The celebration for Bawating continued on Saturday night as the school's senior boys basketball team claimed a NOSSA championship and a ticket to the provincial championships.
Backed by another outstanding performance from D.J. Wright, the Braves handled the West Ferris Trojans from North Bay 39-30 to claim the Northern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (NOSSA) AA championship at Central Algoma Secondary School in Desbarats.
The Braves will now advance into the Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association (OFSAA) playdowns beginning Wednesday in Perth.
Wright scored 29 of Bawating's 39 points while Craig Nielson added seven. John Gore led the Trojans with 11 points while Doyle Anthony added eight.
With the participating teams forced to play an exhausting format, the game lacked some of the emotion and intensity that a typical championship game includes. West Ferris was playing their fourth game of the tournament and third of the day while the Braves were playing in their third game.
"I don't think we had the same intensity that we had last week but we did what we had to do to win," said Braves head coach Clair Campbell. "They do a great job of penetrating and we were able to keep them from doing that. The key was not to play man-to-man against them. We played man on them in the second quarter (Friday) and they scored 20 points on us."
West Ferris held a 14-7 first quater lead before Bawating took a 21-18 advantage into the half and led 26-25 after a low scoring third quarter. Wright scored 18 of Bawating's 21 first half points.
Nielson gave Bawating some momentum with five minutes remaining in the contest when he converted a beautiful spin move underneath the basket to give the Braves a 32-26 lead.
Wright sealed the win with a shot inside before hitting a lay up and drawing the foul with 45 seconds remaining. Wright converted the free throw to give the Braves the nine-point cushion.
"This win is a lot better (than the city final) because it is NOSSA. We won Northern Ontario and now we are going to compete at OFSAA, I can't believe it," said Wright following the game. "We didn't turnover that much and stayed in control in offense which is what we wanted to do."
West Ferris was hurt by an injury to their top forward Doyle Anthony. Anthony was hampered by a badly sprained ankle which didn't allow him to be much of a factor after scoring eight points in the first quarter.
"We couldn't stop (Wright)," said West Ferris head coach Larry Tougas. "We tried a lot of different things but it didn't work. We tried a box and one and we manned him in the first half but he just kept creeping up on us. You have to give him credit, he is a great player. I never thought we would ever get beat by one player but we did."
Bawating advanced to the final after edging Sudbury Lockerby 50-49 as the Braves hit two free throws with three seconds left to win. Tim Young led the Braves with 13 points while Nielson and Wright added 12 each and Kyle Gauthier 11.
"That was only the second time all year (Wright) hasn't led us in scoring and Tim Young came through. Young shot the ball well and we needed that," said Campbell.
West Ferris earned a trip to the final with a 45-25 win over the Lockerby Vikings in the semi-final.
The CASS Huskies were eliminated after a 58-36 loss to West Ferris on Saturday morning. Andrew Miron led the Huskies with 14 points while Lincoln Louttit added nine.
*** JUNIOR:
Sudbury Lockerby captured the junior division championship with a 53-38 win over West Ferris. Josh Gelinas led the winners with 24 points while Alex Degagne paced the Trojans with 18 points.
The Sir James Dunn Eagles were eliminated by the Trojans 54-39 in the semi-final. Ty Daniher led West Ferris with 19 points while Degagne added 17. Jamie Weldon paced the Eagles with 11 points while J.J. Bergamin added seven.
In an earlier game, the Eagles eliminated CASS with a 55-38 victory. Mike Grant lit up the scoreboard for 33 points to lead the Eagles while Rob Hurley paced the Huskies with 15 points and Ryan Hurley added 10.
*** SINGLE A HOOPS:
The CASS Huskies dropped the championship game of the NOSSA A midget championships in Chelmsford on Saturday afternoon.
Playing with only seven players, the Huskies fell 48-22 to host Chelmsford in the final. Rio Riviere with 13 points and Dustin Wilson with 12 led the winners while Andrew Kirby led CASS with eight.
In the semi-final, CASS defeated Confederation 38-21 as Thomas Ross led the Huskies with nine points.