Alliance defeat Shooting Stars in preview of Eastern Conference play-in

In a preview of Thursday’s Eastern Conference Play-In game, several stars rested, while role players saw extended action on Sunday afternoon.

The Scarborough Shooting Stars dropped a 92-80 decision at home against the Montreal Alliance, and Thursday’s rematch will be at the same venue (Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre).

Montreal head coach Jermaine Small also notched his 50th CEBL career win (regular season and playoffs). “Been fortune to coach a lot of really good players that contribute to that win,” Small said. “Feel very blessed and fortunate.”

Montreal shot 14-for-31 (45%) from downtown and were plus-three in rebounds.

Montreal’s Tavian Dunn-Martin watched from the bench, and Scarborough’s Terquavion Smith and Donovan Williams sat out. Cat Barber is still out with an injury and his availability for Thursday’s playoff matchup is in question.

Tavis “Pistol” Smith had a game-high 23 points, and made an immediate statement in a pick-and-roll action with Sascha Kappos who had 21 points on five-for-seven three-point shooting.

Scarborough experimented with different zone defences and despite the final score, Scarborough head coach Mike De Giorgio was happy with the effort. “I think our fight was pretty good,” he said. “We need to handle the glass a little bit better. Offensive rebounding hurt us late in the game.”

Montreal was plus-nine in offensive boards and plus-six in second-chance points.

Scarborough’s Michael Foster had 16 points with an extremely effective eight-for-11 shooting inside the arc. He also had 13 rebounds. Foster showed nice moves down low, exploited mismatches, and even played point forward in some possessions.

“If you let him go one-on-one, he could score pretty well,” Small admitted and smiled. “I know he can play really well inside, but I know he can handle the ball … We definitely have a lot of clips of him to look at, to try to build off, and prepare for Thursday.”

Scarborough’s Aaron Best had 22 points and five Shooting Stars scored in double digits. Khalil Miller continued to impress with 11 points, two-handed slams, and three blocks.

“He’s really worked hard to add to his game. He’s shooting the ball really well right now, protecting the hoop,” said De Giorgio. “We love to have him, we see a big role for him, and he’s gotta step up for us come Thursday.”

Kobe Elvis, who finished with 13 points and seven assists, also got reps in before the play-in game. He had some plays in the second quarter – a turnaround jumper in the paint and a mid-range pull-up jumper after stopping on a dime – and communicated with Miller in-game on how best to navigate pick-and-roll actions.

While Scarborough put up a strong fight, things started to slip in the third quarter when Smith’s steal fueled a transition dunk by Quincy Guerrier (11 points and 10 rebounds) to push the lead up to 14 points, forcing a Scarborough timeout.

Scarborough had 20 turnovers, eight more than Montreal in the game.

If today’s loss is discounted, Scarborough has more momentum going into Thursday’s game as they will be playing in their fifth consecutive home game. Before today, they defeated the Calgary Surge, blew out the top-seeded Eastern Conference Niagara River Lions, and put up a fight against the CEBL’s best team, Vancouver Bandits, on Friday night.

Though today’s win was a relief for the Alliance, they are 2-5 in their last seven games and came into the game on a three-game losing streak.

Thursday remains the biggest test for both teams.

Up next for both teams:

The two teams will face each other again in the Eastern Conference Play-In on Thursday, August 14.

Next CEBL action:

Right after the Eastern Conference Play-In, the Calgary Surge (16-7) will host their provincial rival Edmonton Stingers (14-9) at WinSport Event Centre.

Both conference semifinals will be on Saturday, August 16. Championship Weekend will follow with the conference finals taking place on Friday, August 22, and Finals on Sunday, August 24.