LOOKING BACK
Lot of fun games to watch last Wednesday. All 3 games on Court 1 went down to the final minute, and Court 2 started off with a great final minute and finished with All Day making things very interesting after falling behind big. We had games with final margins of 2, 3, 4, and 6 points, along with a 12 point game that was tied with 3 minutes remaining. Pretty tough week to top, as far as drama goes.
High Scorer: Isaiah Moll (41 points in 2 games); Darren Brown (25 points single game)
High Rebounder: Darren Brown (20 rebounds in 2 games); Isaiah Moll (13 rebounds single game)
High Assists: Kobe Lufkin (10 assists in 2 games, 6 assists single game)
High Steals: Cameron Jett (7 steals in 2 games); Cameron Jett & Kobe Lufkin (4 steals single game)
High Blocks: Several kids (3 blocks in 2 games); Darren Brown (3 blocks single game)
Top Individual Performance: Calling it a draw. In case you haven't seen their names enough above, tough to vote against the first game of either Darren Brown (Fair Haven (VT) 2017) or Isaiah Moll (Colonie 2018) last week. Brown, a strong & athletic 6'6" lefty post that runs the floor like a guard, went off for 25 points on 10/12 shooting (5/8 FT), 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks in Young Guns' 6:30 game. Moll, a physical specimen for his age at 6'6", approximately 220 pounds and a legitimate wing that can post up his usually smaller matchups, dropped 23 points and had 13 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks for Next Big Thing in their 7:30 outing. Unfortunately, both standout games have an L attached to them - their teams lost those games by a combined 7 points.
Best Game: It may not have been the closest final score, but there's a different feel to a Team 518 game going down to the wire now. The only undefeated team left in the league at 4-0, and with a few players returning from a 14-0 championship team last year, has a target on their backs and they realize it. A guard heavy but quality Bellevue squad withstood punches from 518 that have knocked teams out in the past, and they fought back in a way a team hasn't done yet. After falling behind 8-2 out of the gate, 518 went on an extended run to take a 16 point lead late in the first half. Bellevue went on a quick spurt to cut the halftime deficit down to 5. From there, it was a game worth paying to see. 518 went on a run to extend the lead, Bellevue clawed all the way back and tied it on 2 separate occasions, the last time being at 51 with just over 3 minutes remaining. In the final few minutes, the game took on a seriousness different than what you see in the usual summer league game. 518 was finally able to deliver the knockout blow they so often have, not letting off the gas en route to a 16-2 run that put the game out of reach. That being said, the final score of 67-55 doesn't nearly indicate how good of a game that was.
LOOKING AHEAD
Game of the Week: The aforementioned Team 518 has a pair of tough games on the schedule this week. They start off with The Growth at 6:00, a team they beat by 16 on opening night - but The Growth was without Ty'Jon Gilmore. More on this later. The game I'm really circling, however, is their 2nd matchup at 7:00 vs. Young Guns. This is partially because they've yet to match up with each other. There are plenty of good individual matchups to watch in this one, but the 5 on 5 game as a whole has the potential to be a real battle. Each team will be missing a couple pieces, but the strength of each team is that they've already shown others can pick up the slack when needed. 518 was missing the services of Jeff Coulter last week, one of Section III's top wings, and they got the job done. Young Guns was missing Joseph Girard III & Mike Wynn (both with multiple D1 offers) last week among others, and they took a full The Growth squad down to the final possession and beat a Next Big Thing squad that is much stronger than their record indicates. The starpower in Team 518/Young Guns should be enough to make you watch; the intensity of the game should be enough to keep your eyes glued.
Best Individual Matchup: I'm looking forward to the battle between EST's 2 postgrad standouts in the 6:00. Tommy Kelly, a Niskayuna graduate headed to Bridgton Academy for a postgrad prep year, has been an early standout for Team 518. Ty'Jon Gilmore, a Watervliet graduate headed to St. Thomas More in the fall, made his summer debut with The Growth last week and made an instant impact. Both point guards have been names that Capital District hoops fans have known for quite a while. It appears as though both will be in the gym Wednesday night; definitely will be worth watching these two go at it.
And Then There Will Be One: It hasn't been a great start for All Day & Next Big Thing. The first two weeks have left them with a combined record of 0-8. That 0 is guaranteed to change this week, as they meet for the first time this summer on Court 2 at 6:00. All Day has been plagued by important pieces missing early, and a couple will still be away for this Wednesday. Look for the summer debut of 6'3" wing Derek Newman (Herkimer 2017), a 2nd team all-stater in Class C over the winter, to make a difference for them though. For Next Big Thing, it's simply been a matter of not getting over the hump. After a 70-39 loss in their first game, which has stood up as the most lopsided game so far this summer, they've been within a couple possessions of getting a win in each game. Their next 3 losses have been by a combined 12 points - by 6 to The Growth, by 4 to Bellevue, and by 2 to Young Guns. It's a young squad that features the league's leading scorer in Isaiah Moll and another double-digit scorer in 6'8" Jake Cook (Shaker 2019). Michael Ortale (Bethlehem 2019) also showed signs of improving confidence last week and they have a pair of 2nd year EST point guards in Jared D'Aloia (Stillwater 2017) and Louden Porter (Canton 2017) that have proven to get the job done. We'll see who starts Wednesday night on the right foot between these two squads.
Union College tonight, 6:00 start at the Viniar Athletic Center. Don't miss out!
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