In the opening round of the Regina city playoffs: …………………………………………………… The Martin Monarchs clipped the Balfour Redmen 66-50 as Ken Shalley scored 16 and Dave Shalley 16. The Redmen (coached by Doug Bolander) included Martin Sattler, Greg Stopanski, Randy Schultz. …………………………………………………… In the quarterfinals, the Sheldon-Williams Spartans edged the Thom Trojans 69-65 as Keith Archer scored 14, Kevin Koster 14, Jeff Armstrong 10 and Ken Schofield 10. Both teams committed a raft of turnovers. The Spartans led 28-27 at the half. In the second half, Spartans forward Keith Archer dominated the paint. Trojans forward Kelly Leichert told the Regina Leader-Post “we’ve only got 3 seniors on the club. We’re really young and that hurt us tonight. Their press defence didn’t help either. We weren’t really that consistent. We’d play tough against them, get a couple of baskets off our press and then we’d break down.” Spartan Keith Archer said “we were more consistent than they. They didn’t use Foster as much as other clubs use their height. And when he did get the ball, we stopped him. After the half, we also decided to go out and play with a lot more intensity.” Spartans coach Spence Burgess said: “I’ve always said, the way your press defence goes, we go. We only had one offensive rebound in the first half but we worked on that in the second half.” Lance Lascue led the Trojans with 20. Kelly Leichert added 17. The Trojans (coached by Dale Wilde) also included Scott Babcock, Kevin Beattie, Dean McConnell, Garth Foster, Keith Foster. …………………………………………………… The Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns whipped the Luther Lions 70-39 as Chris Biegler scored 13 and Cam Uhren 13. The Golden Suns led 41-16 at the half. Bill Knudsen led the Lions with 10. The Lions (coached by Dick Stark) also included Jeff Christianson, Scott Johnson, Lindsay Dencsak, Tom Franklin. …………………………………………………… The Campbell Tartans stomped the Martin Monarchs 98-48 as Jim Hillis scored 16 and Mike Peshko 15. Ken Nickel led the Monarchs with 10. Kevin Shalley added 10. The Monarchs also included Jeff Fletcher, Dave Tollman. …………………………………………………… The Miller Marauders dispatched the Archbishop M.C. O’Neill Titans 52-43 as Wade Probe scored 14. Frank Baer led the Titans with 18. The Titans (coached by Al Collins) also included Darren Zimmer, Paul Jakubowski. …………………………………………………… All four quarterfinal winners qualify for the South regional. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns dusted the Miller Marauders 72-45 after leading 30-15 at the half. Chris Biegler led the Golden Suns with 18. Wade Probe led the Marauders with 14. …………………………………………………… The Campbell Tartans bombed the Sheldon-Williams Spartans 88-61 after leading 39-28 at the half. Mike Gibbons led the Tartans with 22. Jim Hillis added 22. Kevin Koster paced the Spartans with 18. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns dispatched the Campbell Tartans 77-66 as Chris Biegler scored 37, Cam Uhren 20 and Albert Benesh 10. Jim Hillis led the Tartans with 29. Mark Gibbons added 12. Hillis told the Regina Leader-Post that “against any other team, you can make a mistake or two. But against LeBoldus, you can’t give them anything. Tonight, we just didn’t have the composure to do the right thing against them.” Golden Suns said the squad had learned a valuable lesson in regular season play against the Tartans. “We panicked then and after that, we said: ‘never again’. I think the Tartan jinx on us is over. We won tonight because we played up to our potential. We just have to keep remembering that.” Golden Suns Chris Biegler and Dean Nagel dominated the boards. Hillis said “you never like to lose but you never really learn with a victory. You only learn when you lose.”
