K-W Titans aim to sweep playoff series against Newfoundland Rogues Friday

CBC
·2 min read
The K-W Titans basketball team in front of Kitchener city hall, which was lit up with blue for the team's playoff run. (Dan Congdon - image credit)
The K-W Titans basketball team in front of Kitchener city hall, which was lit up with blue for the team's playoff run. (Dan Congdon - image credit)
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The K-W Titans will stick to their game plan when they meet the Newfoundland Rogues in Newfoundland for Game 3 in their playoff series Friday night, head coach Cliff Clinkscales said.

"We're just gonna have to stay together. I think this trip is going to be about mental toughness," Clinkscales told CBC K-W ahead of their departure.

"We're the best team in the league as well, so I like our chances there, but just go there and take it one game at a time and stick to our game playing — nothing really changes for us."

The Newfoundland Rogues have had back-to-back losses to the Titans in the opening games of the best-of-five first-round Basketball Super League playoff series.

The Titans beat the Rogues 118-96 in Game 2 on Sunday afternoon in Waterloo.

Clinkscales credits the team's hard work and "putting in the daily grind every day" for their success thus far.

If the Titans win Friday's game, they would face either the London Lightning or the Sudbury 5 in the finals, but Clinkscales said he does not have preference.

"I've been saying it all year — every team in our league is tough. They oppose, they will win when they do well, so every team in this league, you could be beat by any team any given night. So I don't have a preference at all," he said.

The City of Kitchener sign has been lit up with blue during the playoffs and the team expressed thanks for the support in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Titans have added an almost entirely new roster this year. Forward Jaquan Lightfoot and point guard Juwan Miller were the only returning players.

"We went with younger, newer faces…hungrier guys and guys just looking to play the right way and get better," lead assistant coach James Robinson told CBC K-W in January.

At the time, Robinson said the team had started partnering players up with one another for individual workouts and travel.

"We give these guys a lot of structure now, which to me is better because within structure you build tighter bonds."

In the off-season, the K-W Titans switched up their corporate organizational structure, going public with a not-for-profit model.