In the Saskatoon city final, the Nutana Collegiate Blues clocked the Bishop Mahoney Saints 69-45. Both squads advance to the Northern zone playoff.
In the North playoffs: …………………………………………………… In the opening round, the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders stomped the Saskatoon Bishop J. Mahoney Saints 82-42. …………………………………………………… In the first qualifier, the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders defeated the Prince Albert St. Mary Marauders 82-67. …………………………………………………… In the repechage, the Saskatoon Nutana Collegiate Blues eliminated the Saskatoon Bishop J. Mahoney Saints 51-46 as James Boersma scored 15 and John Osika 14. The Saints included Tim Darke, James Bazian, Corey Mantyka, Jorge Cortez. …………………………………………………… In the second qualifier, the Prince Albert St. Mary Marauders eliminated the Saskatoon Nutana Collegiate Blues 77-44 (also reported as 73-56). James Boersma led the Blues with 15. The Blues also included Brent Franson, John Boersma, Wayne Parenteau, John Osika.
In the South playoffs: …………………………………………………… In the first qualifier, the Regina F.W. Johnson Wildcats clocked the Swift Current Colts 89-66 as Shane Hannah scored 26 and Ken Knipelberg 22. …………………………………………………… In the repechage, the Moose Jaw A.E. Peacock Toilers eliminated the Swift Current Colts 80-54. …………………………………………………… In the second qualifiers, the Moose Jaw A.E. Peacock Toilers eliminated the Regina Sister MacGuigan Mustangs 87-86 in overtime. The Mustangs (coached by Brian Larivee and Glen Nelson) included Jason Edmands, Wallie Sich.
In the provincial semis, the Regina F.W. Johnson Wildcats clubbed the Prince Albert St. Mary Marauders 83-60 as Taylor Hladick scored 23, Kelly Dowd 15, along with 12 boards, Shane Hannah 12 and Bill Nagel 12. Dowd told the Regina Leader-Post that “it was just a lot of confidence basically. There’s five guys out there on the court. If each one of them does what they’re supposed to do, we’ll win. It just happened to be my night because everyone was doing their job to help me.” Hladick said “we played pressure ball. And our best defence was in their half of the gym.” Wildcats coach Mike Nagel said “this is a do-or-die situation for our seniors. You’ll see guys like Kelly doing well and staying calm because they really want it. This is it for guys like him. They want to do well.” The Wildcats led 8-0 early and 43-23 at the half. Andrew Adam paced the Marauders with 13. Ryan Dzioba added 11 and Dwayne Stonechild 10. Marauders coach Dale Regel said “actually, I’m happy about our performance. We played them in a tournament this year and lost by 30 points. It shows we have improved.”
In the other semi, the Moose Jaw A.E. Peacock Toilers edged the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders 68-66 as Craig McDougall scored 24 and Mark Gottselig 19. Carter Watson paced the Crusaders with 21. Barclay Batiuk added 15.
In the bronze medal match, the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders clipped the Prince Albert St. Mary Marauders 71-61 as Carter Watson scored 20 and Craig Van Herk 18. Lawrence Bremner led the Marauders with 21. Robin Garchinski added 13. The Marauders also included Andrew Adam, Ryan Dzioba, Dwayne Stonechild.
In the final, the Regina F.W. Johnson Wildcats defeated the Moose Jaw A.E. Peacock Toilers 79-78 as Bill Nagel hi a 20-foot jumper with four seconds remaining on the clock. Nagel told the Regina Leader-Post that “once the shot left my hand, I honestly didn’t think it would go in. Even when it was in the air, I thought, ‘geez, I missed. We lost’. … It’s good to finish grade 12 like that. But it’s like our team. We say never die, no matter what the situation.” Wildcats coach Mike Nagel, the older brother of Bill Nagel, said his squad squandered a 16-point half-time lead and needed the timeout before the final heroics. “I had to calm them down. That was the first thing. Boy was their adrenalin going. I told them to take it down, make a good shot and hope that Shane (Hannah) or Taylor (Hladick) could get the rebound. We had to hope for the board. … Bill? Well, he had a great shot. The team stuck to it though. We could easily have lost it before that.” The Wildcats had led by as many as 25 in the first half. Toilers coach Roy Boughen said “it seems we need a 20-minute warmup drill all the time.” Nagel told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix that “we played earlier in the year and a 26-point lead. We ended up winning by four. So this wasn’t anything new.” Taylor Hladick led the Wildcats with 21. Bill Nagel added 19 and Ken Knipelberg 19. Craig McDougall paced the Toilers with 21. Mark Gottselig added 21. Toilers coach Ray Boughen said “our history this year is that we usually play better in the second half. We just lost our edge in the first tonight.” The Toilers were troubled by the pressure of Wildcat guards Bill Nagel and Ken Knipelberg. Nagel said “our legs kind of wore down a bit. That’s we don’t use the press as much in the second half. We were kind of tired. … I just looked up at the clock (after the winning shot went in) and saw four seconds left. I just wanted them to run down as fast as possible.”
The bronze medalist Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders: Carter Watson; Barclay Batiuk; Craig Van Herk; Brad Pederson; Todd Swenson;
The silver medalist Moose Jaw A.E. Peacock Toilers: Mark Gottselig; Darrel Anderson; Kelly Widenmaier; Craig McDougall; Vaughn Crone; coach Ray Boughen
The gold medalist Regina F.W. Johnson Wildcats: Taylor Hladick; Shane Hannah; Bill Nagel; Ken Knipelberg; Chris Livingstone; Kelly Dowd; Todd Fast; coach Michael Nagel