Cinderella story continues, Sea Bears bounce Bandits in Conference Final

Just days ago, the Winnipeg Sea Bears were at rock bottom.

The losses had piled up, and the star talent had dwindled. The noise around the club grew, and the confidence from outside the building faded by the day.

Players and coaches alike conveyed the belief that persisted internally, but you wouldn’t fault some fans if those words fell on deaf ears.

Less than a week later, the undermanned and underestimated Sea Bears find themselves two wins away from the tippy top of the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s mountain after a second-straight convincing playoff victory, this time a 107-96 decision over the Vancouver Bandits in the Western Conference Final at the Langley Events Centre in British Columbia on Saturday.

The Cinderella-like post-season run continues for a club that has rewritten its history books twice in one week, winning the first playoff game in the franchise’s four-year history and now securing its first-ever trip to the CEBL championship.

And as this story would have it, it was the one-time standout of Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute and University of Manitoba Bisons, Simon Hildebrandt, who delivered a career-high 24 points to help lift a Sea Bears squad that continued to play without three of its starters.

“It was a really big team performance,” said Hildebrandt, who made four three-pointers and hauled down three rebounds while playing a game-high 36:19. “That next-man-up mentality, we were not only missing guys, we had a lot of guys in foul trouble early, and we had so many guys come in and give big contributions to help us get that win.”

Winnipeg will face the Brampton Honey Badgers in a best-of-three series for the CEBL crown. The Sea Bears will head to Ontario for Game 1 on Wednesday (6 p.m. CT), then return home for Game 2 on Saturday and Game 3 (if necessary) on Sunday.

It’s the third championship appearance for the Honey Badgers franchise, which won it all in 2022. Brampton dethroned the two-time defending champion Niagara River Lions 91-81 in the Eastern Conference Final earlier on Saturday.

“It means a lot,” Hildebrandt said. “We’ve battled a lot of adversity this year. It’s been our goal since Day 1. We talked about what we had to do to make the finals, so playing as a true team today, we made it work.”

The chips were stacked against the Sea Bears for the second game in a row, returning to the place they suffered a disheartening defeat to end the regular season and facing a team that didn’t have any glaring weaknesses.

Not only did Winnipeg not fold, but it controlled this hand for much of the contest, despite facing more unfavourable circumstances.

Six players, including every starter, finished in double digits for the Sea Bears in what was one of the club’s most complementary performances of the summer. Xavier Moon (24 points), Trey McGowens (18), DJ Burns (14), Isiah Osborne (13) and Jelani Watson-Gayle (11 points off the bench) all played north of 20 minutes and made the most of their time on the floor.

“It’s just a testament to the work that we put in,” said Moon, who is seeking the third CEBL championship of his illustrious career. “We all put in extra work before and after practice, and it showed tonight. Everybody contributed, and we’re going to need this same type of effort going into Brampton.”

The Sea Bears led 28-25 after a high-octane first quarter on the strength of being opportunistic, with seven points coming off Vancouver’s five turnovers. Xavier Moon shouldered the offensive load early on, notching 10 of Winnipeg’s first 16 points.

However, Moon picked up three fouls in the opening frame, which forced head coach Mike Raimbault to manage his star guard’s minutes. Moon played just two seconds in the second quarter, and that was because the Sea Bears held their own without the three-time MVP on the floor.

Burns, who is the energy source for the team, also got into foul trouble, which thrust Kyler Filewich into more playing time.

“It was real tough,” said Moon, who tied Hildebrandt with 24 points. “Not being able to play, just sitting on the bench, but I’m trying to stay engaged, keep the guys as focused as I can, and then once I get back in there, I was just trying to keep doing what I was doing in the first quarter.”

Osborne began to heat up in the second quarter, scoring seven points out of the break and connecting on another triple later in the frame. McGowens, who did not make the trip out west last Sunday, also chipped in with seven points in the frame, which lifted the visitors to a 49-46 lead at halftime.

Winnipeg maintained a three-point lead at the end of the third quarter, and increased that advantage to 10 within the first two minutes of the final frame.

A critical stretch ensued as the Bandits quickly cut the deficit to two and then Hildebrandt hit a momentum-hauling triple and followed up on the next possession with a high-effort put-back over three Bandits’ plays to restore a seven-point advantage for the Sea Bears.

With every punch the Bandits delivered in an attempt to close the gap, the Sea Bears responded.

The most deflating reply came just before Target Score Time, when Moon splashed a step-back three-pointer over Jarell Eddie and drew the foul. He converted on the ensuing free throw to give the Sea Bears an 11-point lead, which they maintained into the deciding period.

After a pair of empty possessions, Osborne drilled a triple from the wing to send the Sea Bears to the championship.

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Physicality has been an issue for the Sea Bears against the Bandits in the last three meetings, but Winnipeg corrected those issues enough on this night.

Forward Tyrese Samuel was nearly a non-factor with nine points, while the Sea Bears limited reigning MVP Mitch Creek to 19 points.

The bulk of the scoring came from guards Shamar Givance (21 points) and Tevin Brown (19), who kept the Bandits in the game at many points with five makes from beyond the arc.

“It feels great. We were definitely a little undermanned, so just having that next man up mentality was just unbelievable,” said Hildebrandt. “We can’t wait to come home and play in front of the Winnipeg fans.”

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Joshua Frey-Sam
Reporter

Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.

Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.