Somewhere amidst the glut of professional basketball, baseball, and hockey cramming TVs and video streaming services on a Tuesday afternoon in August, 2020, the Saskatchewan Rattlers took on the Hamilton Honey Badgers in a rematch of the 2019 CEBL championship final, and the Honey Badgers managed to avenge the previous year's loss with a 86-73 triumph.
The Honey Badgers jumped out to a 10-0 lead within two minutes, and the situation looked glum for the Rattlers. The Rattlers' three-point shooters looked more like bricklayers than basketball players. The Saskatchewan side trailed 30-14 after the first quarter, and all appeared to be lost for the scuffling snake-elementals. Then, slowly but surely, and due in no small part to the ball-distributing efforts of Saskatchewanese forward Kai Williams, the Rattlers tied the score at 33-33. Incongruously, Saskatchewan led 36-35 at the half.
The lead bounced to and fro between the teams in the third quarter, but in the fourth, the Honey Badgers pulled away. Saskatchewan couldn't sustain any sturdy offensive attack. Going into the Elam Ending, the Honey Badgers led 76-64, making the target score 85. Ex-NBA-er Brionte Weber put down the winning basket for the Honey Badgers.
With the win, the Honey Badgers have stamped their ticket into the Summer Series quarterfinals later this week. The Rattlers, meanwhile, will likely have to win their game tomorrow to get in. All told, neither team seems particularly well-poised to make a repeat appearance in the championship final.
