In the Saskatoon city playoffs: …………………………………………………… In the quarterfinals, the 5th-seeded Bedford Road Redmen dispatched the 4th-seeded City Park Cowboys 59-53 as Brent Stevens scored 12 and Jerry Benkic 11. Trev O’Lauson led the Cowboys with 22. Al Neufeld added 13. The Cowboys also included Paul Grant, Mike Pratt. …………………………………………………… In the other quarterfinals, the 3rd-seeded E.D. Feehan Trojans defeated the 6th-seeded Evan Hardy Souls 67-61 as Brian Guran scored 15 and Garry Unrau 14. Murray Sadownick led the Souls with 13. Glen Fulton added 13. The Souls also included Ken Redl, Murray Wenhardt, Colin Green. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Mount Royal Mustangs torched the Bedford Road Redmen 73-33 as Mark Rawlyk scored 19, Bruce Guenter 16 and Bryce McCrae 16. Brent Stevens led the Redmen with 14. The Redmen also included Keith McMurry, Brad Chappel, Ted Neufeld, Terry Benkic. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Walter Murray Marauders defeated the E.D. Feehan Trojans 59-52 as Greg Schuck scored 18 and Baljit Lalli 12. Brian Guran led the Trojans with 20. Garry Unrau added 11. The Trojans (coached by Brian Carduner) also included Dave Kowaluk. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Walter Murray Marauders edged the Mount Royal Mustangs 58-56 in overtime as Baljit Lalli scored 22, Greg Schuck 12 and Gord Groat 11. Mark Rawlyk led the Mustangs with 24. Bruce Guenter added 10 and Warren Hofer 10.
In the Regina city opening round: …………………………………………………… The Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns spanked the Scott Blues 73-55 as Chris Boychuk scored 26. Jeff Wood led the Blues with 26. The Blues (coached by Les Robinson) also included Dan Reiser, Blair Thompson, Laurie Brown, Tim Bell, Mark Ryder, Dwayne Gulka, Gary Saxby, Rick Fesiwic, Dale Hensrud, Lloyd Dennis. …………………………………………………… In the quarterfinals, the Thom Trojans edged the Archbishop M.C. O’Neill Titans 67-66 as Brent Molnar hit the winner with 37 seconds to play. Paul Kelly led the Trojans with 14. Ken Mann added 12 and Brent Molnar 12. Titans coach Al Collins told the Regina Leader-Post that “I don’t really have much to say. It was just a good game. There’s not much you can do when it’s that close. We were well-prepared. We shot well. They just outrebounded us and that hurt.” Trojans coach Al Ford said “we led the whole game and we had three chances to score but couldn’t. We didn’t get a shot away. We just kept coming back. We stuck in there. It was really one of the better games we’ve played this year.” Rod Zimmer led the Titans with 12. Tim Gross added 12. The Titans (coached by Al Collins) also included Bob Pynten, Cal Sikorski, Brian Larrivee, Tim Geni, Jim Soehn, Tim Paquin, Darren Liski. …………………………………………………… The Luther Lions defeated the Campbell Tartans 58-50 as Marty Jordan scored 20 and Tim Wiens 10. Guy Tallman led the Tartans with 18. Kevan Attwood added 10. The Tartans (coach Bill Petersmayer) also included John Lee, Mike Gibson, Scott Smith, Rick Ledingham, Bill Parker, Marv Sturby, Tom Kirkup, Shelby Thiessen, Murray Toews, Dean Nelson. …………………………………………………… The Sheldon-Williams Spartans dusted the Balfour Redmen 61-40 as Don Miller scored 12 and Gord Hipperson 12. Kim Ellingworth led the Redmen with 12. Doug Lobban added 9. The Redmen (coached by Paul Renwick) also included Terry Maier, Kim Kreis, Brad Siwyka, Reiny Dundas, Reg Orell, Harry Rusch, Terry Toppings, Brad Pachal, Berney Kozakewycz, Reid Lane. …………………………………………………… In the last quarterfinal, the Miller Marauders mauled the Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns 79-57 after leading 44-26 at the half. Tim Spelliscy led the Marauders with 22. Gary Frank added 22 and Kevin Fogarty 12. Bob Neumann paced the Golden Suns with 15. Chris Boychuck added 15 and Greg Zaborski 13. The Golden Suns (coached by Ron Pettigrew) also included Jack Degelman, Kelly Hall, Mark Schamber, Dean Runge, Rod Donison, Shaun Engl. