| POOL A | BC | NS | SASK | Record | ||
| Fraser Valley Bullets | —– | 94-85 | 94-82 | (2-0) | ||
| Halifax American Motors | 85-94 | —– | 88-80 | (1-1) | ||
| Saskatoon McDonalds | 82-94 | 80-88 | —– | (0-2) | ||
| POOL B | ALTA | ONT | MAN | |||
| Calgary 88s | —– | 101-93 | 77-86 | (1-1) | ||
| Toronto Estonia | 93-101 | —– | 92-88 | (1-1) | ||
| Winnipeg Nicolett Inn | 86-77 | 88-92 | —– | (1-1) | ||
| Semi | Winnipeg Nicolett Inn 77 Halifax American Motors 75 | |
| Semi | Fraser Valley Bullets 91 Calgary 88s 90 | |
| 5th | Toronto Estonia 117 Saskatoon McDonald’s 83 | |
| Bronze | Halifax American Motors 109 Calgary 88s 104 | |
| Final | Winnipeg Nicolett Inn 99 Fraser Valley Bullets 94 | |
In the Ontario final, Toronto Estonia defeated Windsor Sport Sense 93-77, 73-66 (2g-0). The win gave Estonia its sixth consecutive provincial title. …………………………………………………… In game one, Estonia prevailed 93-77 as Jamie Russell scored 24, Mike Frisby 12 and Marc Dubois 9. Charlie Smith led Windsor with 18. …………………………………………………… In game two, Toronto took the series with a 73-66 win as Jamie Russell scored 12, Mike Frisby 12 and Dave Arsenault 10. Estonia coach Harry Liiv told the Hamilton Spectator that “we played badly. Our shooting was artrocious and we were throwing the ball away.” Windsor arrived with only seven players. “You can’t get mentally up looking at seven players,” Liiv said. Windsor coach Bob Hanson said “If we had our other big guys we’d have beaten them.” Among the missing were Michigan State’s Mike Brkovich, who’d broken an ankle.
At the nationals, in pool A play: …………………………………………………… The Fraser Valley Bullets defeated Halifax American Motors 94-85 as 6-4 Jay Triano scored 51 points, including five points in the final two minutes. Mickey Fox led Halifax with 27. Triano noted “I don’t know that we have an offence. We just keep running. And everybody is happy because everybody plays. …………………………………………………… The Fraser Valley Bullets defeated Saskatoon McDonald’s 94-82 as Jay Triano scored 44. Roger Gaines led Saskatoon with 34 points and 15 rebounds. Dean Faris added 12 points and Guy Vetrie 10. …………………………………………………… Halifax American Motors defeated Saskatoon McDonald’s 88-80 as Varouj Gurunlian scored 26 and Ross Quackenbush 22. Roger Gaines scored 24 for Saskatchewan. The McDonalds also included Wayne Dyck.
In pool B, play, all three teams finished with (1-1) records but Winnipeg and Calgary were awarded semi-final berths by way of points differential in games between the three. …………………………………………………… The Calgary 88s defeated Toronto Estonia 101-93 as Tom Bishop scored 26 and Bob Fagan 21. Wayne Allison led Estonia with 22. …………………………………………………… Winnipeg Nicolett Inn defeated the Calgary 88s 86-77 as Rick Watts scored 22. Winnipeg shot .520 from the floor and had a 29-19 rebound edge. Tom Bishop led Calgary with 33. …………………………………………………… Toronto Estonia defeated Winnipeg Nicolett Inn 92-88 as Mike Frisby scored 29 and David Arsenault 20. Martin Riley led Nicolett Inn with 17, Darryl Rumsey added 17 and Greg Daniels 17.
In the fifth-place playoffs, Toronto Estonia slaughtered Saskatoon McDonald’s 117-83 as Wayne Allison scored 23, while Jamie Russell, Val Pozzan and Pat Brill-Edwards each drilled 14. Estonia (coach Harry Liiv) also included Mike Frisby, Marc Dubois, Dave Arsenault. Saskatoon was led by Dean Faris’ 14 and Roger Ganes’ 14.
In the semis, Winnipeg Nicolett Inn nipped Halifax American Motors 77-75 as Greg Daniels tossed in 23 and Darryl Rumsey 18. Nicolett Inn overcame a 38-35 halftime deficit. Varouj Gurunlian led Halifax with 25. Mickey Fox hit 22.
In the other semi, the Fraser Valley Bullets nipped the Calgary 88s 91-90 as Doug Kelsey hit 34 and Jay Triano 32. Calgary was led by Bob Fagan’s 24 points. Tom Bishop added 23.
In the bronze medal match, defending champion Halifax American Motors was pressed into overtime by Calgary before prevailing 109-104. Bob Oostveen led Halifax with 28, while Mickey Fox added 25. Tom Bishop led Calgary with 30 and Romel Raffin added 18.
In the final, Winnipeg Nicolett Inn edged the Fraser Valley Bullets 99-94. Nicolett Inn took a 50-43 lead and then cruised to their third title in four years. They were led by Rick Watts with 31, Greg Daniels with 24 and Martin Riley with 20. The Bullets were paced by Jay Triano with 34 and Howard Kelsey with 20. Watts later noted that “whenever you play as a team, it seems to demoralize the other team. As soon as they turn their head, it’s someone else. That’s the way we are. Anybody we put on the floor, they can all pass. They can all shoot. They can all play defence. We’re not a team of role players. Believe me, on this team that’s rare (scoring 31). Thirty points is almost unheard of. Even mid-20s. But again, that’s this team. What happens, happens. Because of the height differential and because our guards are so bloody good at analyzing a situation, they went to me.” The team was founded by Rick Watts, his father, Ralph, and basketball supporter Frank Clark in the fall of 1976, joining St. Andrews in the old Winnipeg Super League. Clark brought Nicolett Inn owner John Antoniuk to the table and “Mr. Antoniuk” jumped at the chance to sponsor the team.
The all-tourney team featured: Greg Daniels (Winnipeg Nicolett Inn); Rick Watts (Winnipeg Nicolett Inn); Roger Ganes (Saskatoon Mcdonald’s); Jay Triano (Fraser Valley Bullets); and Tom Bishop (Calgary 88s)
The runner-up Fraser Valley Bullets: Jay Triano; Doug Kelsey; Howard Kelsey;
The champion Winnipeg Nicolett Inn: Greg Daniels; Rick Watts; Darryl Rumsey; Martin Riley; Rick Watts; Terry Burns; Don Maskiw; Brian Rumsey; Grant Watson; Phil Brake; Ben Szymkow; Brian Twomey; coach John Loewen; coach Morris Glimcher; manager and president John Antoniuk; ball boy Mike Antoniuk