The Edmonton Stingers are your back to back champions of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. The Stingers pounded the Niagara River Lions 101-65 in the CEBL championship game Sunday. Edmonton jumped out to a 22-12 lead after the first quarter and never looked back behind strong performances from league MVP Xavier Moon (28pts/10ast/4reb) and Jordan Baker (19pts/10ast/6reb).
While many expected the clash between the league’s two best teams from the regular season (Edmonton 13-1, Niagara 10-4) to be a back and forth affair, the Stingers relentless pressure and speed in transition was too much for Niagara to handle. The River Lions entered the contest as one of the hottest teams in the league having won 8 of their last 9 games but had few answers on the defensive side of things against Edmonton.
As is the case with most teams that Dave Smart is involved with, Niagara leaned heavily on current and former Carleton Ravens players with Phil & Thomas Scrubb pacing the River Lions with 17 & 15pts respectively. Outside of the brothers however, Niagara struggled to get much going offensively Sunday with the game appearing to be out of reach midway through the 3rd quarter.
The game was a far cry from the excitement of both team’s semi final matchups, both of which came down to the wire. On Friday Niagara managed to squeeze by Fraser Valley 84-82, while Edmonton got a scare from the lone team who bested them in the regular season, narrowly edging out Ottawa 94-87.
The win gives Edmonton their 2nd CEBL championship in as many years. The Stingers’ star point guard Xavier Moon earned the finals MVP award for his efforts leading all scorers in the contest. He can add this award to his ever expanding CEBL trophy case after taking home his third consecutive league MVP at the CEBL awards ceremony this week. Moon has been named league MVP in the CEBL every year the league has been in operation.
Sunday’s finale wraps up an eventful 2021 CEBL season which saw fans return in limited numbers after the league was forced to operate in a bubble in 2020. Both teams and fans alike are hoping for a return to normalcy when the league kicks off its 2022 season next summer.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner