WAYNE - The postseason for boys High school hoops officially tipped off on Monday night as the Pierce Bluejays and the Battle Creek Braves battled for survival.

The winner of this Class C1-Subdistrict 5 matchup would take on the #1 seed and host, Wayne Blue Devils (19-5) on Tuesday night at 6:00 pm.

Pierce got the game going strong as Keaton Frazier and Brock Collison combined for some big early buckets.

Battle Creek came back quickly with their own run and took a 9-8 lead midway through the first, led by Jaxon Kilmurry and Jaxon Mettler.

The Bluejays battled right back, with Collison and Frazier combining for all of Pierce's 18 points to lead 18-9.

Pierce continued rolling into the second quarter. The defense forced Battle Creek into more turnovers and found buckets on the other end to increase their lead to 32-15 at halftime.

Trailing by 17 points, Battle Creek battled back and cut the deficit to 9 points in the quarter. MJ Wragge picked up steam, scoring 9 points in the quarter to get the Braves back in the action.

Pierce increased their lead back up to 14 to start the fourth quarter, but after a pair of Mettler and Kilmurry steals, the Braves only trailed 40-32.

The Bluejays secured late opportunities at the free throw line to put the game away and escape with a 54-45 win.

Keaton Frazier scored 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead Pierce with the double-double. Brock Collison scored 16 points, including three three-pointers.

Battle Creek had three scorers in double digits with Jaxon Mettler scoring 17, Jaxon Kilmurry with 15 and MJ Wragge with 13.

With the win, the Bluejays are winners of 6 out of their last 8 and advance to a matchup with the Wayne Blue Devils on Tuesday night.