REGULAR SEASON
Victoria | 18-2 | 21-9 | Ken Shields | |||||
Calgary | 13-7 | 26-9 | Gary Howard | |||||
U.B.C. | 11-9 | 13-17 | Peter Mullins | |||||
Alberta | 9-11 | 16-23 | Garry Smith | |||||
Lethbridge | 6-14 | 7-16 | John Affleck | |||||
Saskatchewan | 3-17 | 3-24 | Tom Thompson | |||||
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Alberta Golden Bears: Mike Abercrombie, Doug Baker, Len Daviduk, Engles, Colin Fennell, Mark Jorgenson, Brent Patterson, Pat Rooney, Tim Ryan, Tony Schryvers, Keith Smith, Speer, Ernst, coach Garry Smith
U.B.C Thunderbirds: Adam Yawrenko, Chris Trumpy, Mark Adilman, Doug Mosher, Brad Findlay, Bill Berzins, John Veysey, Jim Coady, Rob Cholyk, Sasges, Frank Janowicz, Mark Olson, Adam Yawrenko, coach Peter Mullins
Lethbridge Pronghorns: Walter Armsworthy, Bob Cooper, Jim Duxbury, Randy Haynes, Ernie Hill, Perry Mirkovich, Joey Shackleford, Wayne Simpson, Speidel, Jamie Thomas, Mike Urban, Don Richards, Kelly Goheen, Craig Hunter, Dave Pitcher, coach John Affleck
Saskatchewan Huskies: Roger Ganes, Wayne Bishop, Stewart Bauck, Clare Campbell, Chabot, Tom Groat, Kim Gross, Kevin McDuffie, Max Miner, Stan Oleksinski, Gord Pepper, Don Smith, V Vanderham, coach Tom Thompson
In the playoffs (a best of 3 finals, no semis), Victoria defeated Calgary 85-77; 80-90; 107-76 (2g-1).
In game one of the finals, Billy Loos hit 16 second-half points to lead Victoria past Calgary 85-77. Calgary took an early six-point lead but the Viking perimeter shooters got back on track as Victoria took an 8-point lead. Calgary was ahead 38-34 at the half. Calgary tied the game at 44 five minutes into the second half but then Victoria took control. Although Calgary rallied to within one several times, poor shot selection and foul trouble plagued them. Loos led Victoria with 22. Reni Dolcetti added 16, Chris Hebb 15, Craig Higgins 14, Ian Hyde-lay 8, Rob Parris 8 and Lorne Dakin 2. Ted Hellard led Calgary with 24. Lyle ‘The Tree’ Leslie added 17, Mike Santiago 10 off the bench, Bruce Wright 7, Dave Price 6, Dale Getty 4 and Paul Christie 2. Greg Hess, the club’s leading scorer curing the regular season, hit only 1-13 from the floor and finished with 6 points. Calgary shot 30-77 from the floor (.360), while Vic hit 32-65 (.490) and out-rebounded Calgary 30-24.
In game two, Calgary defeated Victoria 90-80. Shields said the Vikings weren’t “psychologically” ready to play, particularly in such a close contest. Calgary took the lead with two minutes to play in the half. The Dinosaurs led 44-39 at the break. Vic rallied to take the lead and then there were 11 lead changes before the Dinnies moved ahead for good. Lyle Leslie scored 26 on 11-19 from the floor and 15 boards, while containing Reni Dolcetti in the blocks. “He plays like that against me in practice,” Dinnie reserve centre Geoff Thompson told The Gauntlet. “But I didn’t think that he’d be able to do that against Dolcetti.” Leslie noted “it sure is nice to beat a guy that’s 30 pounds heavier than you are.” Dale Getty added 16 for Calgary, Bruce Wright 16, Ted Hellard 10, Dave Price 6, Mike Santiago 5, Greg Hess 4, Erik Duerksen 4 and Phil Christie 3. Billy Loos paced the Vikings with 39. Robbie Paris added 13, Rene Dolcetti 11, Lorne Dakin 9, Ian Hyde-Lay 4 and Craig Higgins 4.
In game three, the Vikings slaughtered the Dinnies 107-76. Vic exploded to a 12-2 lead and then knocked out Dinnie offensive threat Lyle Leslie with an elbow to the head. He played a minute just the half ended and then two minutes in the second half before collapsing and being taken to a Victoria hospital with a suspected fractured jaw. Calgary cut Vic’s 13-point lead to six as Eric Duerksen and Ted Hellard drilled buckets. But Victoria rallied to a 49-31 lead at the half. The Vikings maintained a 15-19-point margin through the second half and iced it at the line. Waterbury, Connecticut product Billy Loos hit 15-22 from the floor and 4-8 from the line to lead Victoria with 34, while nabbing 13 rebounds. Robbie Parris and Craig Higgins each added 17, Lorne Dakin 10, Brian Sutherland-Brown 8, Reni Dolcetti 8, Ted Anderson 6, Ian Hyde-Lay 4 and Chris Hebb 3. The Vikes shot 41-79 (.518) from the floor. Ted Hellard led Calgary with 24. Greg Hess and Dale Getty each added 10, Erik Duerksen 9, Dave Price 7, Phil Christie 4, Lyle Leslie 4, Bruce Wright 4, Ray Verbeek 2 and Mike Santiago 2. The Dinnies shot 32-82 from the floor. “We got the momentum early and took it from there. We maintained our concentration and intensity and build on the lead,” Vikings coach Ken Shields told the Calgary Herald. Dinos coach Gary Howard told The Gauntlet that “it was a team effort; I think we all had a hand in losing it. They just outran us. The transition (from offence to defence) killed us. Our forwards were getting beaten, and our guards couldn’t handle their forwards.” Shields said “the difference was that psychologically we weren’t ready to play last night. But today we got the momentum early, and took it from there. We maintained our concentration and intensity, and built on the lead.”
The runner-up Calgary Dinosaurs: Phil Christie; Ray Verbeek; Lyle Leslie; Greg Hess; Dale Getty; Tim Hellard; Kelly Olhauser; Bruce Wright; Mike Santiago; Geoff Thompson; Greg (Mark?) Weir; Eric Duerksen; Dave Price; Bob Doherty; Steve Humphries; Matt Friesen; David Price; Dave Perrott; coach Gary Howard; assistant John Hasselfield; manager Ed Berg
The champion Victoria Vikings: Rob Parris; Craig Higgins; Grant Boland; Mickey Welder; Ted Anderson; Brian Sutherland-Brown; Chris Hebb; Gary Budd; Ian Hyde-Lay; Reni Dolcetti; Lorne Dakin; Billy Loos; coach Ken Shields