterfinals, the Parkhill North Middlesex Marauders clipped the Lambton Central Lancers 51-40 as Greg Tunks scored 13 and Dave Brown 13. Dan Vriesma paced the Lancers with 12. Jamie Schouten added 12. The Lancers also included Jason Schouten, Dan Uriesma.
The Kitchener Rockway Mennonite Flames edged the Hamilton Hillfield-Strathallan Trojans 76-72 in overtime. The Flames led by 12 in the third quarter and appeared to be in control as Trojan post David Raphael fouled out early in the final quarter. But Joe Nameth scored 12 in the final quarter to rally Hillfield. Nameth hit a corner trey to give the Trojans a 67-65 lead with 21 seconds to play. The Flames misfired on a shot with 4.6 seconds to play but the Trojans inbounds pass ricocheted to Scott Veitch, who fed Chris Steingart for the tying basket. Flame Charlie Minnett hit two free throws with 29 seconds to play in overtime. Chris Steingart iced it with a pair of free throws. Steingart led the Flames with 24. Minnett added 19 on 11-14 from the line and Jon Schmidt 13. Flames coach Roger Stover told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “we were down by two with less than five seconds to play and they had the ball. On the inbounds play, the ball bounced off one of our players to Chris Steingart who hit a short jumper as the clock ran out. The comeback effort helped in the overtime when we outscored them 9-5.” Joe Nameth led the Trojans with 24. John Piccoli added 10 and David Raphael 7. The Trojans (coach Peter Annable) also includdd Sam howarth, Jim Zwolak, Soohun Chun and Phil Vayalumkal.
The St. Thomas St. Joseph’s Rams smacked the Athens District Warriors 63-47 as Dan Leddy scored 22, Andrew Harvey 19 and Geoff Rose 13. The Rams led 32-24 at the half. Duncan Cowan led the Warriors with 30. The Warriors also included Cory Perrin, Joe David.
In the last quarterfinal, the Ridgetown District Royals whipped the Iroquois Seaway District Spartans 70-46 as Jim Grozelle scored 21, Mike Cofell 15 and Ian Bossy 12. Dereck Casselman led the Spartans with 16. Jason Byvelds added 10. The Spartans also included Travis Thompson, John MacPherson.
In the semis, the top-seeded Ridgetown District Royals clipped the 5th-seeded Kitchener Rockway Mennonite Flames 56-48 as Jim Grozelle scored 29 and Ian Bossy 11. Charlie Minett led the Flames with 14. Tyson Schlegel added 8, Scott Veitch 8 and Chris Steingart 7. The Flames led 17-11 after one quarter and 35-32 at the half but scored only three points in the final frame.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded St. Thomas St. Joseph’s Rams edged the 3rd-seeded Parkhill North Middlesex Marauders 62-58 as Dan Leddy scored 14. Adam Bullock led the Marauders with 19.
In the bronze medal match, the Parkhill North Middlesex Marauders nipped the Kitchener Rockway Mennonite Flames 61-60 as Dave Brown scored 24, Adam Bullock 16 and Dave Brand 10. Chris Steingart led the Flames with 17. Scott Vetich added 15 and Charlie Minnett 14. The Flames (coached by Roger Stover) also included Jon Schmidt, Greg Hallman, Jon Schmidt, Andrew Dyck, Tyler Schlegel, Justin Wickerd, Dan Warth.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded St. Thomas St. Joseph’s Rams clipped the top-seeded Ridgetown District Royals 60-52 as Geoff Rose scored 23, Andrew Harvey 12, Dan Leddy 9, Matt Bottineau 7 and Jamie Bailey 6. The win constituted a reversal of the 1997 final. The score was tied at 12 after one quarter. The Rams led 28-25 at the half and 38-36 after three quarters. They led by 11 in the final frame but Jim Grozelle and Ian Bossy hit four treys in the final 85 seconds to rally the Royals. The Rams hit 13-17 free throws in the final quarter. Rams coach Richard Mommersteeg told the North Bay Nugget that Rose was the difference. “Leadership is necessary to win a provincial championship. … At the beginning of the year, I really think that we had a good enough team to all the way. But we played 48 games this year, mainly against ‘AAA’ competion and that makes you play and get better. … The reason we won is we have four OAC (grade 13) students who refused to lose.” Rose said “I just tried to get my teammates involved. Everyone played good tonight and that’s why we won.” Jim Grozelle led the Royals with 16. Ian Bossy added 18, Mike Cofell 5 and Brian Erskine 3.
The bronze medalist Parkhill North Middlesex Marauders: Adam Bullock; Dave Brown; Eric Yeo; Greg Tunks; Dave Brand;
The silver medalist Ridgetown District Royals: Jim Grozelle; Mike Cofell; Steve Tunks; Ian Bossy; Brian Erskine;
The gold medalist St. Thomas St. Joseph’s Rams: Andrew Harvey; Geoff Rose; Dan Leddy; Geoff Rose; Matt Bottineau; Jamie Bailey; coach Dick Mommersteeg