Lightning-Five renew rivalry in the playoffs

Around the Perimeter: London and Sudbury square off in first-round BSL playoff matchup; Can Lightning contain Five’s high-octane offense?; Antoine Mason, Paul Harrison potential ‘x factors’? …

(Photo: Barry Field Photography).

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Truth be told, this is a playoff matchup that’s long overdue.

In the final two seasons of play in the NBL of Canada, London Lightning and Sudbury Five probably should have met in the league finals. The Lightning won the title both years, but they did so first against the KW Titans (2022) and then against the Windsor Express (2023). It’s not unfair to say that both times the Five were upset in the semis – due to injury and player loss.

Finally, the two rivals will meet. It won’t be a championship affair, but it should be a great series nonetheless. The winner will advance to the first BSL Finals.

Plenty of players remain from both the 2022 and 2023 seasons to make this a true rivalry matchup. So, too, do the coaches, with Doug Plumb on the Lightning sidelines and Logan Stutz on the bench for Sudbury. Neither team knew who they’d be playing until the final weekend of the season.

With a 135-130 win over Windsor when it mattered most, the Five clinched a spot in the playoffs on Sunday (Apr. 28), eliminating the Express in the process – and climbing ahead of Newfoundland to grab the No. 3 seed. London dropped two of three against the Rogues, which, combined with KW Titans wins this week, put them at No. 2.

Each BSL series are best-of-five affairs, and London will have home-court advantage against Sudbury. They’ll tip off at Budweiser Gardens on Saturday (May 4) and then play alternating games in each city for the remainder of the matchup …

STARTING FIVE

1. And you are? Though they’re longtime rivals and familiar foes, it’s been awhile, relatively speaking, since London and Sudbury have squared off. The last meeting between the two teams was nearly two months ago, a March 5 affair in London, where the Lightning came away with a 120-107 win thanks to a big fourth quarter.

Billy White had one of his best games of the season in that contest, piling up 37 points and eight rebounds. Jermaine Haley Jr. had a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double, while Chris Jones had 17 points and eight assists. On the Sudbury side, Duane Notice had a team-high 27 points, AJ Mosby Jr. scored 24, and Ja’Myrin Jackson had 15.

That win gave London the season series, three games to two, with the teams splitting the two contests in London and the Lightning taking two of three in a tough Sudbury environment.

SEASON SERIES: London vs. Sudbury (London wins 3-2)

London 113 @ Sudbury 124 (Dec. 28)
London 115 @ Sudbury 112 (Jan. 12)
London 141 @ Sudbury 125 (Feb. 10)
Sudbury 104 @ London 101 (Feb. 13)
Sudbury 107 @ London 120 (March 4) 

And now …

NBLC Playoffs (Semi-final) - London Lightning (2) vs. Sudbury Five (3) (best-of-five series) 

Game 1 | Sudbury Five @ London Lightning | 7 p.m. Saturday, May 4
Game 2 | London Lightning @ Sudbury Five | 7 p.m., Monday, May 6
Game 3 | Sudbury Five @ London Lightning | 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 8
Game 4 | London Lightning @ Sudbury Five | 7 p.m. Friday, May 10 (if necessary)
Game 5 | Sudbury Five @ London Lightning | 2 p.m. Sunday, May 12 (if necessary)

2. Players to watch. Besides the aforementioned White, Haley Jr. and Jones, the Lightning’s other key players to watch this series include Jeremiah Mordi, Antoine Mason, Devon Baulkman and Nick Garth. The Lightning traveled with 12 for their season-ending series against the Newfoundland Rogues, and London’s head coach believes in his roster.

“We have good depth. We have 12 guys that can make an impact,” said Plumb. I think [Sudbury’s] top seven is as good as ours, but we’ve got better depth. This is going to be a matchup of our depth versus their free-wheeling, shoot-whenever-they-want style. But I like our matchup.” 

Besides Mosby, Notice and Jackson, the Five’s other offensive weapons include JD Miller, Landon Kirkwood and Paul Harrison, who each came up big for Sudbury as they won against the KW Titans and Windsor Express to punch their ticket Sudbury acquired from Windsor in late March.

