REGULAR SEASON
| EAST | WEST | ||||||||
| Toronto | 10-2 | 12-4 | Gib Chapman | Waterloo | 10-2 | 18-11 | Don McCrae | ||
| Carleton | 8-4 | 17-17 | Paul Armstrong | Western | 8-3 | Doug Hayes | |||
| Ottawa | 7-5 | 13-14 | John Restivo | Windsor | 7-5 | Paul Thomas | |||
| York | 6-6 | 11-19 | Bob Bain | Brock | 6-6 | 11-17 | Garney Henley | ||
| Queen’s | 6-6 | Barry Smith | Wilfrid Laurier | 5-6 | Chris Coulthard | ||||
| Laurentian | 5-7 | Peter Campbell | McMaster | 4-8 | Barry Phillips | ||||
| Ryerson | 0-12 | Terry Haggerty | Guelph | 1-11 | Tim Darling | ||||
Playoff non-qualifiers:
Laurentian Voyageurs: Lloyd Pollard, Scott Horrobin, Danny Hamilton, Derrick Des Vignes, Mike Albert, Paul Falco, Marcel Langlois, Rod Gilpin, Eric Johns, Mark Adlam, Rob Gillespie, John Campbell, Dave Gomes, coach Peter Campbell, assistant Angelo Mazzuchin, assistant Rod McHugh
Queen’s Golden Gaels: Mike Scotten, James Reynolds, Bob Budgell, Doug Laughton, Mark Alessio, Kevin Lowe, Pat McDonald, Mike Burleigh, Jeff Laughton, Marty Corcoran, Mike Boydell, Tom Cavanagh, Peter Panopoulos, Niels Henriksen; coach Barry Smith, assistant John Sutton
Ryerson Rams: Tracy Cline, Lawrence Fisher, Tad Karpis, Robert Pryce, Steve Rigato, Ted Rowe, Andrew Taylor, Doug Terrelonge, Jamie Voskuil, Mike Woud, Tony Catic, Kevin St. Kitts, Rob Sysak, coach Terry Haggerty, assistant Brad Riley, assistant Steve Arlauskas, assistant Vytas Gataveckas
In the East semis, 2nd-seeded Carleton defeated 3rd-seeded Ottawa 63-58. After a lax first half, the Ravens took control. The Ravens 6-9 centre Peter Ruiter led all scorers with 21 points and controlled the offensive boards. “We used a combination of defences in the second half and it seemed to confuse them,” coach Paul Armstrong told the Ottawa Citizen. “The first half was rather emotional and sloppy. But we were able to do a better job of getting the ball to our big man – rookie Peter Ruiter, a St. Pius X grad – in the second half.” The Ravens avenged two regular season losses to the Gee-Gees. The Ravens, self-described as “no names” because none had been chosen to the all-star team, trailed 29-16 at the half. “We used nine players,” said Armstrong, “and they all played key roles. Ottawa did a job stopping Stephan Barton – he was good on two of 10. But Roger Piovesan came off the bench and got nine big points for us.” Ruiter also nabbed 9 boards. Alex Overwijk scored 16 and nabbed 6 boards. Rohan McLean led the Gee-Gees with 13. Arthur Kirkwood added 12. “It didn’t end the way I hoped it would,” Gee-Gees coach John Restivo. “But Carleton deserves full credit for the victory. They wanted it more than we did and played accordingly. I hope they will represent our conference in the nationals, they deserve it.” “Preparation, concentration, was the key,” Armstrong told the Charlatan. “It was Alex (Overwijk) that kept us in the first half.” The Gee-Gees (coached by John Restivo, assisted by Brian Stone) also included Chuck Klassen, Paul Burnett, Claude Heath, David DeAveiro, Greg White, Pierre Moise, Andrew Arthurs, Billy Vourtzoumis, Brian Hatchell, Bill Arden, Vic Giacomelli and John Oberthier.
