In the southern playoffs and Regina city quarterfinals: …………………………………………………… One week before the start of the playoffs, the Thom Trojans, then in first place in the regular season standings with a 13-2 record, withdrew from the league. Coach Al Ford told the Regina Leader-Post that it was “an internal matter, strictly a matter of discipline.” Ford had suspended eight of his players for an incident at a tournament in Edmonton one week earlier. …………………………………………………… The Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns clipped the O’Neill Titans 62-57 as Dan Casey scored 23 and Aaron Martin 20. Terry Gelowitz led the Titans with 18. The Titans led 29-24 at the half. The Titans (coached by Al Collins) also included Mark Grzyb, Darren Tocker, Larry Geni, Marc Fauchon, Scott Predenchuk. …………………………………………………… The Campbell Tartans edged the Martin Monarchs 68-63 as Murray Toews scored 16 and Steve South 14. Bart Muir led the Monarchs with 17. Terry Volden added 12 and Ryan Schneider 8. The Monarchs (coached by Bob Hahn) also included Brian Lanctot, Dan West, Dave Sametz. …………………………………………………… The Luther Lions pounded the Central Gophers 77-53 as Paul King scored 10 and Al Braidak 19. Bob Vail led the Gophers with 15. Jerry Yee added 11. The Gophers (coached by Dale Van Hagan) also included James Parker. …………………………………………………… In the last quarterfinal, the Miller Marauders dusted the Scott Blues 65-48 as Mike Shoobert scored 22, Franz Hoffman 13 and Murray Ell 12. Grant Vegter paced the Blues with 25. Jim Campbell added 10. The Blues (coached by John Schepers) also included Jim Ross. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Miller Marauders clipped the Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns 72-59 as Franz Hoffman scored 20, Tim Fogarty 18 and Murray Ell 12. Dan Casey led the Golden Suns with 16. Aaron Murzyn added 14. The Golden Suns (coached by Howie Schweitzer) also included Luke Bissonnette, Dan Casey, Mark Benesh. The Marauders front line of Tim Fogarty, Murray Elle and Mike Shoobert dominated. Golden Suns coach Howie Schwartze told the Regina Leader-Post that “Casey got 16 points, which is good. But he’s accustomed to getting 28 or so. They won it under the boards. We got one, two shots at most. They got the rebound and took it down the floor.” The Marauders led 46-34 at the half. Schoobert said “as the game went on, it got a little more tense. In a game like this, the score doesn’t matter. It’s still tense.” …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Luther Lions edged the Campbell Tartans 79-77 as Dave Hall scored 19, Kent Adam 16 and Brent Harold 14. The Lions led 39-34 at the half. Steve South paced the Tartans with 25. Bill Yarnton added 17 and Murray Toews 16. The Tartans (coached by Skip Campbell) also included Matheson, Rob Whelan, McQuarters, Brian Burgess, Grant Love. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Miller Marauders dusted the Luther Lions 84-65 as Mike Shoobert scored 28, Tim Fogarty 23, Frans Hoffman 19, Murray Ell 8, Rob Gosselin 4 and Warren Poncsak 2. Dave Hall led the Lions with 19. Al Braidek added 13, Paul King 12, Don Powers 8, Kent Adam 5, Brent Harold 3 and W Schellenberg 2, while B Ward was scoreless. The Marauders led 36-33 at the half and opened the second half with a 20-3 run. Marauders coach Bernie Schmidt told the Regina Leader-Post that “I think, in the first half, Luther got control of the boards. Then they lost their cool in the second half and picked up a lot of fouls … (Tim) Fogarty came through with another super game.” Lions coach Dick Stark said Don Powers, who was recovering from a separated shoulder and scored just 8, “didn’t play as well as he could have. He hasn’t been practicing as much. Most of our players weren’t playing as well as I thought they would … Miller’s got a good team. They’ve whipped us every time we’ve played them this year.”
