New-look BlackJacks take down Shooting Stars on the road

The game was over before Target Time.

The addition of Ottawa’s Javonte Smart, Zane Waterman, and Keevan Veinot has put the league on notice. Ottawa is a force to be reckoned with even with Deng Adel out due to injury.

Ottawa had two less turnovers than their 16.3 turnovers they averaged coming into this game. At halftime, they only had five.

The BlackJacks seized control at several pivotal moments throughout the game.

When Ottawa’s head coach Dave DeAveiro’s former university player David Walker made a nice crossover move and a beautiful scoop shot, it seemed like Scarborough was going to make a run. But Isaih Moore answered, and team captain Tyrrel Tate’s two triples built a 13- and 16-point buffer.

“I thought his leadership was good today,” DeAveiro reflected on his team captain’s play today. “When it got kinda crazy a little bit, he settled us down with a big shot or going to the rim and getting a foul. So without his leadership, we’re not successful today.”

More came in the second half. When Tate drew the foul in the third quarter, his two free throws gave Ottawa a 16-point lead.

The biggest play came at the end of the third when Rudi Williams attacked the hoop, and kicked the ball out to Tate in the corner. Tate threw a pump-fake and stepbacked, but unable to find his shot, he whipped a cross-court pass to Justin Jackson whose shot was blocked. Moore got the ball, swung it to Tate who relocated to the top of the arc. His big three-point splash built the lead to 22 points.

Waterman was also pivotal in building up the third quarter lead as he dropped buckets right after halftime.

He made Scarborough pay for leaving him wide open by cashing in a triple. Then, he got into the Terquavion Smith-to-Cat-Barber passing lane and the ball touched Barber’s hand before going out of bounds. Ottawa regained possession, he attacked a closeout from the perimeter and made a lay-up to put Ottawa up 16.

Going into the fourth, it was important for Ottawa to not get comfortable. They wanted to cement their lead after a 24-13 third quarter performance.

"We’ve lost some close games and finishing out a game in the CEBL is one of the hardest things to do, especially with the Target Score ending,” said DeAveiro. “So it’s important for us to – we call it – ‘Stay Solid and Focus.’”

Smith carried the bulk of Scarborough’s scoring in the third quarter. He had a game-high 32 points on 11-for-27 shooting. DeAveiro’s strategy to “keep making every shot difficult for him” seemed to work in the second half as the Shooting Stars relied heavily on iso basketball.

“We didn’t have an assist in the second half, which is not really how we want to play,” lamented Scarborough head coach Mike De Giorgio. “We need to let the ball see multiple hands in a possession.”

In the next game against the East’s best, Niagara River Lions, De Giorgio knows ball movement will be key. “We gotta move the ball. The ball’s gotta see different people, the ball’s gotta see two sides of the court,” he said.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Scarborough, however. Towards the end of the first half, Scarborough seemed to gain momentum when Cat Barber threw a pass into Hason Ward for a bucket. Then, Joirdon Nicholas had a massive chase-down block, leading to a reverse lay-up by Barber. But Ottawa came out of halftime stronger, and Scarborough seemed to wither away, much as they did to Montreal in the previous game.

Smith also had a highlight play in the first quarter that made play-by-play commentator Rod Black yell, “Nooo, he did not! Deep three from the popcorn stand!” After Smart’s deep three ball gave Ottawa a lead, Smith nailed a deep one of his own and drew the foul.

Ottawa refused to cede its double-digit lead tonight and came out victorious. Three starters scored double-digits – Isaih Moore, Javonte Smart, and Zane Waterman. Tyrrel Tate led the bench with 15 points (total bench points: 34 points).