The St. Basil bid for a championship started on a positive note Friday as the junior Saints cruised to victory on home court.
Backed by Laura DiDonato's 10 points and Kristy Aloe's eight, the Saints rolled past North Bay's Scollard Hall 46-29 on the opening day of competition at the Northern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (NOSSA) AAA Girls Basketball Championships at St. Basil.
Melanie Saword with 10 points and Sarah Tancredi with nine replied for Scollard Hall.
After the opening day of action, the teams have been reseeded and now advance in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Three other local teams are participating in the AAA playdowns and dropped their opening games.
In the senior division, Sudbury's LaSalle defeated the Bawating Braves 37-28 as Lisa Furchner led the winners with 16 points and Amanda McDonald added nine. Stephanie Thayer led the Braves with 14 while Christine Thayer added eight.
Scollard Hall beat the St. Mary's Knights 36-23 on the strength of 15 points from Jennifer Abraham and nine from Erin Sallie. Jessica Sicoly and Andrea Palombi led the Knights with seven points apiece.
In the other junior contest, LaSalle defeated the Mount St. Joseph College Royals 43-34. Carley Blaseg led LaSalle with 14 points while Laura Furchner added 12. Kirsty Mancuso led the Royals with 13 and Deanna Buonuomo added nine.
On Saturday, the junior semi-finals begin at 9 a.m. as LaSalle meets Scollard Hall followed by St. Basil and the Mount at 10:30 a.m. The senior semi-finals feature LaSalle and St. Mary's at noon followed by Scollard Hall and Bawating at 1:30 p.m.
The winners will advance to the championship games beginning with the junior final at 5 p.m. and the senior championship at 7 p.m.
*** NOSSA AA:
The St. Mary's Knights junior squad and the St. Basil seniors advance into semi-final play today at the NOSSA AA championships in North Bay on Saturday after each team scored a one-sided victory on Friday.
St. Basil will meet West Ferris in one senior semi-final after the Saints hammered Elliot Lake 61-10 on Friday. Lara Stilin led the Saints with 12 points.
St. Mary's will meet Sudbury's Lo-Ellen Park in one junior semi after the Knights cruised to a 49-13 win over Espanola. Kathleen Thorburn led the St. Mary's attack with 11 points.
Semi-final winners will meet in Saturday night's championship games.