The ML Summer Basketball League kicked off Monday night at the Annapolis Boys & Girls Club. There will be four games a night from Monday through Wednesday for the next eight weeks.
by Aaron Grayagray@digitalsports.com
(See videos below)A packed gymnasium, a back-and-forth game and a brief escape from the recent heat wave.
It was the perfect way to kick off the first season of the new
Merrill Lynch Summer Basketball League at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Annapolis & Anne Arundel County on Monday night.
"It's summer basketball and we're excited," said Broadneck coach John Williams, whose team, the Bays, edged St. Mary's in the league's opening game, 52-48.
"It's easy to see that not a lot of the guys are in tip-top shape. It will take a few weeks before we get organized but we're breaking in some new guys and it should be a good season."
Trae Byes scored 11 first-quarter points and finished with a game-high 20 to lead the Bays.
Kam Tower, of the Saints, notched 16 points. He went on a personal 6-0 run to lift St. Mary's to a 17-15 lead with 6:24 left in the first half.
After the teams went into halftime tied, 25-25, Nick Groce (five points) knocked down a 3-pointer to open a 32-27 lead for St. Mary's. But with less than six minutes left, the Bays rallied back from a eight-point deficit.
"I think that we have a lot of new players that are mixing in with some experienced guys," Saints coach Brain Konik said. "Of the nine guys on the summer team, I'd say half were brought up from J.V. and are still mixing in. We're still trying to find out style. It will take a little time to make adjustment."
St. Mary's advanced to its second straight MIAA B Conference title game last winter with a strong nucleus of speedy guards. On the summer league team, Konik said that the addition of some taller players will alter their style but should benefit the team in the long run.
"We have some height so we're not as quick but we're bigger and stronger," Konik said.
St. Mary's (0-1) 25 23 - 48
Broadneck (1-0) 25 27 - 52
STM: Quinn 9, Hoffman 4, Tower 16, Akpapunam 5, Groce 5, Spence 4, Brady 6. BN: Jacobsen 13, Byes 20, Lovett 2, Moore 6, Smith 5, Smith 5, Lyles 2.