In the northern playoffs and Saskatoon city quarterfinals: …………………………………………………… The Bedford Road Redmen smacked the Walter Murray Marauders 66-46 as Brent McMurtry scored 20 and Rich Stolar 17. Jamie Lackie led the Marauders with 13. Pete Loubardeas added 10. Marauders coach Jack Seel told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix “we just lost intensity.” …………………………………………………… In the other quarterfinal, the Evan Hardy Souls defeated the City Park Cowboys 59-52 as Daryl Wacker scored 20, Paul Humbert 12 and Rory Bashnik 12. Rich Hallson led the Cowboys with 16. Jack Booth added 11. Cowboys coach Ian Mirtle said “the turning point would have to be their use of what is called a cheating zone. We never adjusted properly.” …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Mount Royal Mustangs nipped the Bedford Road Redmen 61-60 as Rob Morris scored 18 and Dave Hudson 15. Mustangs coach Nick Patola told the Star-Phoenix “we were probably up as high as 10 or 11 points and were able to maintain it around five or seven. Then McCrae (Brice) got a couple of quick fouls and when we played without him, they closed the gap.” Arnie Schmartz led the Redmen with 15. Brent McMurtry added 15. The Redmen (coached by Reuben Peters) also included Rich Stolar. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Evan Hardy Souls edged the Holy Cross Crusaders 48-46 after leading 31-22 at the half. Paul Humbert paced the Souls with 15. Scott Redl added 15. Souls coach Ross Wilson told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix that “our bench is playing really well. We used 11 players and they all served a purpose. The guys that came off the bench got their sixes and fours (points) and helped us that way.” Greg Muench led the Crusaders with 11. Jack Kalthoff added 8. The Crusaders also included Kevin Harbidge, Doug Michasiw, J Ostertag, Knight, Gilewicz. Crusaders coach Dave Hardy said “the kids did a super job of coming back in the second half. We held them to two points in the first eight minutes of the second half and caught them at 33-33. It was decided in the first four or five minutes though. I was just too much to overcome.” ………………………………………………… In the final, the Mount Royal Mustangs dispatched the Evan Hardy Souls 65-54. The Mustangs broke to an 11-4 lead extended the margin to 17-8. They led 40-24 at the half. Robert Morris paced the Mustangs with 30. Dave Hudson added 15 and Brice McRae 13. Mustangs coach Nick Patola said of the Souls rally with a full court press: “If we hadn’t have had such a big lead, it would have been a really close game. … Things that should work for us did. We were opening up what we wanted to open.” Paul Humbert led the Souls with 18. Darryl Wacker added 11 and Gar Bird 9. Souls coach Ross Wilson said “we went thru a cold stage. We weren’t shooting and they were playing well. We got ourselves in a hole with one bad quarter. You can’t afford to do that in a city championship.”
In the provincial semis, the Saskatoon Mount Royal Mustangs defeated the Regina Luther Lions 78-71. Bryce McRae dominated as Mount Royal moved ahead 51-31 at the half. But McRae got in foul trouble midway through the second half and the Mustangs offence promptly stalled, allowing Luther to rally to a 64-63 lead with five minutes to go before Mount Royal reassumed control. Lions coach Dick Stark told the Regina Leader-Post that his troops let up after taking the lead. “It’s a psychological thing. When you have to come back and you finally do take the lead, you tend to let down a bit because you feel you’ve done the job.” Mustangs coach Nick Patola said the loss of McRae to fouls hurt. “He’s half the team. He rebounds, blocks the odd shot and they have to watch him all the time. And the big kid came back in the second half. He cut off their momentum but with four fouls, they were working on him. He was bound to get made once, and once is all it took. … Somebody upstairs in on my side. He helped me out in the last five minutes. May I should just go home right now while things are good.” McRae scored 19, including 17 in the first half. Rob Morris added 19, Larry Lamers 15, Ed Halt 12 and Dave Hudson 11. Dave Hall led Luther with 16. Kent Adam added 14, Brent Harold 12 and Don Powers 11.
