It’s ring night in Scarborough.

The reigning champion Shooting Stars will receive their 2023 title bling ahead of a game against their rival Brampton Honey Badgers on Friday at 8 p.m. ET. Live broadcast coverage is available on Game+ and Next Level Sports Entertainment, while streaming coverage can be found on Game+, TSN+ and CEBL+.

But as the Shooting Stars receive shiny new toys, it’s the return of a teammate which might be the biggest story.

Cat Barber, who averaged 21.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game during Scarborough’s playoff run, is rejoining the team after finishing out his season in Portugal with a loss in the finals.

Barber, the 29-year-old American, finished last season as the CEBL’s all-time leading scorer, including playoffs, but was recently overtaken by Montreal’s Ahmed Hill.

He comes to a Scarborough team still searching for its championship form. At 4-4, the Shooting Stars sit second in a middling Eastern Conference, but they also recently reincorporated another starter from last year’s squad in forward Kalif Young.

The Honey Badgers, meanwhile, enter the game at 3-7 after snapping a seven-game losing streak by beating the Montreal Alliance on Wednesday.

Brampton credited an open team meeting following its seventh loss for turning things around and adding an extra dose of desperation to its play.

“It’s about us trying to get better every single day,” Honey Badgers head coach Sheldon Cassimy said after the victory over the Alliance. “So not being complacent, going back and seeing the things we could do better and also the things that we did well and trying to continue to do that.”

Now, suddenly, the Honey Badgers could get right back in the playoff mix with a victory over the Shooting Stars, who’ve dropped two straight after piling up four consecutive wins.

Key matchup

The return of Barber to the Shooting Stars adds yet another element of athleticism to the team.

It’ll be incumbent upon Honey Badgers guards Javonte Cooke and L.J. Thorpe to slow down Barber at the point of attack.

Brampton has allowed 82 or fewer points in each of its three wins and allows the fourth-fewest points per game overall. If the team can hold its defensive shell, it should put itself in good position to earn a road win.

Player spotlight

As Zane Waterman goes, so go the Honey Badgers. In the five games where Waterman has scored more than 21 points, Brampton is 3-1, while the club is 0-6 in all other contests.

Waterman, the Honey Badgers’ all-time games played leader, has battled foul trouble in some games, thus limiting his minutes. In the team’s last game against Scarborough, he picked up four fouls in just 15 minutes.

But when the North Carolina native stays on the court, Brampton is a completely different team.

Milestone watch

• Scarborough’s Barber needs 30 points to reach 1,000 for his career, regular season only
• Scarborough’s Young is one rebound away from 500 for his career, including playoffs
• Scarborough’s Kadre Gray is 11 assists away from 300 for his career, regular season only

Season series

The Shooting Stars won the first game between the clubs 81-73 in Brampton, but the provincial rivals square off three more times this season, including Friday night.

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About the Brampton Honey Badgers

One of the original franchises of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), the 2022 CEBL Champion Brampton Honey Badgers proudly call the CAA Centre home. The Brampton front office and basketball operations department bring NBA, NBA G League, national team, NCAA and major international pro league experience to the franchise. With a vision of promoting Brampton grassroots basketball and local businesses through community and corporate engagement, the Honey Badgers will leverage the explosion of basketball as a vehicle for innovation and change. For more information visit www.honeybadgers.ca.

About the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) 

A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 75% of its rosters being Canadian and a record 10 players with NBA experience in 2024. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN, TSN+, RDS, Game+, Next Level Sports & Entertainment and Courtside1891. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.