Commanding wire-to-wire victory for Montreal in season opener

The Montreal Alliance had a commanding 21-point lead heading into Target Score Time. They defeated the Brampton Honey Badgers 88-66 in Verdun Auditorium on Sunday night.

With the exception of guard Alain Louis, who has been with the Alliance since their inception, they are a new team under a new ownership.

Two-time CEBL champion and new head coach Jermaine Small also got his debut victory. It was a statement game for the franchise as they have historically been dominated by Brampton 7-1.

Coach Small was impressed by his team’s leader Quincy Guerrier, who had a game-high 21 points on 9-for-16 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds.

“I think the talent is undeniable,” Small said to a group of reporters. “Every shot he makes is like a momentum play for us because, obviously, it’s a hometown kid … I feel lucky to coach him and I felt like he made his mark.”

Guerrier let his game speak as Toronto Raptor and Montreal native Chris Boucher watched from the sidelines.

The Alliance set the tone early as they dominated the offensive glass and was plus-14 in points in the paint by halftime.

“Montreal had 11 offensive rebounds. That’s way too much,” Brampton Honey Badgers head coach Sheldon Cassimy said as he shook his head at halftime. “So we just have to make sure we’re closing out possessions.”

The Honey Badgers got off to a strong second quarter start, but their heavy reliance on 2024 Canadian Player of the Year Koby McEwen meant that defending the Alliance’s opponents got easier. McEwen finished the game with 15 points.

In the second half, the Alliance kept their foot on the gas. They instantly sank a 3-ball, and a Brampton’s shot clock violation after grabbing two offensive boards seemed deflating. The momentum shifted in Montreal’s favour as the third frame ended with Alliance forward Michael Diggins’ two-handed slam and forward Abdul Mohamed’s lay-up off a steal by their import guard Tavis Smith.

McEwen continued to be neutralized in the second half and his frustration exploded into a technical foul right before Target Time.

There were, however, improvements within the game for the Honey Badgers. They only allowed five offensive rebounds in the second half compared to 11 in the first.

“A lot of it is just being ready for physicality,” Cassimy said about what his team had to change in the second half. “At the beginning, Montreal was way more physical and we just had to make sure we matched that.”

The Honey Badgers were missing forward Prince Oduro, who averaged 9.3 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game (2.8 offensive boards per game), as well as import player Quinndary Weatherspoon from the line-up.

At one point, the Honey Badgers inched within two possessions, coming within five points in the second quarter. Brampton guard Mike Demagus’s three-pointer off a McEwen assist brought the game within single digits, and then a deep wing 3 by McEwen put them within five points. But the Alliance’s combination of attacking inside the paint and defensive ball pressure was too much to handle.

Small remains excited about his team’s ceiling. “I think we could maybe be the best defensive team in the league. And that’s my goal personally and they know that,” said the new coach about his new squad.