Calgary Surge head back to CEBL finals vying for their 1st championship
It’s deja vu for the Calgary Surge.
The Canadian Elite Basketball League club is heading back to championship weekend with a matchup against the Western Conference’s top seeded Vancouver Bandits — a team they beat to get to the league’s title game last year — set for Friday night.
Win, and the quest for a banner in only the Surge’s second year of existence continues. But the team isn’t focused on that game, not yet, anyway.
“For us, it’s game by game,” said head coach Tyrell Vernon. “Do we have a ton of talent in the room to do it? I think everybody that’s left has enough talent to do it. We just need to take away the stuff that we need to take away.”
This isn’t the same team that fell buckets short of a title last year. A new head coach, new signings and a 0-3 start forced the Surge to be resilient and find ways to claw back and win from behind a number of times throughout the regular season.
And this year’s path to championship weekend looked a lot different than it did in 2023. The ball club was the top ranked seed and automatically clinched a quarterfinal berth last year.
Heading into the postseason sitting third in the standings in the 2024 campaign, the Calgary Surge had to earn their spot in the playoffs in a play-in match against the Winnipeg Sea Bears.
Up by 18 at halftime, Calgary looked to have victory in the bag.
But this is basketball — specifically, the CEBL, where target time prevails and nothing is guaranteed.
The Sea Bears chipped away at the Surge’s lead, eventually tying the game during target time.
“We took a punch, the punch wasn’t immediate, it wasn’t a 20-point run right away, it was gradual jabs,” Vernon said after that game.
“But we never bailed out.”
For those unfamiliar with the CEBL and target time, here’s a breakdown: At the first stoppage of play with four minutes or less left on the game clock, the time stops and a target score is set by adding nine points to the leading team’s score.
During that period of play, the Sea Bears tied the game at 82-82, due in part to a couple of untimely turnovers.
Seemingly out of nowhere, it was next basket wins at Calgary’s WinSport arena.
“Nerve-racking,” Vernon said. “But at the same time, we never gave up.”
With the season on the line, hometown kid Mathieu Kamba came up with a steal. The ball found its way into the hands of Corey Davis Jr., who drove down the sideline, pulled up for a jumper; sinking the ball and the Sea Bears’ season, and setting up a provincial showdown with the Edmonton Stingers.
“It’s just about someone taking the lead and then everybody else coming along,” Kamba said after the victory against Winnipeg. “We stuck it out with a resilient team and that’s really all I can say.”
That mentality carried through against Edmonton on Sunday. There were no real signs of fatigue from the game against Winnipeg.
The Calgarians took care of business against their Alberta rivals, leaning on big man Jordy Tshimanga, who was a rebounding force during the contest, to lead them to a nine-point victory.
The Edmonton Stingers almost found a way back during target time, coming within eight points of the Surge. But a final layup from Sean (Rugzy) Miller-Moore ultimately won the game for Calgary and sent the team into the Western Conference final.
“To go into a really packed barn full of Stinger fans and essentially dominate that second half and move on to the next one was incredible,” said Calgary Surge president and vice-chairman Jason Ribeiro.
“But there’s still a job to finish and winning two games on our quest for a championship.”
Tip off against Vancouver is Friday at 3:30 p.m. The winner of that game will advance to the final against either the host Montreal Alliance or the Niagara River Lions.
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