Braves, Knights claim NOSSA AAA titles (18 photos)

The Northern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (NOSSA) AAA boys basketball championships will stay in Sault Ste. Marie as the Bawating Braves and St. Mary's Knights emerged victorious on Saturday afternoon at St. Mary's.

In the senior division final, the Braves' D.J. Wright put on a spectacular show in leading his team past the Korah Colts 70-51 while the Knights captured the junior division title with a 54-38 win over Korah.

The Braves will now make their second straight trip to the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) championships being held March 7-9 in Newmarket.

Last season, the Braves captured the NOSSA AA championships at Central Algoma Secondary School to move on to the provincial championships.

Against the Colts, Wright dominated the contest on both ends of the floor. Offensively, Wright drained 45 points while making several steals and blocks on the defensive end.

In a tight first quarter, the Braves scored the final two points of the period to take a 19-16 lead and then opened the second quarter with 13 unanswered points. The 15-0 run allowed Bawating to take a 32-16 lead which the Colts couldn't recover from.

During the run, Wright thundered down back-to-back dunks after making a steal on consecutive trips down the floor.

The energetic Colts managed to trim the lead down to 10 by the half but the Braves were able to maintain the spread and gradually increase it in the second half.

"This probably was the best (Wright) has played this year," said Braves head coach Clair Campbell. "And it not just the points it was everything. It was the blocked shots in the first and second quarter and the steals. Our defense really made the difference because we weren't running our offense the way we can.

"This was a big win for our kids because we were very disappointed after the city championship game. We fought hard that night but got beaten by a better team."

Ryan Lecuyer added nine points in a fine performance off the bench for Bawating while David Fremlin added seven.

Christian Johnson also had a solid game for the Colts and led his team with 23 points. Jordan Murtonen and Chris Casagrande added six points each.

Bawating advanced to the final with a 71-43 win over Sudbury Lockerby while Korah defeated Sudbury Lasalle 45-35 in semi-final games on Friday.

*** JUNIOR:

In the junior title game, the Knights broke open a 13-13 tie in the second quarter to take a 31-20 lead into the half.

"We held off in the first quarter and then came at them in the second with the pressure defense," said Knights skipper Adriano Carota. "It was good to the bye because it gave us a week to rest and recoup after a tough playoff run last week.

"I set the bar for these guys and they exceeded all expectations. We won a tournament (at Sault College), two consolation championships, a city championship and NOSSA. What more could you ask for."

Matt Vollick led the Knights with 15 points while Marc Hurtubise added 11, Jordan Verdone nine, Anthony Martella seven and Michael Esson six.

Ben Ginter paced the Colts with 19 points while Jon Price added six.

Korah defeated Lasalle 57-43 in Friday's semi-final while the Knights received a bye into the final based on their city championship win.