In the other East semi, top-seeded Toronto defeated 4th-seeded York 69-63. York came out fast on the attack and opened up a 21-11 lead before Toronto was forced to call a timeout. York’s OUAA first-team all-star Jeff McDermid led the early assault with 14 points. Blues could not break the tenacious York defence as Yeomen took a nine-point lead at the half 45-36. But the Blues rode a 9-0 run to knot the score at 45. York rebuilt a 61-54 lead but Toronto responded with a 10-0 run. Blues guard Fred Murrell said his team just “came out flat” in the first few minutes. “We hung tough in the second-half after they (York) jumped us,” he said. After halftime, the Blues were led by veteran guard and player of the game Nick Saul, who iced the game with a late three-point basket to put the Blues ahead to stay. Saul said confidence brought the Blues back from oblivion. “We were lethargic in the first half,” he said, “and after the break we decided to relax and play ball.” York coach Bob Bain, visibly upset after the game, said his team had too many second-half breakdowns. “We didn’t pull our weight when we had the ball.” Jeff McDermid led York with 20. “We had a great first half,” he said, “Toronto is just a very good team.” Fred Murrell paced Toronto with 24. The Yeomen held the lead for 38 minutes. Blues coach Gibb Chapman told The Excalibur that “in the frist half they used their speed against our size.” But the Blues shut down Jeff McDermid in the second half. York hit 26-45 from the floor. The Yeomen (coached by Bob Bain, assisted by Mike Quigley and Mike Foster) also included Mike Sherwood, Lance Winn, Stafford Lowe, James Kritz, Steve Szagala, George Brown, Rick Scragg, Sean Figuera, Sean Loucks, Jeff Krupski and Mark Piazza.
In the East final, 2nd-seeded Carleton knocked-off the top-seeded Blues on their home court 73-57. The Ravens had no one selected to either the first or second team all-star squad and prided themselves as being “no names.” Before the game, assistant coach John Scobie asked the players and coaches to don plastic grocery bags with their numbers written on them, to take a team photo. “We were a team with no all-stars,” said Ravens captain Alex Overwijk told the Ottawa Citizen. “But we were a team with no recognition, and coach Scobie was trying to get that across to us. It was pretty strange, but it turned out to be a big motivational thing for us. It kept our heads in it.” Coach Paul Armstrong added that “the Toronto media really seemed to favor the Varsity Blues. They were calling our win over University of Ottawa an upset and we finished ahead of the Gee-Gees in the final standings. John’s idea with the bags was to rally the troops together and show we are a team and we don’t need all-stars.” Armstrong added that winning the crown “certainly makes up a little for not doing it as a player. … We came into this season not really sure how it would turn out.” Overwijk noted that midway through the season, there was considerable disaffection on the team because the focus was so squarely on rookie big man Peter Ruiter. “A few of the guys were upset that (Ruiter) was getting all the action. I went to (Armstrong) and said I thought it should be whoever was open taking the shot.” Rookie forward Wayne Ferguson was inserted into the lineup, giving the Ravens three novices up front, along with Ruiter and Woodroffe grad Paul Draper, while the offence was opened up. “John (Scobie) also put in some new combinations and the players really got into it. It was our defence down the stretch that did it,” Armstrong said. The Blues dominated early. “We knew we had to out-rebound them but, they were getting second and third shots,” Armstrong said. When Ruiter got into foul trouble, Armstrong sent in Pat Istead and Mike McInrue. McInrue had a game-high 12 rebounds and he and Istead combined for 17 points. The Ravens, who hit 21 of 30 free throws, led 36-34 at half-time. “John did an excellent job of calling the defence. We put a good zone on them. We were able to hold Fred Murrell to 18 points and he had to fight to get them,” Armstrong said. Carleton led by 12 with 10 minutes to play. “Paul Draper, who hadn’t shot well, hit a couple of jumpers and some tough shots. That’s when they really started coming after us. At the five-minute mark, they really tightened up the defence but, at that point, I thought we had the game in hand,” Armstrong added. The Blues had difficulty containing Carleton’s perimeter attack. Ravens guard Roger Poivesan told Canadian Press “we had a lot of confidence toward the end of the game and we shut down Murrell (Blues guard Fred) when we had to.” Poivesan led the Ravens with 20. Blues coach Gib Chapman felt his team “panicked” toward the end of the game. “We put up a lot of panicking shots and it didn’t help us,” he said. Carleton switched to different defences and that hurt our inside game.” Toronto star forwards Mark Harvey and Mike Forestell were not a factor in the latter part of the game. Forestell fouled out, while Harvey finished the game with only four points. Blues guard Nick Saul, who scored 21, was in shock. “I guess we just lost our concentration. But you have to give Carleton a lot of credit for playing an excellent basketball game.” Harvey said his team “just wasn’t there today. Carleton played great collapsing defence on us and we just got outplayed. Carleton deserved to win.” Armstrong said his Ravens intensity in the second half was the difference. “Our defence in the second half was tremendous. We shut their inside game off.” Toronto coach Gib Chapman told the Varsity that “we went to about five different sets in the second half but we just couldn’t find anything that was working. … “We’ve been skirting the bullet all year. Tonight, it finally hit us.” Roger Piovesan paced the Ravens with 20, including four treys. Alex Overwijk added 12. “After the first 10 minutes, we started taking control of the boards and then we gained our confidence,” Ravens coach Paul Armstrong told the Charlatan. Armstrong said the play of rookie centre Peter Ruiter and forwards Mike McInrue and Pat Istead played their best games of the season. McInrue scored 8 and nabbed 12 boards. Istead scored 9 and nabbed 4 boards. “At the start of the season, we said we wanted to be in an OUAA East final with a chance to win at half time,” Armstrong said. “The guys were really low key. … quietly confident. … Their game plan relied on (Fred) Murrell too much, and we forced him to shoot.” The Ravens built a 12-point lead and coasted.
