The Road to the Basketball Super League Finals - Full Report

Friday night saw the Basketball Super League playoffs continue, with the next instalments of both series being played out, with so much on the line for every team involved.

Starting in St. John's, the Newfoundland Rogues needed a win to keep their hopes alive but had faced stiff competition from league leaders the KW Titans, who only needed another win in game three.

When they met for the third time on Friday night, the Rogues had the early lead but KW were quick to close the gap. Armani Chaney and Shandarious Cowart were keeping the Titans at arm's length in a first quarter where defence was tight on both ends.

Points came more flowing and freely in the second, where KW kept up the pressure on offence and it remained a single-possession game until the Rogues held on to their lead until midway through the period, when Jaquan Lightfoot put the Titans up by one.

Newfoundland now had to put the pressure on the Titans, but that was short lived as Ronnie Boyce hit two from downtown to put KW in front by eight, the team's lead reaching double digits by the start of the second half.

His team now in control of the game, Curtis Hollis hit eleven in a row for the Titans while the Rogues tried to get back into it with open looks in the paint. However, they were left floundering in the face of unrelenting field offence from KW, who achieved 78% of their shot attempts, led by Hollis with 17 in the third quarter alone.

With Hollis, Lightfoot and Braylon Rayson continuing to connect in the field and the free-throw line in the fourth, fifteen points proved to be too much of a deficit for the Rogues to overcome. Despite 37 points in the second half from Chaney, the Rogues' attempts to regain control came to nothing.

Hollis had 13 points in the last quarter which brought his total up to 40 with nine rebounds, while Lightfoot had 17 points and 11 total boards, while Anthony Lee had an 18-and-11 game off the bench as the Titans reached the finals with a series sweep, ending with a final 128-115 victory.

The devastation for the Rogues came with a bright spark - Chaney broke his own record of most points scored in a Super League game, finishing with 52 on the night, he also found time to dish eight assists.

Over in Ontario, the London Lightning made the short trip to the 705 for another exciting face-off with the Sudbury Five, who had so far shown they were not going down without a fight.

So far this had been a wild series with match-ups being highly eventful an unpredictable. London needed only one more win while Sudbury needed the series to go all the way. Billy White burst out of the gate in game four and complimented by the Lightning's three-point shooters the visitors had an early double-digit lead.

An 8-0 run in the second quarter from the Five brought them to within two of London, a subsequent run of fourteen points without reply saw Sudbury leading by five with a minute to go in the first half. A scrappy start to the second half saw the Five reinforce their lead from the stripe, but London were just as good as drawing fouls and converting free-throws.

Late in the third quarter London went fifteen points without reply and went into the fourth leading by sixteen. JD Miller responded by making Sudbury's next four baskets, but Chris Jones was keeping the Lightning's lead firm.

Down double digits with two minutes to go, Sudbury hit nine without reply, bringing them to within two points of London, who saw Jachai Taylor and Nick Garth both sent to the line and convert to ensure the win - and more importantly the finals place - for the Lightning, 114-111.

JD Miller led Sudbury with 32 points and 17 rebounds in the loss, with Ja'Myrin Jackson contributing 27 points and AJ Mosby finishing on 25. For London, Billy White had 14 and 11, Mason impressed with 24 off the bench and Chris Jones was the leading scorer with 35 points.

This means that it will be London Lightning and the KW Titans who will battle to be inaugural Super League champions. The eighth time London has played in a Canadian finals series and the first for the Titans, there's no telling how the 2024 title series will go down. Check back here for full coverage of the finals as they happen.