Playoff Preview: Shooting Stars Take on River Lions in Round One
Shorthanded Scarborough Set For First Playoff Test
By Eli Silverstone
The Scarborough Shooting Stars (20-4) are set to take on the Niagara River Lions (10-14) in a first round playoff matchup tomorrow night at the Toronto Pan Am Centre. Tip off is set for 7:30 pm
The Shooting Stars had a wildly successful regular season, breaking the CEBL single-season wins record when they secured their 20th win in 24 games in a victory against Brampton on Monday. But it came at a cost, an on-court altercation has led to key players Frank Mitchell, Terquavion Smith and Javan Johnson suspended for tomorrow's matchup.
Scarborough won the season series against Niagara 3-1, but all three wins were close, resulting in the series point differential only favouring Scarborough by +15. Niagara defeated Scarborough in the eastern conference semifinals last season en route to their second straight CEBL championship.
"Yeah those games were very physical, low scoring... and they could go on shooting runs similar to how we do," said Scarborough head coach Tyrell Vernon.
Without their second and third leading scorers in Johnson and Smith, the focus will shift to CEBL MVP candidate Myles Powell and the Shooting Stars strong depth. Powell averaged 22.9 points this past season and 20.5 in Scarborough's four games against Niagara. The CEBL steals leader Kellen Tynes will replace Smith in the backcourt, forming a strong pairing with Powell.
"We have a lot of guys that I feel like any other team in the league - and that's no disrespect to them - but could play a lot of minutes on any other team in the league," said Tynes.
Tynes and Scarborough forward Akoi Yuot will likely get the Khalil Ahmad assignment, Niagara's scariest asset. Ahmad is the CEBL's all-time leading scorer and has hit 18 more Target Score winners than the next closest player (30 in total). Powell hit nine Target Score winners himself this season, setting up for a wild finish if this game is close in Target Time. This River Lions roster is not as strong as the past two years when they went back-to-back, but in a one game playoff format, Ahmad and Niagara still pose dangerous.
The biggest disparity amongst these teams is on the boards. Scarborough dominated the CEBL all season in that category, with the difference between them and second place in rebounds (108 total boards) larger than the difference between second place and and tenth place (103). Niagara was that tenth and last place team when it came to rebounds, struggling to find consistent big man play all season.
Niagara has honestly struggled to find impact players all season in the first year under Kimbal Mackenzie, a member of the 2024 and 2025 champion teams as a player. 34 year old guard Kyle Vinales is the next man up behind Ahmad, and has played very well in his first nine games of the CEBL, averaging 16 points and making almost three triples a night on 43.6% shooting from behind the arc.
With Johnson out, Scarborough's leader in minutes per game at over 30+, expect strong wing defenders such as Yuot, Michael Foster jr, and Anthony Walker to fill those shoes.
Shooting Stars vs River Lions. Will it be another crushing playoff loss to Niagara or will Scarborough's dream season live on.