GUELPH, ON – The Guelph Nighthawks earned their first victory of the season, 89-80 in thrilling fashion over the newly added Scarborough Shooting Stars. In a packed Sleeman Centre in Guelph, Ontario, the Nighthawks and Shooting Stars kicked off their long season and the home team came out on top.
The first quarter began and the Nighthawks stormed out to a 5-0 lead behind Ahmed Hill and AJ Lawson. Scarborough’s first basket came at the hand of their newest addition, Jalen Harris who ended the first quarter with 13 points. The Shooting stars found a lot of their offence with their guards getting inside, outscoring the Nighthawks in the paint 12 to four in the quarter. On the other end, the Nighthawks tried to get their three pointer going, attempting thirteen to the Shooting Stars seven. The Nighthawks and Shooting Stars continued trading small runs, leading to a tight 25-24 Scarborough lead at the end of the quarter. AJ Lawson finished the first quarter with 10 points.
Taking care of the basketball, the story of the second quarter. Guelph played tight defence, forcing Scarborough to turn the ball over (11 in first half) and leading Guelph to 17 points off turnovers. Guelph recorded five steals in the first half and ended the quarter with eight fast break points. The biggest lead for Guelph was 10 but as the quarter ended the Nighthawks once again held a slim lead, 43-42 over the Scarborough Shooting Stars. Kameron Chatman made his impact in the second quarter, as he finished the half with 13 points (71% shooting), while Jalen Harris tied his points on 60% shooting.
Scarborough took the lead very early in the third quarter with a basket from Kalif Young, and they continued to push the Nighthawks throughout the quarter. The Shooting Stars flipped the script in their favour with the defence leading to transition basketball, and guards like JV Mukama and Jalen Harris thrived, Jalen finishing the quarter with 20 points (50% shooting), seven rebounds and four assists. Kameron Chatman made a big impact in the third quarter around the paint, finishing the quarter with 19 points (72% shooting), four rebounds and an assist. On the Nighthawks side, Cat Barber had 15 points, four rebounds and five assists going into the fourth quarter, while AJ Lawson had 14 points, a rebound and an assist.
The fourth quarter was nothing short of explosive. Kameron Chatman continued to score for the Shooting Stars while Kalif Young made his work inside the paint, until halfway through the quarter when Ahmed Hill took over. The Nighthawks guard scored 10 in a row for Guelph bringing it from a 76-75 lead for Scarborough to a 85-80 lead midway through Elam time. While Kalif Young did what he could to respond to the Nighthawks, Guelph held a 79-76 lead as Elam time started and Guelph went on a 9-4 run all behind Ahmed Hill and late scores by AJ Lawson and Cat Barber who hit a pullup jumper to win it for the Nighthawks.
Guelph took a 89-80 victory over the Shooting Stars in their season opener. Cat Barber, who hit the game winner, finished with 20 points to lead the Nighthawks, four rebounds and six assists. Ahmed Hill, who scored 10 in the fourth quarter, finished the game with 18 points, three rebounds and four assists, AJ Lawson tying that total of 18 points. On the Shooting Stars side, Jalen Harris and Kameron Chatman gave 21 points each, while Kalif Young cleaned up the paint adding 12 points and nine rebounds off of the bench.
Cat Barber after the game said going forward he’s going to do whatever it takes to get his team the win, “Whatever I got to do to win, I feel like last year I came in and I was playing good but we didn’t get it done, this year we got a better longer team so I got to set the tone and I did that tonight”.