In the East regionals: …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Kingston CVI Blues clubbed Ottawa Macdonald 80-61 after leading 36-23 at the half. Gerry Besselink led the Blues with 21. James Paulsen added 18 and Dag Rutherford 15. Blues coach Hans Garsch told the Kingston Whig-Standard that “the rouls really hurt us in the first half.” Munish Mohan led Macdonald with 18. Bruce Dunning added 10. Macdonald (coached by Cliff Lebrun) also included Bill Knight, Mike Justinich, Rob Gardner. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Ottawa St. Pius X X-Men spanked Pickering 69-33 as Terry Garrow scored 19, Geoff House 14 and Tony House 14. The X-Men led 26-15 at the half. Steve Street led Pickering with 13. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Ottawa St. Pius X X-Men dispatched the Kingston CVI Blues 52-45 as Geoff House scored 21 and Terry Garrow 12. Gerry Besselink led the Blues with 14. X-Men coach Pat Jennings told the Kingston Whig-Standard that Besselink “didn’t dominate in the first half and that was critical for us. He didn’t bring the ball up the floor. When he freewheels, he’s awesome.” Blues coach Hans Garsch said the game turned on a late charging call against Besselink. “We had the momentum. We were coming back. It was a crucial call. … We felt we had to stop Tony (House). Geoff (House) took up the slack nicely.” The Blues (coached by Garsch) also included Jim Pratt, Peter Haslett, Dave Mckee, Dag Rutherford, Mark Cleary, Iain Craig, Dave McKee, Andy Wallace and James Paulsen.
In the Toronto regional semis, the Toronto St. Michael’s Blue Raiders defeated the Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints x-x (by 18). The Saints (coach Ernie Armstrong, manager Bary Chokan) included Jim Pettiford, Bert Oliveira, Mike Mayers, Calvin Charles, Mike Morris, Vince Bowen, Ron Anderson, Devon Tomlinson, Earl Moncrieffe, Mike Carson, Wayne Jones, Terry Lyder and Patrick Stubbs. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Toronto George Harvey Hawks dispatched the North York Earl Haig Haigmen x-x. The Haigmen (coach Craig Williamson, assistant Dik Zabunya, manager Mark Davis, stats Rosie Wilkinson) included Bruce Davis, Drew Wakeham, Everton Hamilton, Bruce Taverner, Bill Manos, Sean Loucks, Seymour McCallum, Randal Davidson, Peter Murphy, Val Ashman and Jeff McDermid. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Toronto George Harvey Hawks defeated the Toronto St. Michael’s Blue Raiders defeated 64-49.
If Runnymede: John Busch, Wally Szramka, Colin Hamilton, Pat Brown, Tom Forester, Terry Stewart, Mike Mohamed, Arne Lepp, Nick Franjic, Courtney Bailey, Ray Tone, Mario Piccinin, coach John Petrushchak, manager Darryl Baker, manager Roy Buchanan
If Oakwood: Wayne Johnson, Franc Luchetta, Bruno Dimeo, John Giancola, Jamie Williams, Ivor Christopher, George Giancola, Winston Hosang, Shawn Hutt, Wayne Hosand, Phil Drew, Lance Straun, coach Terry Thomson, assistant Jack Vecchio, manager Cosimo Musolino
If Jarvis: Sean Figueroa, Ian Cockburn, Scott McFarlane, Danny Wong, Brett Caldwell, Paul Mitchell, Arthur Kirkwood, Lawrence Fisher, Peter Mangold, Sean Bailey, Brian Dunstan, coach Bob Nicholson, assistant David Joseph, manager Paul Ang, trainer Ed Chow, stats Claire Brown