In the South regional quarterfinals, the Regina Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns dusted the Estevan Elecs 85-68 after leading 38-28 at the half. Chris Biegler led the Golden Suns with 14. Cam Uhren added 13. Myles Fichter paced the Elecs with 18. …………………………………………………… The Regina Campbell Tartans clocked the Weyburn Eagles 78-56 after leading 36-17 at the half. Jim Hillis led the Tartans with 20. Mike Gibbons added 16. Joel Bartlette led the Eagles with 15. …………………………………………………… The Regina Sheldon-Williams Spartans dispatched the Yorkton Regional Raiders 72-64 despite trailing 31-30 at the half. Jeff Armstrong led the Spartans with 18. Keith Archer added 20. Greg Kusiak paced the Raiders with 25. …………………………………………………… In the last quarterfinal, the Regina Miller Marauders spanked the Swift Current Colts 78-52. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Regina Sheldon-Williams Spartans edged the Regina Campbell Tartans 83-80 as Kevin Koster scored 24, Jeff Armstrong 22 and Keith Archer 16. The Spartans led 51-35 at the half. Tartans coach Glenn Szabo told the Regina Leader-Post that “we just weren’t ready. It happens. One thing going for Sheldon was that their kids were very loose. They really had nothing to lose. We just weren’t mentally prepared as well as we should have been. That’s just as important as physical preparation. Maybe some of our guys couldn’t handle the pressure. That’s disappointing.” Mike Gibbens paced the Tartans with 24. The Tartans (coached by Glenn Szabo) also included Jim Hillis, Dave Coley, Ron Bresch, Richard Cohee, Mike McQuarters (who left the team mid-season), Pat Bennett, Ron Taylor, Scott Chlopan, Mike Peshko. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Regina Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns dusted the Regina Miller Marauders 96-40 as Chris Biegler scored 25. The Marauders included Wade Probe, Darcy Maloughney, Al Henderson, Bernie Genswein, Jim Braun. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Regina Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns clipped the Regina Sheldon-Williams Spartans 54-40.
In the Saskatoon city quarterfinals: …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Walter Murray Marauders dusted the 5th-seeded E.D. Feehan Trojans 91-72 as Byron Tokarchuk scored 19 and Ross Neufeldt 15. The Marauders led 45-32 at the half. Rob Cherneski led the Trojans with 25. Todd Hargaten added 14. The Trojans also included Len Kincart, Todd Paulsen, Ed Povhe. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Bedford Road Redmen dispatched the 6th-seeded City Park Cowboys 66-59 as Sheldon Ryma scored 17 and Dean Lavoie 14. Greg Schutte led the Cowboys with 22. Gord Skelly added 13. The Cowboys also included Ken Robinson, Rick Edmison, Dan Dewar. …………………………………………………… In the semis, the top-seeded Holy Cross Crusaders crushed the 4th-seeded Walter Murray Marauders 88-63 as Kirk Jones scored 25 and Paul Beitel 22. Byron Tokarchuk led the Marauders with 12. Ross Neufeldt added 11. The Marauders also included Mike Leakos, Dave Denowski, Mike Phillips, Jeff Balzer. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Mount Royal Mustangs dumped the 3rd-seeded Bedford Road Redmen 79-65 as John Cleland scored 20 and Barry Miller 18. Dean Lavoie led the Redmen with 18. Sheldon Ryma added 14. The Redmen also included Eric Veerenhuis, Tim Malone, Vernon Ratzlaff. …………………………………………………… In the final, the 2nd-seeded Mount Royal Mustangs edged the top-seeded Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders 73-72 after leading 44-36at the half. The Mustangs dominated the boards but got into foul trouble in the second half. Barry Miller paced the Mustangs with 31, including 24 in the first half. David Karwacki paced the Crusaders with 23. Dave Karwacki gave the Crusaders a 72-71 lead with 53 seconds to play but Wes Deptuck hit the winner with 37 seconds on the clock. Mustangs coach Nick Patola told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix that “we came into the second half with two starters carrying three fouls, so we had to go to the bench. That necessitated a change to zone defence from man-to-man.” Crusaders coach Dave Hardy said “we had trouble getting the ball inside to Kirk Jones and that really hurt our game.” Both teams advanced to the Northern zone championships in North Battleford.
In the Northern zone semis: …………………………………………………… The Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders clubbed the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders 93-42. …………………………………………………… In the other semi, the Saskatoon Mount Royal Mustangs whipped the North Battleford Vikings 83-33 as Dan Yurchuk scored 20, James Phillips 12 and Mike Deptuch 10. …………………………………………………… The teams agreed that there was no need to play a final because both qualified for Hoopla.
In the provincial semis, the Regina Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns edged the Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders 70-68 as Chris Biegler hit the winning field goal with 1:20 to play. The Crusaders led 39-37 at the half. Chris Biegler paced the Golden Suns with 32. Albert Benesh added 13 and Cam Uhren 6. Dave Karwacki paced the Crusaders with 23. Kirk Jones added 20 and Paul Beitel 10. Golden Suns coach Ron Pettigrew told the Regina Leader-Post that “I’ve told Albert long ago that when his outside game went cold, go inside. I knew he could do it. He just never really tried before. We were told before the game that we were underdogs. We used that to our advantage.”
