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Calgary, Scarborough square off in Sunday’s CEBL championship final

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Scarborough Shooting Stars’ Kalif Young, right, protects the ball against Niagara River Lions’ A.J. Davis during the Canadian Elite Basketball League Eastern Conference final in Langley, B.C. in this Friday, Aug. 11, 2023 handout photo. (CP/HO-Canadian Elite Basketball League)

LANGLEY, B.C. — As the final buzzer sounded and the Scarborough Shooting Stars claimed the Canadian Elite Basketball League championship, their MVP said his mind went blank with shock.

Isiaha Mike helped Scarborough secure the title, tallying 22 points and nine rebounds as the Shooting Stars avenged last year’s final loss to beat the Calgary Surge 82-70 on Sunday night at the Langley Events Centre.

“I have no idea (what went through my mind), I was just happy. It was kind of surreal and I’m trying to experience every second of this while it lasts,” Mike said after the game.

Scarborough went 29-for-68 from the field in the win as Cat Barber chipped in with 23 points.

“He’s an exceptional talent and he’s done great things for us all year-round. He’s a gamer,” said Scarborough coach Chris Exilus about Barber. “But there are so many people connected with this win. That’s what makes it so special.”

Jordy Tshimanga led the Surge with 15 points and 15 rebounds.

The Shooting Stars, who never held the lead in the first quarter, grabbed it early in the second and never gave it up.

The Shooting Stars finished the CEBL’s regular season with an 11-9 record, good enough for third in the East. They advanced to Sunday’s showdown with a 74-71 win on Friday over the league’s top-ranked Niagara River Lions in the Eastern Conference final.

Last season’s 90-88 loss to the Brampton Honey Badgers fuelled Scarborough throughout the season, both Mike and Exilus said.

“It means everything. To lose last year was heartbreaking but I’m not even worried right now,” said Mike.

The Shooting Stars’ championship run was bolstered by a stingy defence that did not allow more than 74 points to an opponent in the playoffs.

“We really executed our planning (on defence.) This team really understood that’s how we were going to play. Defence wins championships,” said Exilus.

The ability to bounce back from last season’s loss highlights the team’s resiliency, Exilus added.

The Surge topped the West with a 12-8 regular-season record, but went 27-for-71 from the field in the final, with Tshimanga bagging 10 points in the first quarter but then only adding five throughout the rest of the game.

“Scarborough did a great job defensively,” said Surge head coach Nelson Terroba. “They’re just a good team and well-coached. Our guys fought and I wouldn’t take another group in any other league or any other place than our guys.”

The Guelph Knighthawks, who relocated to Calgary in August 2022 to become the Surge, have had a superb season playing in Alberta. Terroba said the loss doesn’t take away from how his team has developed over the course of a season.

“Everyone has their own way of recovering and grieving,” he said. “For us, we wanted to win. We’re all disappointed. There’s no way around it. But there’s also truth in that this has been an impressive season for these young players.

“They can have pride in what they accomplished and they can accept there’s more work to do for what they want in terms of their next goals.”

The game ended on the “Elam Ending” rule where the game clock is stopped with four minutes or less in the fourth quarter. Timed play ends and a target score is set, equal to the leading team’s score plus nine. The target score for the championship game was set at 81.

The rule is named after American academic Nick Elam.

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Canada’s Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Routliffe pick up second win at WTA Finals

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.

The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.

Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.

The final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

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EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Mahomes throws 3 TD passes, unbeaten Chiefs beat Buccaneers 30-24 in OT

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.

Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.

Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.

Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.

It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.

Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.

Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.

The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”

Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.

The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.

Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.

UP NEXT

Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Chiefs: Host the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

AP NFL:

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