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Luther Lions dumped the Miller Marauders 81-72 as Marty Jordan scored 18, Tim Wiens 18 and Bob Pearce 14. The Lions rallied from an 18-point deficit with 10 minutes to play by shifting into a full-court press. Lions coach Dick Stark told the Regina Leader-Post that “I think maybe they just decided to get their butts in gear. We tried the press earlier and didn’t hustle, so it didn’t work out but at the end we did hustle and the press worked just like we have practiced it. The guys did a real good job.” Marauders coach Merv Prier said “when we got that 18-point lead, I thought we had the game. Maybe that was our problem. The press just got to us. It has all year. I was disappointed with the number of turnovers but that comes with their press, I guess.” Gary Frank paced the Marauders with 20. Tim Spelliscy added 18 and Kevin Fogarty 15. The Marauders (coached by Merv Prier) also included Marty Danserau, Garth Spicer, Bill Dietrich, Murray Ell, Franz Hoffman, John Bertram, Gary Frank, J.D. Spellicy, Brian Bast, Gerry Riffel. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Sheldon-Williams Spartans edged the Thom Trojans as Ken Wright scored 20, Peter South 16 and John Templeton 10. The Spartans led 33-29 at the half. Larry Oslie scored 24 to lead the Trojans. Dave Quest added 12. The Trojans (coached by Al Ford) also included Ken Mann, Brent Molnar, Paul Kelly, Darrel Roemer, John Werschler, Kurt Szteina. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Sheldon-Williams Spartans clipped the Luther Lions 61-54 as Mike Wright scored 12, Kim Campion 11, Peter South 11, Gord Hipperson 8 and Terry Huber 8. The Spartans led 36-24 at the half, in a slow slugfest in which the Spartans outscored the Lions 7-6 over the last seven minutes of play. Spartans coach Lorne Aston told the Regina Leader-Post that “I think we’ve been better than them since Christmas. I also think we’ve been just as good as them all year. Our rebounding was good tonight. We out-rebounded them and we hit well in the first half. … We threw 3 different zones at them and we used them all efficiently. They couldn’t break any of them and when they finally figured one out, we’d change to a new one.” Lions coach Dick Stark said “we didn’t shoot enough. We only took 50 shots and that’s 25 less than we should take. That is an indication that you are standing around too much. They beat us on the boards, too, but I think the boys were too nervous; it’s easy to get too nervous. But there isn’t any reason we should be now. We’ve played enough, but we were, and that’s one of the big reasons for the outcome.” Stark also lamented foul trouble. “I don’t know what to do, we have a few guys who tended to get in more foul trouble than they should.” Marty Jordan led the Lions with 14. Bob Pearce added 11 and Rob King 8.
In the provincial semis, the Regina Luther Lions defeated the Saskatoon Mount Royal Mustangs 76-62 as Luther held Mark Rawlyk to four points using a box-and-one. Guards Rob King and Tom Wiers contained Rawlyk. Mount Royal coach Nick Patola told the Regina Leader-Post “they killed us on the boards. They just had too much maturity for us to handle. They don’t out-height us but aside from the boards, where they dominated, they did a good job on us. They shut off Rawlyk completely. Rawlyk just became frustrated and couldn’t do the job. … We didn’t have a guy to match on [Marty] Jordan. Jordan is one heckuva ballplayer. He’s intelligent. He’s quick. He’s got the height, good hands and he’s an excellent shooter.” Centre Marty Jordan led Luther with 21 points. Bob Pearce added 16, King 12 and Dale Powers 12. Warren Hoffer led Mount Royal with 20. Mike Patola scored 12. Luther coach Dick Stark said the team wasn’t as tense as in the Regina city final against Sheldon-Williams. “We were a little looser this week. We decided we couldn’t play the way we did last week. It was a good experience for us. (Jordan) did a good job on the boards for us. He shot well and you could tell he was still ready to play because late in the game, he was jumping just as high as at the start of the game.”
