By Justine Jones
The Guelph Nighthawks (0-1) travel down highway six to face their regional rivals, the Hamilton Honey Badgers (2-1) at 1:30 p.m. ET at the FirstOntario Centre. The game will be broadcast live nationally on CBC TV.
Guelph is in search of its first win of the season, after falling 96-79 to the Ottawa BlackJacks on Monday.
Hamilton also lost its season opener, 91-87 to the reigning CEBL champions, the Edmonton Stingers. Since then, the Honey Badgers have rebounded with wins against the Saskatchewan Rattlers and Ottawa BlackJacks. Hamilton has been competitive in each of their three games so far and the team will look to carry that consistency into their home opener.
Building momentum
After finishing second in the inaugural CEBL season in 2019, and losing a heartbreaker 76-75 to the Fraser Valley Bandits in the semifinals last season, could this be Hamilton’s year?
The Honey Badgers return a core group of players from their Summer Series roster, including Cody John, Kalif Young, and Jean-Victor (JV) Mukama. Mukama had a standout season in 2020 and was named a CEBL First Team All-Star as he led the Honey Badgers with 14.1 points per game. The six-foot-eight forward models his game after Kevin Durant as he can score from beyond the arc, but is also dangerous in the lane and in transition because of his length.
Hamilton added some key pieces this offseason with the likes of G-League guards Lindell Wigginton and Trevon Duval. Wigginton, a Dartmouth N.S., native, has dazzled in his first three CEBL contests, and is second in the league in scoring this year, averaging 27.7 points per game.
The Honey Badgers have one of the CEBL’s youngest teams and the group has really started to find its rhythm. In addition to some solid scoring from Wigginton, other players including Duval, Mukama, and John have improved game after game. All three of these Honey Badgers scored season highs in their most recent win against Ottawa, contributing 18, 17, and 12 points, respectively.
Building chemistry
A bright spot in Guelph’s opening night loss was guard Cat Barber who scored 25 points on 57 per cent shooting.
Barber and his backcourt partner Ahmed Hill were crafty and were able to get into the paint against the BlackJacks. This is not an easy task given the physicality of Ottawa’s guards. Guelph was able to pull defenders in but the team missed some open three-point looks, and had they made some of these shots the opening night narrative would have been much different.
Canadian Justin Jackson was also solid in his CEBL debut scoring 17 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. The six-foot-seven forward showed off his scoring range draining some three-pointers while also dominating in the paint. Despite the loss, Jackson is confident in Guelph’s roster and is looking forward to another opportunity to build chemistry with his teammates.
“I honestly feel like we have the best team in this league and I wouldn’t want to go to war with anyone else,” said Jackson after the Nighthawks’ season opener. “It’s just a matter of tweaking a few things and we can’t have slow starts like that. The team with the best chemistry that works well together usually wins these type of leagues, there’s only 14 games so we have to pick it up fast.”
Raptors 905 rivalry
Less than an hour away from each other, Guelph and Hamilton are the two closest franchises in the CEBL in terms of geographic location. This “highway six” rivalry also holds true between the team’s administrations as Nighthawks head coach Charles Kissi and Honey Badgers bench boss Ryan Schmidt are both assistant coaches with the Toronto Raptors G-League affiliate, the Raptors 905.
Kissi is a former U SPORTS coach with the Brock Badgers who turned the program around and led the team to a fifth place finish at the national championships in 2018. Schmidt, a former G-League athlete himself has a player-first style of coaching that has allowed him to connect with his athletes on another level.
The pair have spent three years at the Raptors 905 together, and there will surely be bragging rights on the line this afternoon.
All CEBL games will be available for live streaming on the CEBL’s new OTT streaming service, CEBL+, cbcsports.ca, the free CBC Gem streaming service, the CBC Sports App for iOS and android devices, and on Twitch.
A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 75 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball, the CEBL season typically runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.