COAL CITY — Morris won the first battle Tuesday night over St. Bede but the Bruins won the war, defeating the Redskins 47-45 at the 2012 Coaler Turkey Tournament.

The Redskins raced to a 10-0 three minutes in and were ahead 15-8 at the end of the first quarter in the varsity boys basketball opener for both teams. St. Bede drew within 24-23 at halftime and led 37-33 by the end of the third quarter.

Though Morris got the St. Bede lead down to a single point on three different occasions on the fourth quarter, the two-time defending champion Bruins stayed in front and gave coach Mike Kilmartin his 400th career victory.