In the West quarterfinals, the 2nd-seeded Western Mustangs defeated the 7th-seeded Guelph Gryphons 82-56. The Gryphons (coached by Tim Darling, assisted by Gary Bologh, manager Ian Gower, trainer Colin Sim) included Ray Darling, Tim Sprung, Pat Sullivan, Ben Birstonas, Sean Kelly, Preston Jickling, Darrin Laurin, Mark Holland, Sean Taras, Terry Upshaw, Dave DeForge, Michael Henahan and Sergio Bolzon.
The 3rd-seeded Windsor Lancers defeated the 6th-seeded McMaster Marauders 88-86. The Lancers led by 10 with three minutes to play but a pair of Marauder treys and a Windsor turnover made it a one-point game with a second remaining. Scott Thomas hit one free as insurance. “I think it’s a conspiracy to make coaches grow old this year,” said Windsor coach Paul Thomas. “We haven’t had an easy game all year long. We sure make them interesting, every darn game.” Lancer forward Ken Schweitzer noted that ‘we haven’t had one game where we could coast. We’ve never won one early. It’s like we get on a streak where everything goes right and then we go and do some stupid stuff. It’s been like that all year.” Lancers Henry Valentini and Andre Morassutti both fouled out early in the second half, putting Schweitzer on the spot to rebound with the Marauders. “I knew (Brian Makaric) and I had to stay in the game for the final seven minutes,” said Schweitzer. ‘I was emotionally drained at the half. I was really going nuts there in the first half. When the second started, I felt dizzy and my legs felt weak.” Schweitzer had grabbed 9 of his 14 boards in the first half, after which Windsor led 48-39. Jeff Nekkers scored 15 for Windsor. Carlo Boniferro added 15 and Matt St. Louis 12. Dave Bayfield led McMaster with 18 points and 11 boards. The Marauders (coached by Barry Phillips, assisted by Frank Lostracco and Ernie Romain) also included Rupert Wilson, Ed Madronish, Randy Hillmer, Chris Trendall, Craig Muir, Perry Bruzzese, Mike Preocanin, Gord Leenders, James Richmond, Rob Cherubin, John Trivieri, Marty Lachance and Glen Gosse.
In the last West quarterfinal, the 4th-seeded Brock Badgers thumped the 5th-seeded Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 109-79 after leading 57-40 at the half. The Badgers dominated the offensive glass and notched a host of putback buckets. The Hawks were undone when Mike Alessio and Tony Marcotullio fouled out. Willoughby paced the Badgers with 21. Moore added 18, Grace 17, Kaija 16, Gilbert 14, Capretta 6, Karachi 6, Girdler 6, Burnett 3 and Adams 2. Kelly Grace told the St. Catharines Standard that “we had a hard time with them earlier in the season (a three-point loss). But we had the confidence knew we could win tonight if we came out playing tough, especially the first few minutes. Then their big shooter got in foul trouble early and once we get them out of the game, away it went.” Badgers coach Garney Henley said “I didn’t expect such a blowout but I was secretly hoping for one. I thought if we could maintain an eight or nine-point lead, we’d be okay. Everybody played extremely well. Offensively, I think we played the best of the season. And defensively, we simply outplayed them. We have the talent and we knew it was a matter of being patient.” Brock led 57-40 at the half and hit 47-75 from the floor and 14-21 from the line. Laurier hit 30-90 from the floor and 12-18 from the line. Marcotullio led the Hawks with 19. Mike Alessio added 13, Brian Demaree 12, Ron Moravek 10, Lorenzo Segato 7, Dave Kleusken 5, Linus Azubalis 5, Paul Desantis 4 and M Demaree 4. Hawks coach Chris Coulthard said “what can I say? They beat the tar out of us. We broke down. Defensively, we did absolutely nothing and we had far too many fouls. The guys just didn’t execute well.” Coulthard told The Cord that “offensively we scored our first six times down the floor. Defensively we were a bust.” The Golden Hawks (coached by Chris Coulthard, assisted by Pat Langdon) also included Randy Fehr, Ray Tone, John Bosco, Rob Galikowski, Steve McDonald, Paul Phillipson, Todd Smith, Randy Sweers, Eric Yeo and Gary Lankowski.
