The Braves will turn back the clock by honouring their past champions during Friday night’s men’s and women’s matches against Frankston Blues at Bendigo Stadium.

Bendigo, led by playing coach David Flint and captain Mick Spear, captured their first ever national championship with a 121-118 win against Bulleen Boomers at Broadmeadows.

Still a major talking point to this day was the 71 point game from arguably the most popular Brave of all time David ‘DJ’ Johnson, who will be travelling from the United States for the occasion.

For many on that championship team, the grand final and aftermath still remains relatively fresh.

Steve Kelly, whose number eight jersey was retired by the Braves, insists the championship put Bendigo on the national basketball map.

“That era – ’87 to ’91 – everyone heard about Bendigo and the popularity of the sport was amazing,” he said.

“We were getting packed houses – we were on top of a wave for a long time.

“Honestly, if it wasn’t for that team and era, we wouldn’t have what we have in Bendigo today – it made things happen.”

Kelly, a foundation member of the Braves roster just three seasons earlier, recalled with pride the Braves’ path to the ’88 championship.

“It was one of the best seasons we’d ever had as we did have a bit of winning streak going, but we did actually lose our last game of the season against Albury,” he said.

“We ended up on top as we had the better head-to-head record and then it was off to the nationals.

“We won the first game and then into the granny the next day against Bulleen, who had hardly been beaten that season and knocked them off.”

Just as vivid were his memories of the bus trip back to Bendigo, with James Brown’s ‘I Feel Good’ being played ‘about 50 times’, and the vehicle getting stuck under a veranda at the Golden Hills Motel on their arrival.

Kelly admitted to being surprised after the game to learn Johnson, who averaged 47.88 points per game in his 94 games for the club, had ended the game with 71 points.

That recollection was shared by Kelly’s team-mate David Beks

“To be honest, I did not notice he had shot that many points – he always used to shoot a lot of points, but it didn’t seem out of the ordinary until the end when the scoresheet was pulled out,” he said.

Beks, whose son Lewis became the second ‘father-son’ player to suit for the Braves when he made his debut last season, recalled there being a tremendous buzz around the Braves in ’88.

“I remember there being a lot of Bendigo people in the crowd, with faces painted,” he said.

“I do know it was a very exciting time for the club and the fans.”

Beks, who played eight seasons with Bendigo after joining from Shepparton, said at least 80 per cent of the playing group remained ‘very tight’ 30 years on.

“I guess that’s what underpinned the Braves era at the time, that we were such great mates on and off the court,” he said.

“We were fun to watch because we played a really exciting brand of basketball and we all knew our roles.

“Some guys scored lots of points, some played great defence, other just boxed out so other guys could rebound, but we all just accepted our roles.”

The only sad note to the reunion for Beks and Kelly – and no doubt all those involved - will be that one of their former team-mates will be missing.

It follows the death earlier this year of Rodney Wee-Hee, who played 83 games between 1985 and ’88.

“He was an intergral part of that team and the era and was what the Braves were all about,” Beks said.

“We’ll definitely go in (to the reunion) with a heavy heart.”

Kelly added: “He was only at the Braves for four years, but had a big impact on Bendigo basketball.

“He and his family were tied up in Bendigo basketball – he’s sadly missed.”

The ’88 championship team will be introduced to the crowd before the start of Braves’ men’s game this Friday night.