AAA Recap: Senior Trojans, Junior Raiders Take Titles

Things went according to seeding form in the "AAA" CWOSSA senior championship.

As for the junior "AAA" championship, not so much.  

Here's how both divisions shook down:

Senior Recap

The #1 North Park Trojans captured the senior title with an absolutely thrilling victory over the #2 St. James Lions.

St. James actually went scoreless for the first 9:30 of the game!  However, North Park wasn't much more successful on the offensive end and went into halftime up 14-8.

The Trojans would lead by 2 (36-34) with :04 left in regulation.  The Lions inbounded the ball to their 5th year star, Ryan Higgins, who went coast to coast and got off a great attempt that hit the front of them and bounced off ---- giving the CWOSSA title to North Park for the second consecutive season.

Higgins had 24 of St. James' 34 points to lead all scorers.

The semifinals were equally competitive.

The Waterloo St. David Celtics (#4) gave North Park all they could handle before succumbing 47-41 to the Trojans.  The game was tight throughout, with North Park's Cale McDonald drawing a foul on a three-point shot and hitting all three attempts to give NPC a 29-26 lead heading into the fourth.  That seemed to spur him on, as he knocked in four threes in the final frame to help the Trojans advance.

Tyson Lavigne (20) and Dan Hummel (14) accounted for 34 of the Celts' 41 points.

Meanwhile, the #3 KCI Raiders gave the #2 St. James Lions all they could handle before falling 43-31.  The game was actually tied 25-25 after three quarters.

"We got tired, but (credit to) St. James as they hit the big shots to win the game," said KCI head coach Nick White.

Junior Recap

The junior KCI Raiders picked a great time to get hot.

The Raiders, the #5 seed entering the tournament, defeated the #4 Galt Ghosts, #1 North Park Trojans and then the #2 St. James Lions in that order to take the CWOSSA junior championship.

I'll have to throw this out to my readers, but I can't recall a lower-seeded team taking the "AAA" title.

KCI took the crown over the Guelph St. James Lions by a 49-36 final.  

The St. James Lions defeated 6th seeded Brantford Collegiate in the semifinals, while the Raiders pulled the tournament shocker not only by ousting #1 seeded North Park, but also by putting up 70+ points in doing so (73-57 final).  Of course, about half of KCI's points that game were from the free throw line --- partially as a result of 5 technical fouls handed out to the Trojans, who felt they were on the wrong end of a lot of block/charge calls. 

North Park head coach Adam Petersen set a dubious CWOSSA record in that game, though, picking up three (yes, three) technical fouls in one game.  Petersen picked up two technicals in the final few minutes of the game, and then was awarded a third "t" on his way out of the gym.