A New Champion: Hamilton & Scarborough Battle for CEBL Title in Nation’s Capital
The fourth season of the CEBL is set to crown a champion. After 100 regular season games in 69 days since the 2022 season tipped off, either the Hamilton Honey Badgers or the Scarborough Shooting Stars will be named CEBL Champions for the first time in either club’s respective histories.
The championship game will be played on the Ottawa BlackJacks’ home court at TD Place Arena in Ottawa, Ont. The pre-game show airs live on CBC at 3:30 p.m. ET with tip-off at 4 p.m.
Hamilton booked its ticket to the finals with a 76-72 victory in a thriller against host team Ottawa on Friday, Aug. 12 behind a 16-point effort from Christian Vital and a 15-point, nine-rebound performance from Koby McEwen.
It was a comeback victory for Hamilton who trailed by eight after the opening quarter, but took a three-point lead into the fourth where back-to-back three-pointers from McEwen and Aaron Best in the Elam Ending phase held off a late push from Ottawa in the final minutes. Former University of Ottawa Gee-Gees star Caleb Agada sealed the victory on a split pair of free throws in front of his old alma mater’s crowd and head coach James Derouin.
“We've been talking the last few days about embracing the moment,” Hamilton head coach Ryan Schmidt said. “Don’t get caught up in the moment. We knew we were playing a very tough team on their home court with their fans and the game didn't go our way in a lot of ways with the whistle, I think, but [the team’s] grit and perseverance really stood out to me.”
After ousting Ottawa to advance to the championship game, Hamilton is eager for Sunday’s tip-off.
“These guys have been working for this moment since May 16th,” Schmidt said of his team. “They deserve to be in this game and we’re excited.”
Schmidt was named CEBL Coach of the Year on Wednesday at the annual CEBL Awards, while Agada was named CEBL Canadian Player of the Year.
The Shooting Stars make their Finals appearance in their inaugural CEBL season after outlasting the Niagara River Lions 93-81 behind a 22-point, eight-rebound, six-assist performance from Jalen Harris, 22 points from Kameron Chatman and 19 points from Kassius Robertson. Scarborough also bounced back from a slow start that had them trailing by double figures, 26-14, after the opening quarter to get the win.
“What we’ve done all year is focus on us,” Scarborough head coach Chris Exilus said. “Focus on making sure we’re getting better and doing the things that we need to do.”
After a three-pointer from Niagara’s EJ Onu got the River Lions within single digits, a layup from Scarborough’s Isiaha Mike brought Scarborough within two points of their Elam Ending target and an offensive rebound and layup from Chatman after a miss from Harris sealed the win.
“My teammates played great,” Harris said. “You can go down the list of guys from Kass, to Kam, to Danilo [Djurcic], everybody. It was a team effort. They make my job easier, so I just try to do whatever I can in my power to affect the game.”
Harris averaged 20.4 points per game this season, but he’s not afraid to get involved in other ways, too.
"Just doing whatever it takes to win,” He said of his performance in Friday’s victory. “That’s what we talked about before the game, that was my mindset coming into this weekend, into every game, whatever it takes. If I have to score 30, if I need 15 rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, whatever it is, I’m trying to do it.”
While the Honey Badgers finished the regular season a league-best 14-6, the Shooting Stars knocked out second-place finisher Niagara (13-7) after finishing third in the league with a 12-8 record in their first season.
The teams had three regular-season meetings, with Hamilton winning two of the three, including Scarborough’s home opener. In the second meeting between the two, Scarborough came back to win in Elam time with a 75-72 victory behind a 21-point effort from Chatman who hit the game-winning bucket. Harris had 19 points in the win, while Hamilton was led by Vital’s 22 points in the loss.
The most recent meeting between the two saw Hamilton notch an 84-70 victory over Scarborough at home on July 15 as McEwen poured in 27 points on 10-of-14 field goal shooting to lead the way. In a game where Scarborough’s starters were struggling and leading scorer Harris played just nine minutes, reserve David Muenkat came off the bench to lead the team in the loss with 18 points.
In addition to crowning a champion, the final will also be the 250th CEBL game to be played. Viewers can watch the game live on CBC national television as well as CBC Gem, CBC Sports, CEBL+ and NXT Level Sports in the U.S.
