Scarborough Beats Brampton in Battle of GTA Rivals

The Scarborough Shooting Stars defeated the Brampton Honey Badgers 82-69 at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre on Saturday night in a battle of the top two Eastern Conference teams. The win keeps them atop the Eastern Conference and extends their home winning streak to an undefeated 6-0.

Coming off a loss in which star guard Myles Powell didn’t play due to injury, the Shooting Stars found themselves in a similar predicament. Halfway through the second quarter, Powell was ejected from the game due to a disagreement with the ref, leaving Scarborough having to fend off a hungry Honey Badgers team without their star. 

The two catalysts that Scarborough looked towards: Frank Mitchell and Javan Johnson. Mitchell ended the game with 14 points and a CEBL league record 22 rebounds including a ridiculous 16 offensive boards. Johnson dropped a game high 19 points to go along with four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

“It was a great team win for sure. Myles went out earlier so we had to step up as a collective group,” said Johnson. 

Johnson is a great example of the type of player on this roster that sits at a CEBL best 11-2 record. Always known as a scorer, he’s taken on tough defensive assignments and led the team in minutes played.

“We can score with the best but we’ve got to defend to win games,” said Johnson. “That’s something I’ve definitely been trying to perfect and get better.”

Scarborough held CEBL MVP candidate Sean East II to 14 points on 27% shooting and the league's leading 3pt shooter in Cameron Tyson to zero points and 0/6 from three. 

One aspect of Scarborough's game that hasn’t wavered all year has been their rebounding. They are the number one team in the league in both offensive and defensive boards, and to go along with Mitchell’s record breaking night, Aamir Simms and Charles Bediako also posted 10 rebounds each. 

“The hardest part of summer basketball sometimes is having guys come from these contracts and big money deals and compete every possession,” said head coach Tyrell Vernon. “This group holds each other accountable to competing every possession.”

It’s not just the starting lineup either. With Powell down, Kellen Tynes got some more minutes and played fantastically. He locked down East II and stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with 11 points, four rebounds, five points, four steals and two blocks.