Shooting Stars Edge BlackJacks in School Day Thriller
Published
A deliberate foul was made by the Scarborough Shooting Stars to gain possession of the ball.
The Ottawa Blackjacks were up 86-85 with the target score set at 87, but Scarborough’s import guard Yuri Collins iced the game with a clutch pull-up mid-range jumper in today’s School Day game – Scarborough’s first home game of the season.
Today’s matinee ended in a coin flip. Ottawa inched within two points by the end of the first half, and the constant back-and-forth made for entertaining basketball in front of 1,205 fans. The kids who came from 19 different schools got to witness competitive basketball.
Scarborough pushed an up-tempo style in the first half. Collins pushed an uncomfortable pace at times, it even resulted in some turnovers. When it worked, however, it led to a 3-point attempt in less than three seconds. They attempted 17 three-pointers in the first half (five made) and finished the game 10-for-30 beyond the
Ottawa had four more turnovers than Scarborough, and Scarborough was plus-two in points off turnovers.Right before Target Time, Ottawa’s star Deng Adel, who led all scorers with 26 points, had answered with back-to-back baskets. Tyrell Tate then hit two free throws to tie the game at 78 apiece, making it anyone’s game.
“We’ve been in two close games now and we’ve come up short in both,” said Ottawa’s head coach Dave DeAveiro about his desire to get his team to play better in Target Time.
Scarborough is now 2-0 to start the season, but head coach Mike DeGiorgio recognized the importance of not settling for three-point shots.
“I think we got to focus on getting paint touches before we shoot the three,” he said about the problem when the ball just swings around the arc. “Once we started focusing on getting to the paint and hitting the kick-out corner threes, those are the ones we ended up making down the stretch.”
What helped propel Scarborough to its second victory was Scarborough’s leading scorer Donovan Williams (23 points) and his sparkling shoes coming off the bench in Target Time.
Williams was sidelined in the fourth due to racking up four fouls. He instantly made his presence felt with back-to-back buckets, the second one resulting in an and-one