The Ottawa BlackJacks chase for the Canadian Elite Basketball League championship was put to an end by the Scarborough Shooting Stars, marking the second year in a row the capital city has been eliminated by the Toronto suburb.
The BlackJacks dropped Sunday’s playoff game 112-81 at Centre Slush Puppie in Gatineau, dashing their hope for a 2025 playoff run. Without five key players, the BlackJacks couldn’t tame the Shooting Stars offensive firepower, which recorded the most single-game playoff points in league history.
“When we have our team, we’re really good,” Ottawa head coach Mike DeAveiro said in a post-game scrum. “For (a) shorthanded (game), I’m really proud of the guys that we had on the floor, and we were competing right to the end.”
The BlackJacks played without league-leading scorer Javonte Smart, who reported to Team USA for the upcoming FIBA Americup, while sixth-man of the year nominee Zane Waterman and guard Keevan Veinot both reported to their overseas clubs. Hours before tipoff, Isaih Moore was sidelined with an injury, and Deng Adel was ruled out for personal reasons.
“That’s the [league] — you have to know that people are going to be leaving at the end of the year,” DeAviero said. “You try to prepare as best as you can.”
Although the BlackJacks played without many stars, they refused to go down without a fight. Ottawa suited up an all-Canadian starting lineup and came out running to a quick 9-0 lead.
But the Shooting Stars were not throwing in the towel early, as they slowly climbed back to tie the game at 21. Star Donovan Williams said the early deficit didn’t really surprise him, and that it came down to testing their unfamiliar opponents.
“We didn’t know who was starting until 10 minutes before the game and didn’t know who they had until this morning,” Williams said.
David Walker was a new addition for the BlackJacks. He joined the nation’s capital strong, opening his debut with eight points in the first. Walker finished with a team-high 19 points.
In front of friends and family, Gatineau native Justin Ndjock-Tadjoré added eight of his own to keep the BlackJacks within striking distance. They trailed by one at the end of the frame.
The teams kept trading buckets in the second, but a BlackJacks cold streak stopped them in their tracks on the scoreboard, failing to convert on four straight offensive possessions. Unfortunately for the BlackJacks, their defensive play couldn’t save them, as they conceded a quick 8-0 run and widened their deficit to 10.
A mid-quarter push from the BlackJacks saw the University of Ottawa’s Brock Newton record his first CEBL points. But the visitors continued to push the game out of reach heading into halftime.
The Shooting Stars did not hold back in the second half, opening Ottawa’s defensive plan for uncontested shots all over the floor. Scarborough adjusted to outscore Ottawa 60-39 in the second half en route to their dominant 112 point performance.
“We had to come in at halftime and make some adjustments — we started playing more inside-out instead of outside-in,” Williams said. “The game is about adjustments.”
Williams led the charge for Scarborough, scoring a game-high 27 points in the win.
But the visitors scored by committee on Sunday, with seven of their eight players recording double digits.
Although Ottawa’s championship run fizzled out, DeAveiro said he is proud of all players who sported the BlackJacks uniform this season.
“We saw what we can accomplish when we have everybody, but today, obviously shorthanded, those guys played and left everything,” he said.
The loss wraps up DeAveiro’s first season as the bench boss for the BlackJacks. DeAveiro will head back to coach the Toronto Metropolitan University Bold in the fall with hopes to return to the nation’s capital next summer.
“I learned a lot in my first year and hopefully get an opportunity to come back with that knowledge,” he said.
DeAveiro added he is hoping for more opportunities to host in Gatineau.
“I hope we come back here and play more games if there’s a way to work it out … I’d love it,” he said.
Scarborough will move on in the playoffs to face defending champions, the Niagara River Lions, in a single-elimination eastern conference final in Winnipeg next weekend.
In the western conference, Calgary will face Winnipeg to determine who ends up in the championship game.
“We’ve been there before in that game, we understand who they are,” Scarborough head coach Mike De Giorgio told reporters after the game. “They’re a championship pedigree, and to be the champ, you’ve got to beat the champ.”
Featured image by Matt Zambonin/Freestyle Photography