In west regional quarterfinals, the Windsor W.F. Herman Green Griffins dusted the Guelph John F. Ross Royals 63-42 as Mo Soufan scored 17, while nabbing 13 boards, Pierre Moise 14, Gavin McDougall 12, Jeff Gaudette 11, Joe Stach 7 and Karl Leixner 2. Mathieu led the Royals with 13. Joe Vejouda added 11, Dwight Romans 9, Bolzon 4, Daryl Milne 4 and MacLellan 1. …………………………………………………… The Tillsonburg Gemini dispatched the Brantford Pauline Johnson Thunderbirds 52-47 as Mark Burleigh scored 13, Brian Demaree 13, Chris Coyle 8 and Brad Austin 8. Jim Faith led the Thunderbirds with 16. Bob Beal added 12 and Eric Dostal 11. The Thunderbirds (coached by Bob Howard) also included John MacIntosh, Eric Dostal, Kevin Rowe, Glen MacMillan. …………………………………………………… The Windsor F.J. Brennan Cardinals edged the Kitchener Eastwood Rebels 48-44 as Marc DeRoia scored 15, Jim Lazzarin 10, Boris Mihalic 8, Krayacich 5, Dino Ruggirello 4, Costello 4 and Duffy 2, while Urban, Farrand, Flaa and Kane were scoreless. Ron Lugowski led the Rebels with 16. Don Maletic added 9, Jim Lawson 6, Rob Metzinger 5, Marlyn Doner 4, Kirk Johnson 2 and Rick Wissmach 2. The Rebels (coach Joe Martino) also included Mark Hart, John Richardson, Rudy Hamm, Garcia Sebastian and Steve Peng. Martino told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “I don’t know why but the past two weekends, we just haven’t played with the intensity that marked our good efforts all season.” …………………………………………………… In the last quarterfinal, the Kitchener Cameron Heights Golden Gaels smacked the London Lucas Vikings 71-38 as Marcel Naus scored 15, Andy Balogh 14, Rob Froese 11 and Dave Kipfer 9. Cameron Heights coach Court Heinbuch told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “everybody got a chance to play and the guys know we need to maximize our energy.” Paul Gedies led the Vikings with 12. Gary Benn added 6 and Steve Gedies 6. Vikings coach Clarke Samways said “that’s just one super ball team but my kids gave it a good shot.” …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Windsor W.F. Herman Green Griffins clocked the Tillsonburg Gemini 70-44 as Jeff Gaudette scored 20, Mo Soufan 18, Pierre Moise 15, Gavin MacDougall 8, Joe Stach 4, Mike Lovric 2, Karl Leixner 2 and Joe Slimac 1. Brian Demaree led the Gemini with 12. Brad Austin added 11, Hutcherson 7, Chris Coyle 6, Simon 4, M Burleigh 2 and D Burleigh 2. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Kitchener Cameron Heights Golden Gaels clubbed the Windsor F.J. Brennan Cardinals 53-37 as Rob Froese scored 15, Andy Balogh 14, David Kipfer 11, Marcel Naus 9, Jasper Naus 2 and Lennox Lewis 2. Marc DeRoia scored 10 to lead the Cardinals (coached by Ron Innocente). Dino Ruggirello added 8, Boris Mihalic 5, Costello 5, Jim Lazzarin 4, Krayacich 3 and Duffy 2. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Kitchener Cameron Heights Golden Gaels defeated the Windsor W.F. Herman Green Griffins 62-49 as Andy Balogh scored 18, David Kipfer 16, Marcel Haus 14, Rob Froese 8 and Danny Marsh 6, while Jasper Naus was scoreless. Golden Gaels coach Court Heinbuch told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “we beat a quality team and we beat it with style. They (the Griffins) did a helluva good job on confusing us with special checking attention on Rob (Froese), while Mo Soufan and Dave (Kipfer) were sort of neutralizing each other. … Andy (Balogh) and Marcel (Naus) were just sensational. They knew Rob and Dave were having trouble and they took charge of our offence and went hard to the boards when we needed important rebounds.” Mo Soufan led the Green Griffins with 24. Gavin MacDougall added 9, Pierre Moise 8, Jeff Gaudette 4 and Karl Leixner 4, while Joe Stach and Mike Lovric were scoreless.
