Smith, Williams Send Shooting Stars Soaring Past Alliance in East Play-In

(Eastern Conference Play-In)

Scarborough’s fearsome twosome isn’t going away just yet.

Terquavion Smith and Donovan Williams led the Shooting Stars to a 92-86 win over the Montreal Alliance in the Eastern Conference Play-In Game on Thursday at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.

The Shooting Stars will advance to face the Ottawa BlackJacks in the conference semifinals on Saturday in Gatineau, Que.

And they must be feeling good about their chances with Smith, who matched a playoff record with seven triples en route to 27 points, and Williams, who had 26 points, on their side.

“They carried us. They carried us offensively. We needed them to score the ball for us,” head coach Mike De Giorgio said. “They did a helluva job getting to the rim and making their shots from the outside.”

Montreal, meanwhile, saw its once-promising season come to a sudden halt.

Scarborough raced to an early lead and carried it through to Target Score Time, taking what seemed like a commanding 83-65 advantage — the largest such lead in league playoff history — into the final phase of the game.

But Montreal slowly chipped away. It scored the first five points with the clocks turned off, and after the Shooting Stars got within a bucket at 90-77, another 9-0 run for the Alliance had Shooting Stars fans biting their nails.

That’s as close as the Alliance would get.

After a timeout from head coach Mike De Giorgio, Smith drove to the basket and missed a layup — only for big man Michael Foster Jr. to grab the offensive rebound and tip home the game winner.

While neither Smith nor Williams was nominated for an individual award, their dominance as a duo carried the Shooting Stars throughout the season — and, now, to a post-season victory.

“I feel like you gotta ramp it up a notch when the playoffs come and just forget about the regular season and lock in on what’s important,” Smith said. “And I think I did that a lot and helped my team.”

The show began in the first half when Smith and Williams combined for 34 points, seven three-pointers and multiple ‘how did he do that?’ moments.

In a halftime interview, Williams didn’t have words to explain the hot start: “I was just in a flow state,” he told sideline reporter Heather Morrison.

Things only continued to flow in the second half.

Williams, the 23-year-old Houston native, wound up with six assists, five rebounds and two steals in addition to his 26 points.

Smith, the 22-year-old from Greenville, N.C., ended up with six assists on his night along with the 27 points, going seven-for-14 from three-point range but oh-for-seven inside the arc.

He said he “loves” partnering with Williams.

“It’s so easy for me. I love playing with Dono. He’s a fast player and we kinda have the same type of game, he’s just taller. So I tell him all the time I love playing with him. He makes it easy for me. He makes shots, he runs, he dunks. That’s my guy,” Smith said.

De Giorgio said the fast pace was part of the game plan.

“They send a lot of guys to the offensive boards so when we get a push in transition we often have an advantage, and we wanted to attack the rim early and often and score easy at the rim to allow us to set our defence on the other end,” he said.

Anthony Walker, an ex-Alliance player, got a measure of revenge with a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double off the bench.

Foster Jr. also added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Shooting Stars, who were without lead guard Cat Barber.

For Montreal, the loss capped a disappointing season.

The Alliance won their first four games of the season, providing some early hope, but stumbled to the finish line and never could quite recover that initial magic.

Head coach Jermaine Small credited the Shooting Stars for their constant answers.

“I just think they played a lovely game from start to end. When we came back, they weathered the storm and punched back,” he said.

In stark contrast to Scarborough’s stout pair, the Alliance duo of Tavian Dunn-Martin and Tavis Smith struggled to get much going.

Dunn-Martin, who led the league with 68 three-pointers on the season, didn’t make a single triple until Target Score Time. He finished with 13 points and 10 assists.

Smith had just five points — all in the first half.

In their place, Quincy Guerrier — who will now join Team Canada training camp ahead of the FIBA AmeriCup — nearly willed the Alliance to a wild comeback, scoring 30 points while adding 11 rebounds.

For Dunn-Martin, however, the loss still stings.

“I feel like we left a lot out there. They wanted it more than us, and it showed,” he said.

Small said the team can still take lessons from this season into next.

“For the most part, we established an identity. We showed we can play with anybody. And we’re just growing, right? And I think we’re growing in the right direction. Proud of our guys overall, but of course I don’t like to lose. But you win or you learn, so I think we’ll come back better next summer,” he said.

The Shooting Stars burst out to an early 16-4 advantage and led 22-14 after the first quarter.

At halftime, Scarborough was up 47-38 thanks to a late three-pointer from Smith.

The Alliance gave the Shooting Stars a jolt in the third quarter, cutting their deficit to just two points midway through the frame — but Scarborough answered with an 8-0 run to regain control. It was 70-58 for the Shooting Stars when the fourth quarter began.

And despite a Target Time scare, the Shooting Stars got the job done.

Now, they’ll head east to face Ottawa with a spot at Championship Weekend in Winnipeg on the line.

Box Score

https://www.cebl.ca/game?id=2696066

Up Next

The Shooting Stars face the BlackJacks in the Eastern Conference Semifinal on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET at Centre Slush Puppie in Gatineau, Que.

Next CEBL Action

Both conference semifinals take place Saturday, with the East matchup set for 1 p.m. ET and the West contest at 3:30 p.m. ET. For the full 2025 CEBL schedule and up-to-date results, please visit cebl.ca/games.

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