In the other semi, the Regina Miller Marauders defeated the Saskatoon Evan Hardy Souls 71-64. Miller led 19-18 and then exploded with a 22-6 run to take a 41-24 lead at the break. Miller coach Bernie Schmidt told the Regina Leader-Post that “it’s a good thing we had a big lead at halftime. They controlled the boards at the end. They got a lot of offensive rebounds on us. But the big thing is, we won.” Evan Hardy coach Ross Wilson noted that “all it took was for us to fall asleep and we wound up behind by 17 points. It got us down too far too soon – suddenly we were into the second half and it was all comeback. WE had to go to the offensive boards and try to make things happen. We didn’t win it but I’m proud of the kinds because they worked hard. The last 10 minutes of the first half did it. We’re used to playing only 16 minutes a half in Saskatoon and maybe that had a role in it too. But that’s no excuse. Miller’s a good ball club. They played very well.” Mike Shoobert led Miller with 22. Franz Hoffman added 20. Daryl Wacker paced Evan Hardy with 18. Paul Humbert and Rory Bashnick each added 10.
In the bronze medal match, the Regina Luther Lions pounded the Saskatoon Evan Hardy Souls 84-61 as Don Powers scored 25, Paul King 17, Brent Harold 11, Dave Hall 8, Kent Adam 7, Needham 6, Schellenberg 6, Ast 2 and Al Braidek 2. Darryl Wacker led the Souls with 15. Paul Humbert added 12, Gar Bird 9, Meckleburg 8, Freedon 7, Scott Redl 6, Rory Bashnik 2 and Buckley 2. The score was knotted at 34 at the half.
In the final, the Regina Miller Marauders defeated the Saskatoon Mount Royal Mustangs 82-59, its 28th straight win after losing the season opener. Coach Bernie Schmidt told the Regina Leader-Post that “it’s a great way to finish off the season. It’s always been tougher to do it the second time around. Everybody comes out trying to knock off the team that won it the year before. So you have to be ready every night. I had a heckuva nucleus of guys to work with. They’re a great bunch of kids. They’ve been here before and they what it’s all about. The boys came out and really did a job on them.” Miller led 43-23 at the half. But Mount Royal rallied to within 11 with nine minutes to play. But Miller was never really in danger. Mount Royal coach Nick Patola said “you don’t have to be wise to see that, on paper, they’re a much better team than we are. We had to hope that our strengths staying consistent and our weaknesses hidden. And we needed some breaks, just to put that doubt in their minds.” Mount Royals’ hopes were dimmed by 6-3 f Bryce McRae having collected three fouls in the first half, while forward Bob Morris picked up four. Miller was paced by 6-4 forward Mike Shoobert’s 28. Franz Hoffman added 17, 6-6 Murray Ell 16, 6-1 Tim Fogarty 10, Warren Poncsak 3, Frank Salagubas 2, Tony Coppola 2, Perry Koot 2 and Rob Gosselin 2. McRae led Mount Royal with 20 before fouling out with nine minutes to play. Bob Morris added 12 before fouling out with five minutes to play and Miller ahead 69-51. Ed Halt tossed in 12, Dave Hudson 8, Hussel 3, Larry Lamers 3 and Janzen 1.
The bronze medalist Regina Luther Lions: Don Powers; Paul King; Brent Harold; Dave Hall; Kent Adam; Needham; W Schellenberg; Ast; Al Braidek; B Ward; Powell; coach Dick Stark
The silver medalist Saskatoon Mount Royal Mustangs: Brice McRae; Rob Morris; Larry Lamers; Ed Holt; Dave Hudson; Hussel; Larry Lamers; Janzen; coach Nick Patola
The gold medalist Regina Miller Marauders: Lorne Leibel; Terry Eisler; Franz Hoffman; Tony Copolla; Brent Taylor; Warren Poncsak; Perry Koot; Murray Ell; Mike Shoobert; Tim Fogarty; Rob Gosselin; Frank Salagubas; coach Bernie Schmidt; assistant Bill Brennan; manager Randy Fries; manager Stan Szumiak