In the South regional playoffs: …………………………………………………… In the quarterfinals, the Hamilton Jean de Brebeuf Bears whipped the Oakville White Oaks Wildcats 81-57 as Perry Bruzzesse scored 22, Peter Gabrielle 17, Mike Rowe 14, Lou Cafasso 12 and John Infanti 10. Jaime McNeill led the Wildcats with 35. Mike Turczyniak added 10. The Wildcats also included Mark Francis. …………………………………………………… The Burlington M.M. Robinson Rams edged the St. Catharines Grantham Gators 53-51 as Chris Duggan notched 15, including the winner with 7 seconds to play, and Ralf Rosenkranz 12. Duggan hit the winning baseline jumper for the Rams with 4 seconds to play after they’d run down the clock for the last 1:24. Tim Boisvert paced the Gators with 15. Dan Duemo added 11 and Ken McClay 11. Boisvert told the St. Catharines Standard that “I don’t believe he got it off in time.” McClay said “he made it from behind the backboard with a man (Tim Kostesky) in his face.” Gators coach Peter MacIntyre said “when we started off the year, we wanted to run but we had so many turnovers. When we began to slow things down, we played well – they like to patience game because the guards can handle the slower pace.” The Gators (coach MacIntyre) also included Iain Galloway, Brian Duguay, Vic Medland, Paul Vaughan. …………………………………………………… The Hamilton Southmount Royals torched the Niagara Falls Stamford Hornets 64-36 as Kelly Grace scored 24 and Brian Bidulka 15. Keith Pyne led the Hornets with 10. Kevin Pyne added 8. The Hornets (coach Bob Coull) also included Frank Ianiello, John Swan, Doug Jarrett, Chris D’Amico, Joe Naar, Romeo D’Uva, Bill Jackman. …………………………………………………… In the last quarterfinal, the Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Bramalea Broncos 69-54 as Mike Zareski scored 16, Jim Nero 14, Jeff Root 13 and Tom Swick 11. Dave Nichols led the Broncos with 16. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Hamilton Southmount Royals torched the Burlington M.M. Robinson Rams 81-57 as Rob MacRae scored 30, Kelly Grace 23, Brian Bidulka 12 and Mark Kislinsky 11. Francis Jean-Baptiste paced the Rams with 15. The Rams (coach Dave Nelson) also included Ralf Rosenkranz, Chris Duggan, Mike Butz, Merle Bouchard. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish spanked the Hamilton St. Jean de Brebeuf Braves 86-72 as Jeff Root scored 22, Jim Nero 19, Mike Zareski 15 and Tom Swick 12. Mike Rowe led the Braves with 28. Lou Cafazzo added 14 and Perry Bruzzesse 13. The Braves (coach Tom Curtis) also included Peter Gabrielle, Perry Bruzzese, John Nardini, John Infanti, Lou Cafazzo. …………………………………………………… In the South final, the Hamilton Southmount Royals clubbed the Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish 73-50 as Rob MacRae scored 29, Kelly Grace 10 and Mark Kislinsky 10. With the score knotted at 42 after three quarters, the Royals outran and outmuscled the Fighting Irish in the final frame. MacRae told the Hamilton Spectator that “they have a good team but we were moving, running the ball in the second half and they were forced to foul us.” Tom Swick led the Fighting Irish with 18 (also reported as 22). Jeff Root added 17.
In the North playoffs: …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Sault Ste. Marie St. Mary’s Knights dusted Sudbury Secondary 56-32 as Lou Mazzuca scored 25 and Kevin Lowe 16. Bruce Fraser led Sudbury with 8. Ted Leslie added 6. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Sudbury Lockerby Vikings clipped the Sault Ste. Marie Lakeway Trojans 62-51 as Rand Turcotte scored 22, Tim Yawney 20, Dennis Legault 12 and Kevin Turcotte 8, along with 15 boards. Alex Yandryk led the Trojans with 14. Tony Colosimo added 13 and Scott Kennedy 12. Knights coach Ray Barsanti told the Sault Star that “it was a solid team effort on defence.” …………………………………………………… In the final, the Sault Ste. Marie St. Mary’s Knights edged the Sudbury Lockerby Vikings 49-46 as Lou Mazzuca scored 15, Jim Dupuis 11, John Policicchio 9 and Kevin Lowe 8. Tim Yawney led the Vikings with 16. Dave Turcotte added 14 and Dennis Legault 9.
In the provincial quarterfinals, played before a capacity crowd of 1,900 at Toronto’s Humber College, the top-seeded Kitchener Cameron Heights Golden Gaels whacked the Welland Notre Dame Fighting Irish 68-58 as David Kipfer scored 18, guard Rob Froese 23 and Andy Balogh 14. The Providence College-bound Kipfer scored 10 of the Gaels first 14 points, dominated the boards and dished 9 assists. “It had to be my best overall game of the year,” Kipfer told the Toronto Star. “It comes at a good time because we really want this championship.” The Gaels led 14-8, 31-16 and 50-31 at the quarters. Golden Gaels coach Court Heinbuch, who died of a heart attack two years later while walking home during a heavy snowstorm, told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “considering four of our five starters wrote exams this morning, that was a very good first half for us. I’d say we had to win it about three times today, partly because the Notre Dame crew just never quit coming at us and partly because the guys are mental tired and had a tendency to quit playing a few times in the second half.” Kipfer said two Froese buckets and a Froese free throw were the turning point in the third quarter. “We got flat a couple of times but Rob’s big baskets seemed to get us going again.” Tom Swick and Jeff Root each notched 18 to pace the Fighting Irish. Jim Nero added 14. The Fighting Irish also included Mike Zareski, Tony Mazzei. Fighting Irish coach Ralph Nero said “we got off to a slow start and with a line-up that is hurting physically. I’m pleased we hung in as well as we did against a team as great as Cameron. David Kipfer and that Froese kid had super games and we had trouble scoring against their different defences.” Nero told Canadian Press that “Kipfer was the difference. He was too good. We couldn’t contain him. This kid is a super athlete and you can’t lose with a player like him.”
