Shooting Stars end losing streak with road win over Rattlers

A convincing second-half performance lifted the Scarborough Shooting Stars past the Saskatchewan Rattlers on Friday (June 13) to snap a three-game losing streak.

Scarborough guard Donovan Williams said the win was especially important.

“Off of a three-game losing streak, you want to gain that confidence back – especially on the road,” Williams said. “Picking up a win right here now, it just gives us that confidence of going to Calgary to pick up one more.”

The return of Cat Barber helped the Shooting Stars regain winning form to improve their record to 4-3 on the season. 

Barber scored four of his 19 points in Target Score Time, banking in the game-winner from mid-range to seal the 101-93 victory at SaskTel Centre.

The dynamic duo of Barber and Williams proved difficult for the Rattlers to stop. After the game, Williams welcomed Barber back. 

“It feels good… when you have somebody that dynamic,” Williams said in a post-game interview. “For us as a team, [Cat’s] our engine. So having him back –  I mean, that does a lot for us. The defence has to focus on him, they gotta focus on me, and we got all these pieces around us to help us win these games.”

In Scarborough’s seven-point win over Saskatchewan at home on May 29, Williams netted a game-high 34 points. He followed up that performance with another stellar 26-point outing on Friday, showcasing a mix of long-range shooting and rim-rocking finishes.

“Donovan and Cat really pushed the pace for us. I mean, Donovan was relentless getting into the rim. Every time he puts pressure on the rim, it just puts a lot of pressure on the defence,” Shooting Stars’ head coach Michael De Giorgio said.

The Shooting Stars were efficient offensively in the win, finishing at 52 per cent from the floor, 41 per cent from three and 82 per cent from the free throw line.

Scarborough won the battles in the paint and off the bench as well, but it was a big run towards the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth that created separation in a tight game.

De Giorgio said the inside finishing helped extend the lead in the second half. 

“I thought in the second half, we did a way better job on the glass. We limited their easy buckets, and then we were able to run out and get transition buckets,” he said. 

On the other side, Jamir Chaplin helped cut the deficit to single digits four times in the final quarter but it wasn’t enough to earn Saskatchewan’s first home win of the season. Chaplin scored a team-high 25 points in the loss. 

“I just tried to attack, attack, attack. Let the threes come to me and try to get to the free throw line as best as I can,” Chaplin said.

Saskatchewan head coach Eric Magdanz said the team needs to do a better job stopping transition offence and be more aggressive defensively. 

“We wanted to get the ball out of Donovan Williams’ hands and I think in the half court, we did a good job of that. I think we didn't do a good job of stopping the ball in transition,” Magdanz said,.

The Shooting Stars opened the game by rocking the rim with three consecutive dunks from different players before Nate Pierre-Louis got in on the action with a slam of his own.  Scarborough maintained a lead for the bulk of the quarter, fueled by efficient 64 per cent shooting from the field and 60 per cent from beyond the arc.

Trailing by three to begin the second, Cody John connected from the corner to tie it at 23. Several possessions later, John drilled another corner three to give the Rattlers their first lead of the night and force a De Giorgio timeout.

John and the Rattlers stayed hot throughout the second, but Scarborough hit timely triples of its own. The teams traded leads five times in the closing minutes of the quarter, and a buzzer-beating putback jam from Hason Ward inched the Shooting Stars ahead by two after 20 minutes. 

Saskatchewan regained the lead early in the third with a long-range connection from Grant Anticevich. However, the Shooting Stars struck back and maintained control for the majority of the quarter. 

Williams showed off his high-flying finishing ability with a pair of massive dunks, including one slam that kicked off an 8-2 run to close the quarter.

The Shooting Stars extended the run to begin the fourth and went ahead by 11 points. Chaplin cut the deficit back to six points with a steal and slam to force a De Giorgio timeout, but Scarborough bounced back right away. 

Heading into Target Score Time, the Shooting Stars carried a 92-83 advantage.  Ward tipped in the first bucket of the final stretch for Scarborough before Chaplin buried a three and John nailed a floater to cut it back to single digits. 

From there, Williams and Barber put the finishing touches on the win. Williams euro-stepped through contact for an and-one before Barber iced it with the final four points.