Evan Woodland scored five-straight points in the dying moments of Sunday’s final to help the La Place Rendez-Vous men’s basketball team take the title at its annual six-team tournament here.
Down 59-57 to the Winnipeg Cyclones with just over a minute to go, the former Muskie cashed in on a two-point basket and then made a three-pointer with 15 seconds left to seal the victory.
“Our defence just covered them nicely,” said tourney organizer Paul Noonan, who chipped in with 11 points. “It was neck-and-neck all the way.
“About 10-12 lead changes between the two teams in all.”
Woodland led the “Vous” attack with 17 points, followed by John Sivonen’s 14. The pair also led the team in points-per-game averages.
Mike Schween scored a game-high 18 for Winnipeg.
The Vous went 3-0 on the weekend, beating Kenora 68-54 and Taggs (substituting for Team Albert of Winnipeg, who couldn’t make it) 81-71 in pool play before squaring off against the Cyclones.
Jam 21, the defending champs, failed to win a game, losing 82-59 to the Cyclones, 72-40 to Sioux Lookout, and then 69-64 to Taggs (who finished 1-2 overall) in the consolation final.
Jam’s Terry LaBelle netted 13 points per game to pace his team while Kevin Gemmell spearheaded Taggs’ attack with an 18 point average in the two games he played.
Kenora beat Sioux Lookout in the battle for third-place by an 84-71 margin. Kenora’s Reg McDonald averaged 24 points a game to lead all scorers over the weekend.
After 22 years, Noonan said the tourney has grown nicely since early days.
“It started out as a social thing but it’s gotten a lot more competitive over the years.”
In related news, Taggs won the recently-completed local Monday night four-team men’s league.