The Windsor W.F. Herman Green Griffins whipped the Toronto George Harvey Hawks 69-41. The Hawks shot poorly and were badly outrebounded. The Griffins, led by 6-7 forward Mo Soufan, Gavin MacDougall and 6-3 Pierre Moise, dominated the paint. The Gryphons patiently worked the ball inside and took command quickly after ripping 12 unanswered points to take a 29-14 lead. The Green Griffins led 23-14 after one quarter and 37-22 at the half, while opening the second half with a 9-2 run. Soufan finished with 32. Moise added 23, Gavin MacDougall 8, along with 11 assists, Jeff Gaudette 2, Joe Stach 2 and Mike Lovric 2. Green Griffins coach Chris McCaffrey told the Windsor Star that “that game just reinforces the fact that playground basketball will not beat the type of game we play in Windsor. We knew they’d try to penetrate against our zone but we had worked on it during the week and when they came, we filled in and cut off the middle. That’s why they were in the air so much and they started making wild passes and taking bad shots.” Hawks coach Mike Katz said “we’ve done the same thing to some teams this year and it’s so frustrating because there’s not much you can do about it. I didn’t think it was a case that our shooting was so bad so much as the fact they almost took everything away from us with their zone.” Marvin Russell led Hawks with 12. Mike Baker added 11, Delroy Adams 8, David DeAveiro 4, Winston Allen 4 and Claude Heath 2, while Richard Walker was scoreless. The Hawks hit 16-69 from the floor and 3-7 from the line. The Hawks (coached by Mike Katz, assisted by Ian Betcherman) also included Radcliffe Llewelyn, Ricky Braithwaite, Lloyd Minott, Kevin Pollard, Paul Campbell, Hector Constantine and Glenford Jones.
The Toronto St. Michael’s Blue Raiders dumped the Sault Ste. Marie St. Mary’s Knights 64-47 as 6-10 forward George Papadakos scored 23, Al Saplys 14, Sean Dodds 11 and Tony Melo 10. Raiders coach Dan Prendergast told the Sault Star “they took away a lot of the middle on us. They really clogged it up.” Lou Mazzuca led the Knights with 14. Len Fabbri added 10 and Kevin Lowe 10. Knights coach Ray Barsanti told the Sault Star that “we had a plan to put three of our boys (Lowe, John Policicchio and Jim Dupuis) on their two big guys (Papadakos and Dods). I think it worked. We kept them away from the boards.” Knights guard Jeff Thibeault said “we weren’t taking our shots at all. I don’t know why we weren’t shooting. I guess we were intimidated by their height. We were worried about getting stuffed.” The Knights (coached by Ray Barsanti) also included Fab Fronzi.
In the last quarterfinal, the Hamilton Southmount Royals crushed the Ottawa St. Pius X X-Men 61-47 as Rob MacRae scored 18, Kelly Grace 16 and Brian Bidulka 11. The Royals led 6-0 early, 12-2 after one quarter and 29-23 at the half. Terry Garrow led the X-Men with 12. Geoff House added 11. Each hit 5-15 from the line. X-Men coach Pat Jennings told the Ottawa Citizen “we came up flat. We had real poor shooting and we never got into the game. We didn’t have that little extra edge (5-20 from the line). We were cold form the free throw line. In a tough game, free throws will keep you in or put you out. It was a real disappointing game.” The X-Men also included Tony House, Steve Mau, Tom Chadwick, Chris Mindach.
In the semis, the Kitchener Cameron Heights Golden Gaels defeated the Toronto St. Michael’s Blue Raiders 55-43 as Rob Froese scored 18, David Kipfer 17 and Marcel Naus 10. George Papadakos led the Blue Raiders with 18. Sean Dodds added 11.
In the other semi, the Windsor W.F. Herman Green Griffins dumped the Hamilton Southmount Royals 58-53 as Jeff Gaudette scored 10, Pierre Moise 15, Gavin MacDougall 12 and Mo Soufan 11, while Mike Lovric was scoreless. Mark Kislinsky led the Royals with 17. Rob MacRae added 14, Kelly Grace 12, Brian Bidulka 6 and Pete Lopinski 4.
