In the quarterfinals, held in Fredericton, the top-seeded Fredericton Black Kats stomped the 8th-seeded Moncton Purple Knights 85-39 as Staples scored 17, Walker 16, Banks 14, Carty 10, Macdonald 9, White 7, Newell 6, Young 4 and Jarratt 2. Walker told the Fredericton Daily Gleaner that “what we had to do initially was to fastbreak them. Our attack stems from our break and after we got it, everything began to roll from there. … We had a good offensive game and kept the ball away from them. We were concentrating on blocking out our man and rebounding and that helped us a lot.” Greg MacDonald led the Purple Knights with 14. Neil Smith added 12, Brent Smith 4, Time Lekas 3, Mike Conner 2, Hugh Hicks 2 and Larry McDonald 2, while Randy Wood and Colin McLeod were scoreless.
The 2nd-seeded Saint John Greyhounds clubbed the 7th-seeded Moncton Harrison Trimble Trojans 78-48 as Currie scored 18, McMaster 12, Scott 12, Nowlan 10, Alan Swagerman 10, Kean 8, Angevine 4 and Houser 4. The Greyhounds led 42-19 at the half. Lorne Steeves paced the Trojans with 11, Jeff Clark 11, Mike Campbell 10, Mike Dupuis 8, Ed McNally 4, Mark Arsenault 2 and Peter Stevenson 2, while Charlie Taylor, Danny Forbes and Harold Grant were scoreless.
The 3rd-seeded Miramichi James M. Hill Crusaders dispatched the 6th-seeded Saint John Milledgeville North Stars 70-55 as R Corlett scored 22, Wilt 11, J Corlett 12, Frazier 9 and Kerr 5. Paul Zacharuk led Stars with 18. Kendall Parker added 18, Treffery Simpson 8, Keith Estey 6, Ron Hector 3 and Brian Coatman 2. The Stars also included Mark Chase.
In the last quarterfinal, the 4th-seeded Quispamsis Kennebecasis Valley Crusaders whipped the 5th-seeded Oromocto Blues 88-42 as Thorne scored 22, Vaughan 22, Armstrong 14, Langevin 14, Hebert 4, Brisebois 2, Maddocks 2 and Merritt 2. Joey Randall led the Blues with 14. Peter Austin added 10, Pat Clements 6, Mark Kilbride 4, John Poole 4 and Jim Wilson 4.
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded Saint John Greyjounds nipped the 3rd-seeded Miramichi James M. Hill Tommies 60-59 as Al Sagerman notched a putback off a Scott miss after a jump ball with five seconds to play. Scott led the Greyhounds with 28. Currie added 12, Nowlan 12, Kean 6 and Swaggerman 2. Greyhounds coach Dave MacPherson told the Fredericton Daily Gleaner that “we went flat. We had control for most of the first half and started off the second half in control. Then we lost it. … We missed four uncontested layups. And we had five other layups that should have been made. … It worked out. Sometimes we forgot about the guys they had inside and got burned for a few points. But we wanted to play Wilt and Corlett close … keep the pressure on them. … (Scott) maintained his cool and discipline when their guys would give him a hit. We couldn’t afford to lose him and he responded well.” The Greyhounds led 36-26 at the half and hit 14-15 from the line. Corlett led the Tommies with 19. Wilt added 18, Frazier 8, Kerr 8, J Corlett 4 and Langillie 2.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Fredericton Black Kats crushed the 4th-seeded Quispamsis Kennebecasis Valley Crusaders 72-49 as Walker scored 19, Banks 16, Staples 12, Adair 8, White 7, Young 6 and Carty 4. Black Kats coach Greg Gould told the Fredericton Daily Gleaner that “the game couldn’t have worked out any better for us. We wanted to press them in the early going and stay out of foul trouble. We weren’t concerned with stealing the gall … they weren’t rebounding that well for a big team. We were taking a shot and then crashing the boards, setting up second and third shots. … They didn’t have the depth we do and it showed tonight. … Tony Walker had perhaps his best defensive game ever. He played a very strong game for us.” Vaughan led the Crusaders with 16. Thorne added 12, Britten 6, Armstrong 4, Brisbois 4, Stewart 2, Hebert 2 and Miller 2.
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded Quispamsis Kennebecasis Valley Crusaders dispatched the 3rd-seeded Miramichi James M. Hill Tommies 77-67 as Vaughan scored 27, Langevin 16, Armstrong 10, Hebert 4, Brisbois 4, Miller 3, Maddocks 3 and Stuart 2. Rob Corlett led the Tommies with 26. Frank Wilt added 14, Josh Corlett 13, Alan Kerr 8, Jim Langillie 4 and Paul Frazier (Fraser?) 2. The Tommies (coach Peter Corby) also included Brian Coatman.
In the final, the top-seeded Fredericton Black Kats defeated the 2nd-seeded Saint John Greyhounds 69-59 as Walker scored 17, Banks 16, White 13, Adair 9, Young 8, Staples 4 and Carty 2. The Black Kats led 32-28 at the half and hit 13-23 from the line. Black Kats co0coach Rick Cotter told the Fredericton Daily Gleaner that “we like to run the ball. But Saint John High is good at defending against it because they play the same type of game and realize the importance of getting back fast. … Jamie Young did a super job for us today. We were passing the ball around too much and not shooting enough. Then Jamie came in, hit four or five shots form outside, where he loves to shoot from and opened up the inside for us. … With the exception of no one, these guys all played the best baskeball I’ve ever seen them play. They all wanted to win badly and they went out and did it. … We got in some foul trouble of our owns but guys like Terry Adair, young and Staples came off the bench and did a super job for us. When we picked this team at the first of the year, we thought our bench would be a vital part of how we made out. They didn’t disappoint us.” Co-coach Greg Gould added that “we couldn’t stop them with the press and we had to finally go to a 1-2-2 zone. Offensively, we tried to go inside in the first half and the room wasn’t there. So we started shooting outside, which later enabled us to go back inside.” Scott led the Greyhounds with 16. Nowlan added 14, Kean 12, Currie 11, McMaster 4 and Howser 2. The Greyhounds hit 13-21 from the line. Greyhounds coach David McPherson said “we weren’t getting the second chances. They were. That may have made the difference in the game. …. (Black Kat Carty) is a true captain. He’s a workhorse that does all the little things that have to be done: sets the picks, blocks out and whatever. He’s a credit to this coaches and to his team.”
The all-province selections were: Tony Walker (Fredericton); Wally Banks (Fredericton); Robbie Corlett (James M. Hill); Kenny Scott (Saint John); and Paul Vaughan (Kennebecasis)
The bronze medalist Quispamsis Kennebecasis Valley Crusaders: Greg Thorne; Paul Vaughan; Dwayne Armstrong; Tim Langevin; Greg Stuart; Mark Hebert; John Brisebois; Kirk Miller; Jon Maddocks; Brian Merritt; Ian Britten;
The silver medalist Saint John Greyhounds: Ken Scott; Peter Nowlan; John Currie; John McMaster; Alan Swagerman; Peter McMaster; Glen Smith; Jim Raymond; Scott Kean; Dave Angevine; Richard Houser; coach Dave MacPherson
The champion Fredericton Black Kats: Tony Walker; Wally Banks; Kevin White; David Staples; Brian Carty; Jamie Young; Terry Adair; Bill Jarratt; Mark Newell; Steve MacDonald; Andy Hayward; coach Greg Gould; coach Rick Cotter; assistant Luigi Florean; manager Terry Shannon; stats Karen Brewer