Previewing the four teams at 2022 CEBL Championship Weekend
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The 2022 Canadian Elite Basketball League playoffs are drawing to a close as the league’s Championship Weekend nears. Four teams, including host team Ottawa BlackJacks, will compete for the CEBL championship trophy at TD Place Arena in the nation’s capital.
Each team has had quite the road up to this point as they battle to be crowned champions of Canada’s premier basketball league. Let’s take a look at each team ahead of their matchups, and one player to watch in particular per each squad.
Scarborough Shooting Stars
What a season it’s been for one of the league’s latest expansion teams. The GTA's first franchise in the CEBL has featured a roster of several prolific players, including former Toronto Raptor Jalen Harris. At the start of the season, the team also featured Jermaine Cole, better known as rapper J. Cole.
The Shooting Stars concluded their regular season with a 12-8 record. They beat the Saskatchewan Rattlers at home in their first playoff game as a franchise to punch their ticket to Championship Weekend with a semi-final matchup against the Niagara River Lions. Head coach Chris Exilus led his team in a game that saw back-and-forth scoring between the two teams in the first half, before Scarborough gained momentum in the third quarter from efforts by Harris and Teddy Allen.
Player to watch: Jalen Harris
Harris has been a treat for Scarborough fans this year. Drafted with the No. 59 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Raptors, Harris played an encouraging rookie season for Toronto highlighted by a 31-point performance against his hometown Dallas Mavericks in 2021. However, he was suspended from the NBA for the entirety of the 2021-2022 season for a drug violation.
Harris led Scarborough this season, averaging 20.2 points and 31.7 minutes across 17 games this season. With the potential to be reinstated to the NBA next season, Harris will be hoping to end his first CEBL season off on a strong note at Championship Weekend.
Niagara River Lions
The Niagara River Lions defeated the Guelph Nighthawks in the CEBL quarterfinals to advance to the semis against Scarborough. Niagara was led by forward EJ Onu as well as regular-season scoring champion Khalil Ahmad as the River Lions shot 64 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from three.
Player to watch: EJ Onu
Onu was a bucket in Niagara’s win over Guelph, leading the team with 28 points as well as consecutive three-pointers in the second quarter to spark the River Lions’ takeover. He is also a finalist for the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award, averaging 3.3 blocks per game in the regular season.
Hamilton Honey Badgers
Despite losing three out of their last five games to close out the regular season, the Honey Badgers entered the playoffs as the CEBL’s top-seeded team this year. The team is led by and will look for strong contributions from Ryerson and Raptors 905 alumnus Aaron Best, as well as with guard Christian Vital and forward Caleb Agada.
Player to watch: Christian Vital
Hamilton’s offensive system has been built around the 6’2 guard Vital, who led the team with 17.5 points per game; he also led the entire league in steals with 2.2 per game. After playing with the Raptors in this year’s Summer League, Vital will go into the CEBL’s Championship Weekend as a focal point for the Honey Badgers offence.
Ottawa Blackjacks
Not many are counting the host Blackjacks to have much success this Championship Weekend. They finished eighth in the standings and are the only team in the playoffs with a losing record at 8-12. However, Ottawa finished with three consecutive wins to close out the regular season, including a home win against top-seeded Hamilton. They will count on core players Walt Lemon Jr. as well as Deng Adel and Johnny Berhanemeskel to bring out their best effort in what is going to be an uphill battle against the Honey Badgers.
Player to watch: Walt Lemon Jr.
A former NBA veteran with the New Orleans Pelicans and Chicago Bulls, as well as other G-League and international teams, the 30-year-old Lemon Jr. has played a prominent role in Ottawa’s offense all season long as their primary scoring option as well as second-best assist man in the entire league. The Blackjacks will rely on Lemon Jr. against a stout Hamilton defense.