BCE

The Scarborough Shooting Stars are headed to back-to-back CEBL Championship games after knocking off the top-ranked Niagara River Lions 74-71 at Langley Events Centre on Friday.

Cat Barber powered the Shooting Stars to victory with a team-high 15 points on 5-16 shooting to go along with six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Scarborough locked down defensively, holding the highest scoring offence in the CEBL to 71 points – their third consecutive game with a points against in the 70s. Niagara shot 39 per cent from the field while tallying 19 turnovers that led to 28 points.

The Shooting Stars also dominated the paint, outscoring the River Lions 44-16 and snagging 20 offensive rebounds.

“It’s effort. Those are all effort plays. Those are plays that show how much the team wants to win,” Scarborough head coach Chris Exilus said.  “Plays that are not always on the stat sheet…what you saw was was a resilient group that played together. On this team, nobody cares who makes the play.”

The Shooting Stars had four players reach double-digits in the win. Gedi Juozapaitis was scorching hot from the corners throughout the game, hitting four threes on his way to 13 points. Isiaha Mike chipped in 12 points, including six in target score time despite going 4-11 from the field.

Big man Kalif Young was also a dominant force in the paint for Scarborough. He secured a double-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and one block.

“I just think we’ve really bought into our system,” Young said. “You don’t win in those big moments and win championships without locking down on defence and focusing in on players. I think our biggest thing was focusing on a really good player in Khalil Ahmad today.”

Ahmad was named 2023 CEBL Clutch