Harrison was acquired by Sudbury from Windsor in late March. He presented a big matchup problem for London during his time with the Express, and the Lightning will rely on their own big man, Andrew Gordon, to try and neutralize Harrison. Five head coach Logan Stutz has been happy with Harrison’s play since donning a Sudbury uniform.

“He gives us a low-post scorer. He’s a good big man,” Stutz said of the 6-foot-8, 270-pound Harrison. “He’s able to put the ball in the basket down low, which causes some problems for teams.”

That may be the matchup to watch during the series, as London’s Gordon lacks the experience of a true big – and the other options, including Billy White, just don’t match up that well against a true centre.

(Photo: Barry Field Photography).

3. Mutual respect. In what should be a great matchup, both teams know the other has a lot of talent that will make winning the series a difficult task. From coaching on down, these are two veteran squads who’ve enjoyed their share of winning over the last few years.

“London has a great tradition, being the back-to-back champs, so it’s going be a hard-fought series,” said Stutz.

“They can really score the ball,” said Plumb. Their top seven is as good as ours. Slowing down AJ Mosby is obviously going to be key. He’s as good of a guard as you get in our league.”

Both coaches, though, are confident in their respective squads in coming out on top in this first-round BSL playoff matchup.

“We’re in a good place and coming off a lot of momentum from last weekend,” said Stutz. “To win those two games in less than 24 hours, the guys were excited in the locker room. Sudbury-London is always a good matchup. These are two good teams. It’s going to come down to a make-or-miss moment. The team that shoots a little bit better or executes better down the stretch in games is going to have the advantage.”

“They’re a good team, and they’re playing differently in the last several weeks.” said Plumb of Sudbury. “They still have the highest pace of play in the league, so transition will really matter. My focus is defensively, for sure. It’s mostly about matching up with their personnel. Really understanding and taking away what that individual wants to do and putting them in tough spots.”

4. Wild card? If Paul Harrison could be an ‘x factor’ for Sudbury, with his tough-to-defend size down low, so too could Antoine Mason have an impact that decides this series. Formerly with the Montreal Tundra, Mason was signed by the Lightning just prior to the deadline and played the requisite four games to qualify for playoffs.

On the year, he averaged 21.5 points in 24 games, more than any Lightning player, including Billy White (18.3), Chris Jones and Jermaine Haley Jr.

“He’s a bonafide scorer,” said Plumb.

Mason merely got his feet wet with London, though, not even seeing a practice before stepping into a game against the TBL’s West Virginia Grind Apr. 24 at Bud Gardens. He played 19 minutes. A couple days later, he was on a plane to Newfoundland with his new teammates. In the first of three games there, he scored 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting in 29 minutes.

Against the Five, the highest-scoring team in the league, the Lightning will certainly need to step up their own offensive game, and Mason may just be the man to get the job done.

(Photo: Barry Field Photography).

5. It’s anyone’s game. Not just this series, but the first BSL championship. A welcome reality in the league’s inaugural season was the parity within the league. Though teams played unbalanced schedules, which added a quirk to the final standings, it can’t be denied that each of the four playoff teams – as well as Windsor – could beat any of the other in a best-of-five series. In other words, good luck making predictions for this BSL postseason.

London won their season series against Sudbury (3-2), Newfoundland (3-2) and the first-place KW Titans (3-1), but they were beaten in their season series against Windsor (2-4), who missed the playoffs.

And after seeing a talented Rogues squad last weekend, Plumb isn’t so sure the Titans are the favourite in that 1 vs 4 matchup.

“There’s been a lot of parity this year, for sure. It’s been good for the league.”

Stutz, too, has been impressed with the matching talent levels of the teams in the inaugural BSL season.

“A lot of teams were close in the standings and that made for a very exciting finish,” the coach said. “And the quality of play has been there all year. Canada doesn’t get as much credit as it should for the quality of players and the quality of the game. The quality is as good as you’re going to get anywhere out there.”