ONAWAY — The Onaway boys basketball team picked up an important win before heading into the holiday break.

After trailing by six at the half, the Cardinals stormed back to take a lead and hold onto it in the late stages of the second half as they defeated Forest Area on Thursday by a final score of 70-61.

“Our defense in the second half really stepped up and played well. We did a great job on the boards and moved the ball around well offensively, Onaway head coach Eddy Szymoniak said. “It was a total team effort. Our guys played phenomenal and they are really starting to step up.”

Onaway was able to win without its senior star Trevor Wregglesworth who suffered a knee injury last week against Rogers City. The team hopes to get Wregglesworth back after the break, but his status is still up in the air.

The Cardinals were led by Keli Russell who scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Lucas Tollini recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Kevin Pearson finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Cody Neelis chipped in with 14 points.

Onaway improves to 2-2 overall on the year and will return to action on January 5, when they host Gaylord St. Mary.

Tawas 51, Oscoda 50

TAWAS — The Tawas and Oscoda boys basketball team played a thriller on Thursday night, but it was the Braves who came away with a one point victory.

The contest was close the entire night, with the largest lead coming in the fourth quarter when Tawas held an eight point lead.

Both teams had players put on strong display of getting the ball in the basket as the Braves Owen Irvin and Oscoda’s Grant Huebel combined for 46 total points on the night and scored nearly half of their teams points.

The Braves were led by Irvin who scored a game high 24 points.

Oscoda was led by Huebel who scored 22 points in the loss for the Owls.

Tawas moves to 2-4 overall the season and will be back in action on January 9, when they travel to Alpena.