In the other semi, the Saskatoon Mount Royal Mustangs whipped the Regina Sheldon-Williams Spartans 112-61 despite playing without point guard John Cleland. Greg Jockims paced the Mustangs with 29. Rick Shewchuk added 20, Barry Miller 20 and James Phillips 14. Mustangs coach Nick Patola told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix that “psychologically, we’re a helluva lot better now than we were three hours ago. With John out, we needed to play a game just to see how we’d handle it. Now, we’ve had some experience. Even if it was only 40 minutes, it helps.” Kevin Koster led the Spartans with 24. Jeff Armstrong added 17 and Keith Archer 10.
In the bronze medal match, the Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders whipped the Regina Sheldon-Williams Spartans 105-64 as Scott Hundseth scored 30, Kirk Jones 24, Paul Beitel 22 and Rick Bourassa 10. Kevin Koster led the Spartans with 22. Jeff Armstrong added 11 and Ker Schofield 9. The Spartans (coached by Spence Burgess) also included Mark Wake, Keith Archer, Scott Hardisty.
In the provincial final, the Regina Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns defeated the Saskatoon Mount Royal Mustangs 70-58. The score was knotted at 26 at the half but Cam Uhren and Steve Fogel began forcing turnovers in the second half, while Chris Biegler and Dean Najel took the command of the boards. The Suns soon led 42-30. Cam Uhren told the Regina Leader-Post that “we knew we were underdogs. And I think that really helped us. We knew in our minds we could beat them. We were really loose for this one. It just came down to the team that wanted it most would get it. … That second half was a whole new ball game. We knew if we were going to win the game, we had to get the lead. Once we got it, we just kept going. We really cooled off their offence.” The Suns controlled the boards and got back quickly on defence into a 2-3 zone. When Mustang star Greg Jockims picked up his fourth foul with 15 minutes to play, Mount Royal was cooked. Golden Suns coach Ron Pettigrew told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix that “from what I gather, no one thought we had a chance this week. At least, that’s the impression I got. … We felt they play as tough against the zone without (injured point guard John) Cleland. Last time we played them, he had cut right through the zone. But we knew they’d be missing that element tonight. So, if we could control them with the zone, and prevent any easy baskets, we knew we had a good chance.” Chris Biegler led the Golden Suns with 21. Cam Uhren added 16, and Albert Benesh 12. Rick Shewchuk led the Mustangs with 21. Barry Miller added 18, Greg Jockims 8 and Wes Deptuck 8. Mustangs coach Nick Patola said “we let those big guys inside and they killed us. As far as (John) Cleland (who did not play because a back injury required the removal of two of his vertebrae), definitely we missed him. We knew we had to go without him and we were psychologically ready. But thinking something and then going out and doing it are two totally different functions. Our minds were back with John in the hospital.” Patola said the Mustangs were also hurt by three quick fouls and a technical collected by Greg Jockims. “The turning point in this game was losing Jockims. Once he took that technical, their kids weren’t challenged. They were really playing loose after that.” Patola told the Star-Phoenix there was “no question. They beat us in every aspect of the game. … We couldn’t execute because we couldn’t control the ball. We were always one pass away. We had a few shots that weren’t unbearable but they got rolling, we were putting up prayer shots. … Holy Marys.” Pettigrew said “I don’t care about destiny. We’ve been playing every well lately. We haven’t been turning the ball over, have looked sharp on both offence and defence and have been rebounding aggressively. It all just carried into this weekend. I guess you could say we peaked at the right time.”
The bronze medalist Saskatoon Holy Cross Crusaders: Kirk Jones; Paul Beitel; Dave Karwacki; Scott Hundseth; Rick Bourassa; Angus McDonald; Dan Kosarych; Don Ostertag; coach Dave Hardy
The silver medalist Saskatoon Mount Royal Mustangs: John Cleland; Greg Jockims; Rick Shewchuk; Barry Miller; Dean Dumka; Wes Deptuck; Dan Yurchuk; James Phillips; coach Nick Patola
The gold medalist Regina Dr. Martin LeBoldus Golden Suns: Chris Biegler; Cam Uhren; Albert Benesh; Dean Nagel; Steve Fogel; Lawrence Biegler; Sean Wade; Steve Engel; Dave Kachan; Stefan Wade; coach Ron Pettigrew; coach Mark Sylvestre