Scarborough Spoils Bandits Streak With 93-86 Win

The Scarborough Shooting Stars won in Langley, 93-86 over the Fraser Valley Bandits, snapping Fraser Valley’s five game winning streak.  Scarborough is now 6-5 on the season with Fraser Valley at 8-3.

The Shooting Stars came out pushing the pace against Fraser Valley and taking advantage of opportunities in transition.  With the speed of Jalen Harris getting to his spots and the finish of Kameron Chatman and Isiaha Mike, the Shooting Stars got their offence going before Fraser Valley could set up their defence. 

For Fraser Valley, they got their half court ball movement going early and got the ball swinging until it found Shane Gibson and Alex Campbell who hit a range of jumpers from both inside and the perimeter.  Though the Bandits held a 12-9 rebounding advantage, the Shooting Stars five points off of turnovers and 56 per cent shooting ended up being the difference in the first.  Going into the second quarter, Scarborough led 25-20 over the Bandits.

Scarborough pushed out to a 11-point lead in the second quarter thanks to four points from Mike and four from Harris.  After a Bandits timeout, Fraser Valley used their defence to create opportunities and got in transition where Gibson and Campbell scored a majority of points for the Bandits in the quarter.  Gradually Fraser Valley cut the deficit and took a lead but a basket from Chatman put the Shooting Stars back on top.

Three Bandits were in double-digit points going into halftime.  Led by Karnik with 12 points, Campbell and Gibson contributed 11 points and 10 points.  On the side of the Shooting Stars, Harris led the team with 13 points and Mike added 10 points.  Scarborough led the Bandits 43-42 at halftime.

There were four lead changes in the third quarter and it started with Gibson hitting a three at the start of the quarter.  After a mix of finishes at the hoop and threes from each team’s shooters, Scarborough took the lead back inside the paint thanks to Kalif Young.  Shane Gibson scored nine points in the third quarter and four of them came late in the quarter as Fraser Valley jumped out to a 63-59 lead. 

Once Scarborough weathered the Gibson run, Harris and Mike continued their offensive performance to put Scarborough back on top where they stayed going into the fourth.  After the third quarter, Scarborough held a tight 68-67 lead over Fraser Valley.

Rashad James scored eight of the Shooting Stars first 10 points in the fourth quarter and he helped Scarborough extend their lead to 78-69 with 6:40 remaining in the fourth quarter. Chatman extended that run for Scarborough with a three and put the Shooting Stars at their largest lead of the game to that point, 81-69 over the Bandits.  Going into Elam time, Scarborough held a 83-74 lead and the target score was set at 92.

Mike started Elam time with five points but Gibson and Campbell combined for eight points and Karnik added a layup to make the score 91-84 with the target score set at 92.  Withstanding Fraser Valley’s run in Elam time and their shooting that picked up steam, Kyle Adnam’s layup was answered by Mike at the rim to give Scarborough the win.  Scarborough came away with a 93-86 win over the Bandits.

Mike led the Shooting Stars with 27 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals.  Harris recorded 24 points, six rebounds and an assist.  Chatman finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and two assists.  James scored 13 points and added five rebounds and three assists.

For the home side, Gibson led the Bandits with 27 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block.  Karnik scored 20 points, added nine rebounds and an assist.  Campbell scored 18 points, added four rebounds and an assist and steal.  Adnam rounded out the Bandits in double-digits with 12 points, two rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Harris talked about being able to create his offence even through tight defence, “my teammates helped putting me in position, my coaching staff helped put me in position and then I just rely on my work ethic.  I’m used to this, I see this night in and night out so I was kind of prepared for it.”

Scarborough Head Coach Chris Exilus talked about the performance of Harris and Mike, “I think the key part is they were efficient with those numbers.  They shot the ball pretty well, had some pretty good shots, played with good spacing throughout the game.  That really helped and the ball movement from side to side that really helped too.”