Shooting Stars host BlackJacks in high-octane Eastern Conference Play-In

August 2, 2024

Steven Loung

The defending CEBL champion Scarborough Shooting Stars (12-8) will begin their quest to repeat as they open the post-season with an Eastern Conference Play-in matchup against the

Ottawa BlackJacks (9-11).

The game tips off at 7 p.m. ET from Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, with live coverage available on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN+, Courtside 1891 and on the CEBL mobile app available for iOS and Android devices. The game will also be televised on TSN and NLSE in the United States.

Scarborough is looking to become just the second team to ever repeat as CEBL champions. The Edmonton Stingers are the only team to accomplish this feat, doing so in 2020 and 2021.

Led by the dynamic duo of Cat Barber and Donovan Williams, the Shooting Stars feature a lethal offensive attack, centered around hunting three-point shots.

The shot selection can sometimes look suspect in the name of getting threes up, but when they’re falling, few if any team in the CEBL can match the shear firepower that the Shooting

Stars can output from distance.

Defensively, Scarborough is middle of the road, but does feature exceptional rim protection with names like Kalif Young, Hason Ward and Nick Ongenda patrolling the paint.

Heading into Friday’s matchup, the Shooting Stars look to be the superior team on paper.

However, if actual games went just according to how the stat sheet predicted they would go, then there’s a good chance that the Ottawa BlackJacks wouldn’t be competing in Friday’s

Eastern Conference Play-In.

Starting the season 1-5, Ottawa was behind the eight ball early on but for good reason. Missing key players both due to injury and other international commitments, it felt like all Ottawa could do was wait for the cavalry to arrive. In the meantime, however, all they were doing was painfully losing games and watching the Brampton Honey Badgers slip further and further away.

The post-season wasn’t looking like a very real possibility.

Those reinforcements did eventually arrive, and while waiting for them, BlackJacks coach James Derouin found a style of play that dramatically turned his team around over the last third

of the season.

The BlackJacks want to play fast, force turnovers and get threes up in bunches.

A high-risk, high-reward playstyle, Ottawa has been banking on the individual skills of players like Deng Adel, Isaih Moore, Tyrrel Tate, Keevan Veinot, Tevin Brown and CEBL Defensive

Player of the Year award nominee Lloyd Pandi to, make plays and, essentially, run opposing teams out of the gym.

It’s been a recipe for success that’s, really, only been perfected over Ottawa’s last four games and, as a result, the BlackJacks are entering Friday probably playing the best basketball they have all season long, and it looks like the secret’s out, with Scarborough only a 2.5-point favourite on BetVictor.

Ultimately, even though the Shooting Stars look like the better team from a statistical standpoint, the BlackJacks’ helter-skelter style of play could prove to be disruptive enough to give

Scarborough some real issues.

Key matchup

As talented as Williams is for Scarborough, the engine of the Shooting Stars is Barber, meaning Pandi is likely getting that assignment. A matchup against one of the CEBL’s premier guards against, possibly, the best perimeter defender in the entire league – who set a new CEBL record with 44 steals during the regular season – in a playoff game should make for some destination viewing.

Milestone watch

● Scarborough’s Kadre Gray, of Toronto, Ont., needs 12 points to reach 900 for his career, regular season and playoffs.

● Ottawa’s Deng Adel needs two rebounds to reach 250 for his career, regular season and playoffs.

● Ottawa’s Deng Adel needs nine assists to reach 200 for his career, regular season and playoffs.

● Ottawa’s Lloyd Pandi, of Ottawa, Ont., needs six steals to reach 100 for his career, regular season and playoffs.

2024 season series

In three meetings with one another during the regular season, Scarborough won twice, including recently on July 18, a 92-79 rout in Ottawa.

About the CEBL

A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 75% of its rosters being Canadian and a record 10 players with NBA experience in 2024. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN, TSN+, RDS, Game+, Next Level Sports & Entertainment and Courtside1891. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.

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Vancouver Bandits Make Impactful Community Visits in the Okanagan

February 12, 2026

The Vancouver Bandits, BC’s professional basketball team in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), are committed to making a positive impact through basketball and growing the game across British Columbia, and this dedication was highlighted this past week in Kelowna and the Okanagan area. Coming off the recent announcement of Kelowna HOOPFEST, a brand-new basketball festival featuring a CEBL neutral-site home game in partnership with the City of Kelowna, Bandits head coach Kyle Julius spent time at five Okanagan-area secondary schools and both of Kelowna’s post-secondary men’s basketball teams, as part of the Vancouver Bandits third-annual Bandits School Tour. Julius and Bandits staff visited Mount Boucherie Secondary School, Immaculata Regional High School, Okanagan Mission Secondary, Rutland Secondary School and Kelowna Secondary, as well as the men’s basketball teams at UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College, providing dedicated and tailored practices along with motivational talks and training materials. Launched in 2023, the Bandits School Tour is supported by the Bandits Community Foundation, Preston Chevrolet and Envision Financial and offers a unique opportunity for student-athletes and volunteer coaches to learn directly from BC’s only professional basketball coach. “What stood out most during our visit was the impact basketball can have when it is rooted in mentorship and connection; it is clear how vibrant the basketball and business ecosystem is in the Okanagan,” said Bandits team president Dylan Kular. “We are thankful to the Okanagan and Kelowna communities for welcoming us so openly, and this is only the beginning. We are committed to being present and intentional in the lead-up to Kelowna HOOPFEST from June 5th to 7th.” In addition to the Bandits School Tour, Julius and members of Bandits staff had the opportunity to connect with various Okanagan business, media and community leaders, including attending the 51st annual Western Canada Tournament at Kelowna Secondary and a Kelowna Rockets hockey game. ###