Stingy Scarborough Defence helps Shooting Stars defeat Brampton Honey Badgers 93-73

The Scarborough Shooting Stars (3-4) used stingy defence and transition opportunities to knock off the Brampton Honey Badgers (4-4) for the second time this season in a 93-73 win at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre on Sunday night. 

Scarborough last played exactly one week ago, when they scored 20 points off 18 turnovers and held the Montréal Alliance to 72 points in a 32-point road victory.

Tonight, Scarborough forced 23 Brampton turnovers and scored 23 points off giveaways.

“We had a good couple of days of practices,” Shooting Stars head coach Chris Exilus said after the game. 

“Guys are getting to know each other, trying to understand the defence… The understanding that we’re at our best when we get stops, the guys all committed to that tonight.” 

Kalif Young also notched a double-double on the night, scoring 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds—five of which were offensive boards. The 6’9” Toronto native shot 90 per cent from the field. 

“The biggest thing was that my whole team helped me be [who] I was today and continue to shine,” Young said. 

Tonight’s matchup was billed as a battle of two of the best backcourts in the CEBL, with the combination of Cat Barber and Jalen Harris set to square off against Koby McEwen and Christian Vital.

But Harris and Vital both sat out for the Shooting Stars and Honey Badgers respectively, so both teams had to look for other players to step up offensively. 

Early on, it was Shooting Stars guard Zeke Moore, who is averaging 16.5 points through his first two games of the campaign. He scored all six of his points tonight in the first quarter. 

But McEwen responded with eight points of his own to help Brampton end the first quarter with a four-point lead. 

In the second, Young notched 10 of his 22 points and helped Scarborough complete the half with a 40-39 lead. 

Although Brampton dominated the glass in the first two quarters—outrebounding Scarborough 28-16 and snagging 9 offensive boards—the Shooting Stars’ defence helped keep them in the game. 

Scarborough forced two shot clock violations in the first half, and scored 12 points off 12 turnovers. 

After the break, the Shooting Stars went on a 15-3 run in the final four and a half minutes in the third quarter to open a 15-point lead. Young ran the floor and scored a pair of putbacks in back-to-back possessions during the run: a slam off of a Barber missed layup and then a tip-in in transition with his right hand. 

“We’re at our best when we’re in transition, when everybody’s running, but it all starts with our defence,” Exilus said. 

Scarborough never looked back after that run. The Shooting Stars would lead by as much as 20 points and took a 82-70 lead heading into target score time. 

Brampton’s Zane Waterman, who finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds, scored four straight points for the Honey Badgers to bring them within 12 when the game clock was shut off. 

But it wouldn’t be enough, as Scarborough outscored Brampton 9-3 in target score time. Cat Barber scored the game’s final five points, including a game-winning three pointer. Barber finished with a game-high 23 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. 

Additionally, Kyree Walker chipped in with 10 points in his CEBL debut on the evening, and forward Thomas Kennedy collected 5 steals to go with 7 points and 6 rebounds.

In Vital’s absence, Cody John stepped up with 14 points and 7 rebounds. McEwen finished with 10 rebounds and 6 assists, but had 10 of Brampton’s 23 turnovers. 

Fresh off securing their first home win of the season, Scarborough is set to welcome the Ottawa BlackJacks to the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre in a nationally-televised game on TSN on Tuesday night. 

Brampton, meanwhile, will look to rebound against the Calgary Surge on Wednesday night in the first of a two-game home stand. 

Honey Badgers head coach Antoine Broxsie said taking care of the basketball will be crucial for the Honey Badgers when they return home.

“We had 23 turnovers, we take care of the ball better, and we will be fine,” he said.

Scarborough and Brampton will meet again for the third of four regular season meetings on July 26.

Full broadcast schedule of CEBL Games of the Week on TSN can be found here. All games will also be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+, and on the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices. 

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 71 percent of its 2022 rosters being Canadian. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. Nine players have moved from the CEBL into the NBA following a CEBL season, and 28 CEBL players attended NBA G League training camps during October. The CEBL season runs from May through August.  More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.