In the other semi, the Regina Sheldon-Williams Spartans defeated the Saskatoon Walter Murray Marauders 81-41. Sheldon-Williams took a 16-6 lead early and ran away. They were ahead 40-16 at the half. Walter Murray coach Barry Mooney told the Regina Leader-Post that “we haven’t had a bad shooting night for a long time. I just wish it hadn’t happened tonight. We took good shots. We just couldn’t put them in.” Sheldon-Williams coach Lorne Aston, who was retiring after the season after 21 years at the helm, said “It was a lot easier than I ever expected, I tell you. We were hot and their defence was non-existent.” Sheldon-Williams fast-breaked at will. “They were slow switching and their defence was lazy. They stood around a lot. We were hitting the fastbreak every second play. We were getting lots of layups and they weren’t getting any. It’s funny how these things happen.” Mike Wright led Sheldon-Williams with 16. Kim Champion added 14, Peter South 14 and John Templeton 10. Baljit Lalli and Gordon Groat each scored 10 for Walter Murray.
In the bronze medal match, the Saskatoon Walter Murray Marauders dispatched the Saskatoon Mount Royal Mustangs 67-60 as Gord Groat scored 13, Ross Smith 8, Greg Schuck 8 and Greg Meldrum 7. Mark Rawlyk led the Mustangs with 16. Mike Patola added 10. The Mustangs (coached by Barry Mooney or Nick Patola?) also included Warren Hofer, Bryce McRae, Bob Hassell, Bruce Guenther.
In the final, the Regina Sheldon-Williams Spartans defeated the Regina Luther Lions 67-60 to hand retiring coach Lorne Aston his fifth provincial title. “Well, I’m glad it’s over, really,” Aston told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. “I’m even happier it ended the way it did. … I won’t miss it. It’s getting to be so long. We started four and half months ago and since then we have played close to 40 games. In junior, we’ll probably play only 17 at the most. I suppose I’ll wonder whether I made the right decision or not. It’s been very nice. I’ve had a lot of success and a lot of pleasures in my coaching. It’s always nice to work with boys and see them perform up their capabilities like team did.” Luther pulled within four in the second half but Sheldon Williams maintained its cool, outscoring Luther 13-10 down the stretch. John Templeton led Sheldon-Williams with 14. Mike Wright added 13, Kim Champion 10 and Peter South 10. Marty Jordan scored 22 for Luther. Bob Pearce added 18 and Rob King 8. Aston told the Regina Leader-Post that John Templeton “is a great ballplayer. It’s a good way for him to go out. Wright also played well. He’s the best guard in the city. He gives all he has all the time.” Luther coach Dick Stark said “I don’t know what really happened. We were down all game and when you’ve got to come back, it’s tough. We were down 10 points at the half. After halftime, we were behind the eight-bal. They played good and we didn’t play as well as we can. You have to play as well as you can in a game like this. Our guys played good and they busted their butts. I’m pretty happy with the way they played. They did as well as they could.”
The bronze medalist Saskatoon Walter Murray Marauders: Gord Groat; Ross Smith; Greg Schuck; Greg Meldrum; Baljit Lalli;
The silver medalist Regina Luther Lions: Myles Mintzler; Rob King; Tim Wiens; Marty Jordan; Bob Pearce; Dale Powers; Al Gordon; John Wellman; Jeff Hilderman; Ralph Foster; Robert Fruck; Jerry Schellenberg; coach Dick Stark; “shaman and mentor” Barry Faires
The gold medalist Regina Sheldon-Williams Spartans: Mike Wright; Kim Champion; Peter South; John Templeton; Gord Hipperson; Terry Huber; Don Miller; Kim Wright; Evan Howlett; Murray Nelson; Len Probe; coach Lorne Aston