Edmonton and Calgary renew rivalry with spot in Championship Weekend on the line
Published
The fourth and final spot in Championship Weekend will once again be decided by the CEBL’s Battle of Alberta.
The Edmonton Stingers (13-7) are hosting the Calgary Surge (11-9) tonight at 6 p.m. MT / 8 p.m. ET at the Edmonton EXPO Centre on TSN. The game will also be shown live on NLSE in the United States, and available for streaming on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN+, Courtside 1891 and on the CEBL mobile app for iOS and Android devices.
It marks the second year in a row that Edmonton and Calgary have met in the playoffs. In their first season in Calgary, the Surge eliminated the Stingers by 16-points at home in last year’s Western Conference Semifinal — booking their spot in 2023 Championship Weekend, where they ultimately lost to the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the CEBL Final.
This season, however, Calgary needed to hold off a furious rally by the Winnipeg Sea Bears on Friday night to earn a place in the West Semifinal. The Surge, despite blowing an 18-point lead, rallied in Target Score Time to squeak out an 84-82 victory.
“We didn’t give up, we took a punch… they kept jabbing at us and we never bailed out,” said Surge head coach Tyrell Vernon after the game.
Mathieu Kamba, who averaged a little more than 13 points per game in 19 regular season games, went off for a game-high 27 points on 55 per cent shooting from the field. Sean Miller-Moore, a returnee from last season’s runner-up squad, also chipped in with a 13-point, 14-rebound double-double.
The Surge held MVP candidate Justin Wright-Foreman to 20 points and two three pointers on 12 attempts. The Brooklyn, New York native led the league in points per game during the regular season, and shot better than 45 per cent from deep in his second year in the CEBL.
Calgary may be fresh off a thrilling victory in front of their home fans. But the Stingers are well rested, having played only two games since July 18 — victories over Saskatchewan and Winnipeg — and are seeking their first home playoff victory since winning Championship Weekend in Edmonton three years ago.
“Being able to host a playoff game with an opportunity to get to Championship Weekend is very exciting for our team,” said head coach Jordan Baker, who was a member of Edmonton’s CEBL championship-winning squads in 2020 and 2021.
Calgary and Edmonton split four meetings in the regular season. And home court advantage did not play a factor in the final score, as the road team won every matchup. Edmonton took the first two meetings of the year in Calgary — including the season-opener at the Scotiabank Saddledome — while Calgary responded by swiping the last two in the Alberta capital.
The last time these two teams met, almost one month ago, the Surge handed Edmonton their worst defeat of the season, a 29-point loss where only two Stingers (Nick Hornsby and Ben Krikke) registered double figures. But that game did not feature Trey McGowens, who joined Edmonton halfway through the season and ended up leading the team in points per game (15.7).
Offensively, though, expect the Stingers to rely on multiple contributors. Including McGowens, Edmonton had six players average more than double figures. Brody Clarke and Hornsby, who combined for 28 points and 18 rebounds in last season’s Western Conference Semifinal loss to the Surge, are once again expected to play key roles on both sides of the court.
They will be tasked with slowing down the duo of Kamba and Corey Davis Jr., who set a CEBL record with 124 assists in the regular season and finished fourth in steals (1.6). The two combined for 50 points in Friday’s victory over the Sea Bears.
Statistically, Calgary and Edmonton rank neck-and-neck in many major categories including points per game (91.6 and 91.0, respectively), assists (21.4 and 20.7) and rebounds (36.9 and 37.2). But the Surge hold a distinct edge beyond the arch. In the regular season, as a team, Calgary led the CEBL in three-point shooting percentage (37.9), nearly four points better than Edmonton (34.4).
The Surge shot 36 per cent from deep on Friday night, with Davis Jr. leading the game with five triples. Kamba also knocked down three threes.
The winner of tonight’s game will move on to play the Vancouver Bandits in the Western Conference Final at Championship Weekend in Montréal on August 9.