The Bawating Braves continued where they left off and rallied to win their opening game at the Northern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (NOSSA) AA playdowns.
The Braves, fresh off a boys' senior division basketball championship victory last Saturday over the St. Basil Saints, came back from an eight point half time deficit to defeat North Bay's West Ferris Trojans 52-48 on Friday afternoon at Central Algoma Secondary School (CASS) in Desbarats.
Meanwhile, the junior division's Sir James Dunn Eagles dropped their opening game to West Ferris 55-47.
In the senior tilt, Bawating rallied in the third quarter by outscoring the Trojans 19-10 to take a one point lead heading into the final quarter.
D.J. Wright led the Braves with 20 points while Craig Nielson added 13. Kevin Turner led West Ferris with 16 points and John Gore added 12.
In the other senior contest, Sudbury Lockerby edged the host CASS Huskies 36-34 with a buzzer beating shot to end the game.
Andrew Miron led the Huskies with 16 points while David Hoover added 11. Bryan Davidson paced the Vikings with nine points while Greg Ross and Brent Knight added seven each.
In junior, Phil Dampier led West Ferris to victory with a 12 point effort. Mike Grant paced the Eagles with 15 points.
In the other game, Lockerby defeated CASS 57-30 as Pat Fleming led the Sudbury entry with 17 points. Jeremy Hodgson led the Huskies with 20 points.
Action continues on Saturday in senior with West Ferris meeting CASS at 10:30 a.m. and Lockerby facing Bawating at 1:30 p.m. A Bawating win would vault the team directly into the championship game at 7:30 p.m.
In junior, Sir James Dunn battles CASS at 9 a.m., with the loser to be eliminated, followed by Lockerby and West Ferris at noon. The junior championship is slated for 6 p.m.