Semi-final matchups have been determined after teams concluded the round robin portion of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association playdowns in Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday.
The Soo Bantam Greyhounds were the first team to be crowned NOHA champions after the locals defeated the Sudbury Wolves 6-0 on Saturday afternoon to the win the best-of-five AAA Bantam Minor championship series 3-0.
In Midget AA action, a pair of local teams have secured Sunday morning playoff berths and will attempt to advance into Sunday afternoon's championship game.
The Littner's Park Lions have advanced into one semi-final against the Sudbury Lakers at 10 a.m. at the Rankin Arena. After dropping their opening game on Friday, the Lions scored a 7-3 win over West Nippissing and a 2-1 win over Hearst to grab a playoff position.
Soo Toyota advanced into the other semi-final against Sudbury Rhythm N' Cues at 10 a.m. at Memorial Gardens. After opening with a win on Friday, Toyota blanked West Ferris 7-0 before falling 4-1 to the Sudbury Lakers.
In Bantam AA, the S&T Lightning and Blueliners Blackhawks have advanced into the semi-finals after S&T won both their games on Saturday and Blueliners split a pair.
S&T meets West Nippissing at 8 a.m. at the Rankin while Blueliners meets Sudbury Rhythm N' Cues at 8 a.m. at the Gardens.
In Bantam BB, no local teams qualified for the semi-final round. Cochrane will meet Wawa at 8 a.m. at the John Rhodes Community Centre while Englehart faces West Ferris at 8 a.m. at the McMeeken Centre.
The Bantam AA championship begins at 1 p.m. at the Gardens while the Midget AA championship follows at 3:00 p.m. The Bantam BB final is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Rhodes.
*** The following is a complete list of results with local scorers from Saturday's action at the NOHA playdowns:
AAA BANTAM MINOR:
Soo Greyhounds 6 (Mike Rivard 3, Laurie Gieni, Jarrett Burton, Zachary Larue; shutout - Justin Hogsden) Sudbury Wolves 0
AA MIDGET:
Sudbury Lakers 9 Root River 3 (Jake Rebellato, Steve Luxton, Mark Thorburn)
Littner's Park 7 (Derek Coccimiglio 2, Stephane Bouliane 2, Adam Nelli, Matt Conway, Anthony Silvano) West Nippissing 3
Soo Toyota 7 (Stephen Stadnik 2, Zac McNally, Matthew Naccarato, Stephen Nelli, Matt Irving, James Borrelli) West Ferris 0
Hearst 4 Sudbury Rhythm N' Cues 3
Littner's Park 2 (Anthony Silvano, Jake Reid) Hearst 1
Root River 6 (Gordie Gamble 2, Mark Thorburn, Dan Esson, Graham Dalseg, Luke Ruicci) West Ferris 0
Sudbury Rhythm N' Cues 6 West Nippissing 2
Sudbury Lakers 4 Soo Toyota 1 (Zac McNally)
AA BANTAM:
Blueliners 4 (Tommy Swystun, Matt LaFleur, Michael Esson, John Nolan) Sudbury Lockerby 1
S&T Lightning 3 (Elvis Ruck, Thomas Ross, Kyle Berry) West Ferris 1
West Nippissing 5 Pino's Titans 1 (Ricky MacDonald)
Sudbury Rhythm N' Cues 8 Timmins 2
Pino's 3 (Bronson Kovacs, Anthony Positano, Ryan Rosset) Sudbury Lockerby 1
S&T Lightning 5 (Christopher Hales 2, Jordan Grelowski, Jacob Vachon, Reg Peer) Timmins 2
West Nippissing 2 Blueliners 1 (John Nolan)
Sudbury Rhythm N' Cues 5 West Ferris 1
BANTAM BB:
Wawa 4 Blind River 4
Avery Construction 4 (Cory Lee Wensley, Tyler Carter, Chris Mazi, John Vanderheyden) Sturgeon Falls 2
Cochrane 6 West Ferris Big Brother 3
Earlton 5 West Ferris Dollar's 1
Earlton 4 Wawa 1
Cochrane 9 Sturgeon Falls 1
West Ferris Big Brother 6 Varcoe's Pub & Grub 2 (Trent Boissoneau 2)
Buck or Two 6 (Chris Spring 3, Ryan Miket, Robert Riddell, Jordan Wardlaw) West Ferris Dollar's 0