In the West semis, 2nd-seeded Western defeated 3rd-seeded Windsor 117-97 after hitting a phenomenal 50 of 60 free throws. John Stiefelmeyer led the Mustangs with 33, along with 14 boards. Terry Thomson added 21 and Dave Omerod 19. “When we go to the line a lot, we do all right,” said Western coach Doug Hayes. The Mustangs hit 31 free throws in the first half. The Lancers had beaten the Mustangs twice in regular season play but couldn’t overcome the free throw parade. “What happens with us is that we lose games. Teams don’t beat us,” said Lancer star Matt St. Louis, who scored 36. “We beat ourselves. When a team that many points without the clock running, it’s the worst kind. It’s our own fault for putting the game into the referees’ hands. They’ve got to call the fouls and we made it possible for them to do it.” Windsor coach Paul Thomas said his Lancers wanted to be aggressive. “We wanted to come out and play a normal Windsor kind of game, a lot of running, a lot of defence. Try to get them to make their game from the 10-second line.” Scott Thomas, scored three while fouling out. “I’ve never had something like that happen to me in my whole life, since I started playing basketball at the age of three.” The Lancers hit 31-37 free throws and led 58-47 at the half. Asked why his team didn’t back off from its aggressive style, Thomas said ‘it’s a playoff. Losers don’t get to go anywhere. An aggressive style is the only way to play, the only way I want to play. I’m not used to laying back. I don’t like to back down to anybody. I don’t want to back down to anybody. Maybe, inexperience, in that way, hurt me.” The Lancers (coached by Paul Thomas, assisted by Nick Grabowski and Wayne Curtin) also included Carlo Boniferro, Scott Thomas, Jeff Nekkers, Henry Valentini, Andre Morassutti, Brian Makaric, Ken Schweitzer, Theo Tsaparilis, Mike Stockwell, J.C. Mahler, Chris Daly and Kim Elliott.
In the other West semi, top-seeded Waterloo defeated 4th-seeded Brock 79-73 in overtime. Frank Carpretta gave the Badgers a 62-60 lead with 48 seconds to play. Tom Schnieder missed a trey for the Warriors. Badger Kevin Moore missed the front end of a one-and one. Jerry Nolfi gave Waterloo a 63-62 lead by draining a trey and Rob Froese added a pair of free throws. But Mark Gilbert hit a 40-foot prayer that banked in at the buzzer to force overtime. Rob Froese hit a jumper to make it 73-71 Waterloo with less than two minutes to play. With Waterloo leading 75-73 with nine seconds on the clock, Brock coach Garney Henley called a timeout, which he didn’t have. Brock was nailed with a technical and Froese hit both free throws to ice the win. “We’re protesting this game,” a distraught Henley told the Imprint. “I asked the scorekeeper how many timeouts we had left and she said ‘one’. Now she’s denying she said it, but I told convener Rich Newbrough we’re protesting. But I suppose nothing will be done now. … We’re really disappointed. We played well enough to win, it’s just one of those things you hate to see happen.” As for Gilbert’s prayer, Henley noted that “you always hope for a little momentum, but turnovers hurt us in overtime.” Warriors coach Don McCrae told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record that “it was a game of mistakes and they made more than we did. We suggested that we not put the ball in the middle of their zone defence but we continued to do that and the turnovers kept mounting.” Froese finished with 26. Tom Schneider added 19 and Jamie McNeill 10, along with 12 boards. The Warriors outrebounded the Badgers 48-33. Frank Capretta paced Brock with 17. Kevin Moore added 16, Mark Gilbert 14, Morley Willoughby 10 and Kelly Grace 10. The Badgers (coached by Henley, assisted by Bill Goodwin and Vito DiMartino) also included Bruce Girdler, Ken Karachi, Peter Kaija, Bruce Adams, Calvin Burnett, Steve Kolenko, Kevin Stevenson, Ed Vezsenyi, Benny Grant, Rob MacRae and Derrick Smikle.
