HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK: NOSSA set to begin

The high school version of March Madness will be in full swing this weekend with NOSSA basketball and volleyball along with city championship hockey.

In basketball, Central Algoma Secondary School (CASS) in Desbarats, will host the Northern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (NOSSA) AA boys basketball championships beginning Friday.

The local city senior division champion Bawating Braves open the four-team tournament on Friday at 4:30 p.m. against North Bay's West Ferris Trojans in a seeding game. The host CASS Huskies play Sudbury Lockerby at 1:30 p.m.

In junior, the city champion Sir James Dunn Eagles play West Ferris at 3 p.m. while CASS battles Lockerby to open the tournament at noon.

Action continues on Saturday at 9 a.m. with pairings to be determined on the results of Friday's games.

The junior championship game is slated for 6 p.m. while the senior title match tips off at 7:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, regular season champions St. Basil Saints seniors and St. Mary's Knights juniors are at Sudbury's Lasalle high school for the NOSSA AAA playdowns.

The Saints open on Friday against North Bay's St. Joseph-Scollard Hall at 6:45 p.m. while St. Mary's battles North Bay Chippewa at 3:15 p.m. Winners advance in Saturday's championship games.

Other participating teams include Lasalle and Sudbury Secondary in senior along with Lasalle and Sudbury St. Charles.

In midget, the North Shore champion CASS Huskies are in Chelmsford this weekend for the NOSSA single A championships.

*** VOLLEYBALL:

White Pines will be the host venue for the girls NOSSA AA volleyball championships on Saturday.

Four teams in both senior and junior will battle in a round robin format with action beginning at 9 a.m. The top two teams after the round robin advance to the championship games. The junior final begins at 5 p.m. with the seniors to follow at 6:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, both teams from CASS will head to North Bay this weekend to compete in the NOSSA A championships.

The junior Huskies captured the North Shore championship on Wednesday with a 25-19, 25-20 victory over Manitoulin Secondary School.

The senior Huskies will also advance to NOSSA as the North Shore's second seed after falling 25-14, 20-25, 15-11 to Manitoulin in the final.

*** HOCKEY:

The high school hockey city champions and the city's third NOSSA representative will be declared on Sunday night at Memorial Gardens.

The regular season champion St. Mary's Knights will battle the St. Basil Saints in the fifth and deciding game of the best-of-five city championship series beginning at 8 p.m.

St. Basil evened the series at 2-2 on Wednesday night with a 2-0 win as Donnie Bruni recorded the Saints shutout. Jeff Mazzer and Mike Oliveira scored the goals.

Meanwhile, White Pines and Sir James Dunn meet in the fifth and deciding game of their series to determine the city's third representative to NOSSA at 6:30 p.m. White Pines extended the series with a 5-2 win on Wednesday.

The Sault will host the NOSSA AAA championships beginning on Tuesday while Lively is the site for the AA playdowns.

*** WRESTLING:

Sir James Dunn's Dylan Fryia had a golden smile on Wednesday after capturing a gold medal at the Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association (OFSAA) championship meet in Windsor.

Fryia, who will now advance to the junior national championships in two weeks, captured top honours in the 54 kilogram division to mark a golden performance for the second consecutive year.

For a complete list of the top six results, click here.