In the final, the Kitchener Cameron Heights Golden Gaels rallied to defeat the Windsor W.F. Herman Green Griffins 44-42 to finally capture a crown after finishing second two years earlier and losing out to the Toronto Eastern Commerce Saints in the quarterfinals the previous season. The win was the Golden Gaels 38th in a row. They’d only lost twice to Canadian competition all season, including once to Herman. The Griffins dominated early as 6-8 centre Mo Soufan led them to a 13-10 lead. They extended the margin to six in the second quarter. The game was tied at 26 at the half as Marcel Naus hit a 20-foot bomb at the buzzer. It was tied at 34 after three quarters (also reported as a 36-34 Gaels lead), a two-handed slam dunk by Naus, who told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record “that was my only dunk in a game all season and I thought the guys needed a lift. Hey, I’m big enough to dunk but I’m a lousy leaper. … Rob (Froese) and Andy (Balogh) are our outside shooters but tonight I was open, so I knew I had to shoot.” With the Golden Gaels leading 43-40, Windsor fouled Jasper Naus, Rob Froese and David Kipfer in succession, and each missed the front end of one-and-ones. In the interval, Gavin MacDougall hit a jumper and then Mo Soufan drove the lane for an uncontested layup that clipped the side of the rim. Soufan told the Windsor Star that “I had a notion to stuff it but I could feel the defence from behind and thought the layup would probably draw a foul and we would get a three-point play.” There was no call. Windsor again fouled and Jasper Naus hit the front end. Soufan rebounded and MacDougall drove the lane and passed the ball out of bounds. Green Griffins coach Chris McCaffery said “the two forwards were coming from the sides and Gavin set the ball in but at the same moment both of them, thinking he was going to drive all the way, backed off. … We did almost all of the things we wanted to do, except win. Being there is not satisfaction enough. The bottom line is winning.” Cameron Heights coach Court Heinbuch said “we played well enough to win, and I think, deserved to win.” David Kipfer said defence proved the difference. “I’ve always anticipated well but with Andy (Balogh) playing on Soufan, it left me free to roam a bit and I got a lot of interceptions out of it.” Heinbuch said Marcel Naus “was the main cog, superb on defence, and he was the guy who ran our offence.” Heinbuch told the Toronto Globe & Mail that “I was a little worried in the second quarter because they can be a tough team to come back on. But our players showed tremendous poise and courage.” The Gaels rallied to knot the score at 26 at the half. David Kipfer took command in the second half on both ends of the floor. On two consecutive Griffin trips up the floor, Kipfer pilfered the ball to set up transition buckets by Rob Froese. “It’s a relief to win it,” said Heinbuch. “We were one basket away from doing it the last two years. It’s important to realize that, over the three years, we’ve won 137 games and lost only 20. Because of the pressure that puts on kids, that’s amazing.” Heinbuch told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that the Green Griffins “are a super basketball team and they play great defence. When we had trouble getting inside against their tough, challenging zone patterns, we needed more outside scoring and Marcel (Naus) was key.” David Kipfer led the Golden Gaels with 15. Marcel Naus added 12, Rob Froese 12, Andy Balogh 4 and Jasper Naus 1. Golden Gael Lennox Lewis later became the world heavy amateur junior boxing champion and won an Olympic gold medal in boxing. Mo Soufan led the Green Griffins with 18. Mike Lovric added 7, Pierre Moise 7, Gavin MacDougall 6 and Jeff Gaudette 4.
The co-bronze medalist Hamilton Southmount Royals: Mark Kislinsky; Rob MacRae; Kelly Grace; Brian Bidulka; Pete Lopinski; Wayne Wilson; Mick McPherson; Paul Plummer; coach Tim Dexter
The co-bronze medalist Toronto St. Michael’s Blue Raiders: George Papadakos; Sean Dodds; Al Saplys; Tony Melo; Richard Stanley; Michael Pullella; D Fava; Pat Dicosmo; Luciano Scatozzo; Brian Cato; John D’Aguanno; Vaulton Reece;coach Dan Prendergast; manager V Reece
The silver medalist Windsor W.F. Herman Green Griffins: Mo Soufan; Gavin MacDougall; Pierre Moise; Jeff Gaudette; Joe Stach; Karl Leixner; Mike Lovric; Joe Slimac; Craig Laliberty; coach Chris McCaffrey; assistant Scott Penney
The gold medalist Kitchener Cameron Heights Golden Gaels: David Kipfer; Rob Froese; Andy Balogh; Lennox Lewis; Jasper Naus; Marcel Naus; Jim Dimitroff; Darrin Osinga; Doug Moseley; Danny Marsh; Rob Hentges; Marc Boterman; coach Court Heinbuch; assistant Roy Dahl