In the West final, 2nd-seeded Western defeated top-seeded Waterloo 74-59 as John Stiefelmeyer scored 27, including 13-14 from the line. The Mustangs notched 39 free throws. Western coach Doug Hayes told the Imprint “that was a crazy game.” Warriors coach Don McCrae told the Imprint that “we were gassed” after an overtime semi. “It showed in the effort areas. A lot of times we couldn’t finish off our plays. It was a combination of their great defence and our thin edge of reserve.” John Stiefelmeyer led the Mustangs with 28 points and 7 boards. Thomson added 14 and Jeff Petter 10. Rob Froese led the Warriors with 16. Jamie McNeill added 13, John Bileway 9 and Tom Schneider 2. “They did a great job on our big three players – they took them down a couple of notches,” said McCrae. Mustangs coach Barry Hayes said “we played great on offence and defence, we wanted to get Froese, Schneider and McNeil1 out of control.” Western led 39-32 at the half and extended the margin to 53-36 five minutes into the third quarter. Waterloo briefly rallied with a 12-3 run to draw within six but Stiefelmeyer pilfered the ball for a runout slam that stifled all hopes of a Warrior rallied. Hayes noted that “there’s a certain stigma” involved in playing before a boisterous Waterloo crowd. In fact, if you ask the guys, they were excited about playing here. Our overtime win here two weeks ago was a confidence builder.” Western outrebounded Waterloo 32-19.
In the Wilson Cup final, Western defeated Carleton 77-71 as John Steifelmeyer scored 28 and Terry Thomson 15. “We
played a good game, they just played a little bit better,” Ravens forward Paul Draper told the Charlatan. Peter Ruiter and Roger Piovesan each scored 14 to pace Carleton. Draper scored 12 and blocked 4 shots. Alex Overwijk notched 7. Carleton outrebounded Western 29-17, with Ruiter nabbing 10 boards. Ravens coach Paul Armstrong said his troops appeared nervous and tentative. The Mustangs built an 8-point lead before a late 4-0 run drew Carleton with 37-33 at the half. Western opened with an 8-0 run in the second half and never again trailed. Carleton rallied within one with a minute to play but a turnover ignited a decisive 5-0 Western run. “We forced them to take some tough shots and they made them,” Armstrong said. The Mustangs also hit 27-30 from the line.
After the season, John Dore assumes the reins at Concordia.
Following the season, U.Q.T.R. announces that it is dropping out of the CIAU. McGill, Concordia, Bishop’s are given privileges in the OUAA East. The OUA east division will divide into two divisions, a central one including Laurentian, Queens, Ryerson, Toronto and York, as well as an east division, including Bishop’s, Carleton, Concordia, McGill and Ottawa.
The co-bronze medalist Toronto Varsity Blues: Art Sharp; Fred Murrell; Nick Saul; Ranald Davidson; Graham Reside; Rob Wilson; Paul Haddock; Paul Campbell; John Nardini; Peter Nkansah; Mike Forestell; Mark Harvey; Mario Tenentes; Aaron Detlor; Linas Balaisis; coach Gib Chapman; assistant Harvey Singleton; assistant John Robb
The co-bronze medalist Waterloo Warriors: Rob Froese; Jamie McNeill; John Bileway; Tom Schneider; Dennis Byrne; Pat Telford; David Rosebush; Jerry Nolfi; Jeremy Moore; Peter Sawchuk; John Clark; Chris Troyak; Don Meace; Paul Doucet; coach Don McCrae; assistant Mike Kilpatrick
The runner-up Carleton Ravens: Peter Ruiter; Alex Overwijk; Stephen Barton; Roger Piovesan; Paul Draper; Mike McInrue; Wayne Ferguson; Larry Elliott; Pat Istead; Brian Major; Dave Fralick; Paul Chaplin; coach Paul Armstrong; assistant Andy Cheam; assistant John Scobie; assistant Hugh Reid; trainer Dan Labanowich; athletic director Keith Harris
The champion Western Mustangs: John Stiefelmeyer; Terry Thomson; Brian Does; James Green; Jeff Petter; Kyle Rysdale; John Giles; Dave Omerod; Mario Tarantino; John Pensa; Rob McAleer; Alex Kapassouris; John Giles; Ed Spera; coach Doug Hayes; assistant Craig Boydell; assistant Dan Rajnovich; trainer Karen Johnson; manager Kevin Condon; manager Darlene Seguin