BCE

OTTAWA — The Scarborough Shooting Stars are packing for an exciting weekend on the West Coast. The Ottawa BlackJacks are simply packing it up for the season.

The Shooting Stars, who trailed 37-30 at halftime and 62-50 heading into the final quarter, rallied to knock off the BlackJacks 77-72 in the Canadian Elite Basketball League's Eastern Conference semifinal on Sunday at TD Place.

Isiaha Mike led the Shooting Stars with 24 points, while Cat Barber had 16 and Kalif Young chipped in with 10. The Shooting Stars finished third during the regular season with an 11-9 record and had to defeat the Brampton Honey Badgers 98-74 on Friday in a play-in game.

The BlackJacks, with 21 points from Jakeenan Grant and 18 from Kadre Gray, surrendered the lead with 68 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

The BlackJacks finished second in the East during the regular season with a 12-8 record. Matthew Coleman had 15 points for the BlackJacks, while Deng Adel chipped in with 13.

The Shooting Stars will now play the Niagara River Lions in the CEBL's Eastern Conference final on Friday (Aug. 11) at Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The Lions finished first in the East with a 13-7 record.

Later tonight, the Calgary Surge host the Edmonton Stingers at WinSport Event Centre in the Western Conference semifinal. The winner of that Battle of Alberta will play the host Vancouver Bandits in the Western Conference final on Friday (Aug. 11) at Langley Events Centre.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2023.