Sea Bears battle Honey Badgers for CEBL crown

Simon Hildebrandt had no arguments when it was suggested that he had put together the best game of his young career.

The Winnipeg Sea Bears’ homegrown forward became a hometown hero on Saturday when he stepped up with a career-high 24 points, including four three-pointers, and three rebounds in a career-high 36:19 of playing time to lift his team to an impressive 107-96 road victory over the Vancouver Bandits in the Western Conference final and send Winnipeg to its first Canadian Elite Basketball League finals in franchise history.

“Definitely up there, for sure. Obviously, a big-time playoff game to get us to the finals. Yeah, definitely up there,” Hildebrandt said after Monday’s practice at Sport for Life Centre.

“Being from Winnipeg and having a chance to do something for the city where I grew up, where I started playing basketball, and have a big impact in a game like that, being from here, it’s so special.”

The 23-year-old was a steady presence throughout the first three quarters, but really established himself in the final frame. He effectively took the game over for a few possessions, connecting on a three-pointer, tipping in his own missed shot on the ensuing possession, and then hitting a tough turnaround as he capped a solo 7-2 run.

“It was awesome,” said Mason Kraus. “You could just see him going at Mitch Creek, one of the best guys in the league, just taking his shots, getting downhill, playing inside out, knocking down the threes and then getting to a spot, and that’s just what Simon does. He had a great game.”

Hildebrandt will continue to be important as Teddy Allen is not expected to play the remainder of the season, and Jeremiah Tilmon Jr. and Emmanuel Akot remain on the reserve roster.

“Man, he’s huge. A hell of a player,” said Xavier Moon. “Can shoot the ball, play inside out, man. He’s a big piece for us, and he stepped up big time in that game against Vancouver.”

Hildebrandt didn’t celebrate for long. The focus has turned to the Eastern Conference champion Brampton Honey Badgers, who the Sea Bears will face for the CEBL crown in the league’s first best-of-three championship series.

The new format will see Winnipeg — which finished with a better record during the regular season — head to Brampton, Ont., for Game 1 on Wednesday (6 p.m. CT), then return home for Game 2 on Saturday (2:30 p.m.) and Game 3 (if necessary) on Sunday (2:30 p.m.).

“He’s a big piece for us, and he stepped up big time in that game against Vancouver.”

The Honey Badgers took both hotly contested meetings against the Sea Bears during the regular season: a 96-92 decision in Ontario in May, and an 88-86 result in Manitoba last month.

Here are three pointers to know ahead of this finals series in the final edition of Beyond the Arc.

 

Impressive debuts

It’s been a remarkable campaign, respectively, for the two men who will boss the benches in this series.

Sea Bears head coach Mike Raimbault and Honey Badgers head coach Alex Cerda have guided their franchises to the final week of the season in their first years helming a pro club.

Raimbault, a product of Brandon who climbed the coaching ranks locally before he spread his wings at the University of Northern British Columbia then returned home to head the Winnipeg Wesmen men’s program — where he’s created one of the most consistent programs in the country over the last 17 years — spent the last three summers as the assistant coach of the Sea Bears before being appointed the head job.

In his inaugural campaign, he has guided Winnipeg to the most regular-season wins in franchise history (14), the first playoff victory in franchise history and the first finals appearance in the club’s four-year history.

“Great guy personally, not just on the court, but off the court,” said D.J. Burns. “I think what means the most for me and for other guys is just having the understanding and the connection off the court. I think that’s one of his best assets.

“Going into the first year, you’re not expecting him to do everything perfect, but he’s pretty much done everything to the best of his ability, and that’s all you could ask for from a coach’s standpoint.”

Raimbault and Cerda’s paths haven’t crossed, as the latter ascended through the U.S. ranks. Cerda got his start as a team manager at his alma mater, the University of Texas, then jumped to the NBA G League, where he’s spent parts of the last decade while briefly making a jump to the NBA as an assistant video co-ordinator with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Now Cerda is looking to deliver the franchise its second title, and first since 2022.

“Even with (the Wesmen), he’s been a leader,” Kraus said of Raimbault.

“He leads his guys, he gets the best out of everyone he has, and he just puts support and just the understanding that, ‘Hey, I believe in you guys, even when this is going tough. I know what we could be, and I’m gonna push us to be there.’ And that’s what he does for me, myself, and everyone on the team, to be honest.

“He just pushes us to be better.”

 

A duel to behold

Get your popcorn ready for this star-studded guard matchup that could very well determine the winner of this series.

Moon and Brampton’s Sean East II are two of the most dangerous floor generals in the CEBL and can control a contest in more ways than one. Both are not only capable passers who see the court as well as anyone, but neither side wants to see the opposing guard get hot.

East II, an MVP runner-up last summer, averaged 22.8 points per game during the regular season and hasn’t skipped a beat in the playoffs, scoring 51 points combined through two contests.

“They have a depth of talent. I think Sean East is as good as anyone in the league at taking over a game at different periods of time,” said Raimbault.

Meanwhile, Moon has been everything the Sea Bears dreamed he would be when he inked a deal last winter. He averaged 20.8 points and 7.6 assists in five regular-season games and is coming off an efficient performance in which he scored 24 points in 25 minutes against the Bandits.

Does it excite Moon more when there’s a guard of East II’s calibre on the other side?

“Absolutely, I’m always looking forward to the competition,” he said.

 

Canadian X-Factors?

Neither side will earn a championship on the play of their guards alone, and both will need to rely on their national talent to push them over the edge.

That’s where Hildebrandt and Brampton’s Matthew Moncrieffe enter the fold.

Both players have been staples in their respective teams’ lineups all summer, and impact games in different ways. Hildebrandt has carved out a role as a big-bodied floor spacer who can knock down shots from deep range. He is averaging 15.5 points per game in the playoffs and is firing at 42.9 per cent from beyond the arc.

“Simon’s been really, really important to us the entire season,” said Raimbault.

“I think he’s done a great job of stepping his game up in the post-season, and you can see his desire to be successful trickle into the rest of the group, and I think everybody’s contribution is going to be important. We’re super excited for some of the growth that we’ve seen in Simon’s game, and we look forward to hopefully seeing some more.”

With Moncrieffe, the Honey Badgers don’t rely on him to pick up as much slack in the scoring department, though he’s more than capable of chipping in a double-digit effort when needed. Rather, Moncrieffe has forged an identity as an elite rebounder. Through 24 games, he’s averaging 10.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest.

Neither of these players has received as much attention as some of their American counterparts this season, but that could change.

“I feel like the teams will start keying in on him now,” Moon said of Hildebrandt. “He’s had some big games for us. He does a lot of different things for us. So he’s going to be a big part of our success.”

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