Game Three: Despite loss, community welcomes back Shooting Stars in lively home opener
Anticipation and buzz filled the air in Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre on a warm Friday evening.
After two road games to start and a nearly seven-month offseason, the Scarborough Shooting Stars are back home to face the Winnipeg Sea Bears.
Excitement for the team’s return was noticeable even before tip-off. During the game, every Scarborough shot and defensive effort was celebrated by the loud, energetic sellout crowd.
Despite enduring deficits as high as 28, the Shooting Starts refused to relent with the score 89–74 entering Target Score Time.
A series of back-to-back scoring runs brought the audience to its feet as Scarborough mounted a late fourth quarter surge led by the duo of Cat Barber and Jalen Harris.
It’s a pairing that has fit in seamlessly as Scarborough’s offensive cornerstone early this season.
“I don’t think…I know we’re the best backcourt in the league,” said Harris about building immediate chemistry with Barber.
Harris led the Shooting Stars with 25 points and five rebounds in his return after missing the previous game to attend a Utah Jazz minicamp.
With less than four minuites to play, a Kalif Young slam dunk propelled Scarborough to go on a 19–4 run to tie it all up at 93.
Winnipeg took a timeout and it seemed like the comeback was inevitable.
In the end, a quick three from A.J Hess put the Sea Bears back on top.
Barber and Harris both missed potential game-tying threes before Winnipeg’s (and former Shooting Star) Teddy Allen sealed it with a lay-up to win 98–93.
For his part, Allen’s 42 points tied the CEBL record for most points in a game.
“It’s good for the city, we showed a lot of fight,” Harris said about the team’s performance. “This is just a start. It’s about absorbing the hit, bouncing back [and] punching back.”
The loss drops Scarborough to 1–2. However, much like last year’s home opener loss to the then-Hamilton Honey Badgers, the score was almost secondary.
“Season II” and “Run It Back” graced the shirts of staff and fans lucky enough to snag the giveaway, and its message rings true for the special night and the season ahead.
“We’re bringing light here that was already shining in Scarborough,” said Shooting Stars head coach Chris Exilus. “This team and this franchise is much bigger than us.”
The same fervor that surrounded the 2022 inaugural season was alive and well, sustained by careful attention to nurturing the hyperlocal, community-driven identity and reaffirming the commitment to building a winner.
Even without a J.Cole-like celebrity this time around or the shine of being the new franchise on the block, there’s confidence in the foundations of the original vision: sustain and celebrate pro basketball in Toronto’s east end.
As it was last year, the goal was to have the CEBL in this basketball hotbed and ensure the team was becoming a community institution — a priority for local co-owners Niko Carino, a founder of OVO (October’s Very Own), and Arrow Group CEO Sam Ibrahim.
Carino, who spoke with fans while the Shooting Stars warmed up, was raised not too far from Pan Am Sports Centre. His influence through OVO and a willingness to combine the basketball business side with his longstanding brand are testaments to plans for the franchise’s longevity, as well as his personal stake in the team.
This is made evident by management committed to building an immediate contender with adding the likes of Barber and Thomas Kennedy in the offseason, the passionate fans filling the arena and even the sought-after OVO collaborations for the merchandise.
While J.Cole helped elevate the franchise into the deeper realms of pop culture, it’s the cultivated community and team success that continue to thrive in season two.
As for the 1–2 start, Exilus reminds fans and the media that it’s only three games into the season.
Moving forward, he said the team needs to execute more efficiently throughout the game and play tighter defence.
“Play a complete game and be better,” he said. “That’s the key part of it. We had some conversations in that locker room and talking is now over.”
Preparations for the Sunday match-up will be immediate, Exilus said. He wants the fight he saw at the end of this game to translate into a more consistent effort against the Saskatchewan Rattlers (1–1) on June 4.
“We got to start embracing what this community is all about every single day and be the true Scarborough team we know we can be.”
