The Summit Summer League returned for week two after making its debut last Wednesday. The games were a lot more competitive the second week, including a sudden death overtime game won on a putback basket by Warsaw’s Jaxson Gould.
The league showcased some of the same top talent again, as you will read below, but there were several other guys who didn’t show out week one that made their presence known in week two. More so, there were some guys who played a bit differently than we come to expect.
Here are seven player takeaways from week two of the four week Summit Summer League.
JACK SCHEUMANN, BELLMONT
Scheumann displayed a better first step than I have seen out of him in previous outings, even in this league. He was quick to the rim, a willing attacker and finished well. Schuemann is pretty solid at being a patient, break a defense down kind of guard. But Wednesday, he instead showed really good aggression in attacking through and against contact. In a league that allows players to work outside of their comfort zone and usual opposition, Scheumann did his part to get better and play at an accelerated pace. At one point in his second game, Scheumann took the inbounds pass and read the court well as he brought the ball up the court, hit a different speed around the volleyball line and shot past everyone to the rim.
ETHAN BONTRAGER, FREMONT
Bontrager played very well last week and better this time around. We know he can shoot the ball with success but he found his shot really well on Wednesday. His movement without the ball was really good because he created space and stayed a threat. Better than that, he did have the ball in his hands a lot to make decisions and his movement was graceful, he attacked with poise and intelligence and finished through contact quite a few times. If Bontrager can do that against some of the Wednesday competition, especially SAC guys, then he should be in pretty good shape come NECC season.
MONTE SMITH, WAYNE
No rule that says someone won’t get mentioned two weeks in a row as I talk about this league. Monte Smith was on another level again this week. His pure athleticism made him impossible to defend most of the time. For the uninitiated, Smith really did more than stand out, he wow’d with his offensive skill getting around mostly everyone in his way and shined defensively too. You just don’t see players his height getting up and block shots off the backboard…but Smith did that too. We also, on Wednesday, got to see Smith be a willing passer that actively worked to get others involved.
SEAN DAVENPORT, SNIDER
Man, he is quick. It was hard to see many guys on the court move with as much initial or even sustained speed. His finishing at the rim is pretty smooth despite the fact that a lot of his movement in unorthodox and a little jerky. His shot doesn’t look the prettiest, but he was efficient from the outside in spurts, hitting some important shots in games. He could be one of the lesser known players to the casual fan at the Summit Summer League, but week two saw him quickly garnering more attention to be someone people will pay attention to moving forward.
GAVIN HOEPPNER, NORWELL
The Norwell senior was impressive at multiple levels offensively. His change of speed was a huge showcased asset offensively. Hoeppner went from a calm dribble, looking to move the ball to a 10 speed hard charging to the rim; his blow by moves stood out the most on Wednesday. That said, Hoeppner can and did shoot the ball very well and his change of pace helps with that as well. Hoeppner doesn’t let anyone anticipate his moves well because he made a quick pull or quick drive come out of nowhere multiple times.
LANE OUTTEN, CARROLL
Outten’s aggression and desire to make plays rose on the second Wednesday. He was not just a participant, but a willing leader on offense, taking his shots and testing out his range and spacing. His defense though is where he shined, running the court well and embracing a role of being one of the bigger players in both of his games. Outten had some impressive and powerful blocks on Wednesday, a couple of times simply because he didn’t give up on an opposing fast break and made it up the floor quickly.
JOSH RODGERS, HOMESTEAD
After fading into the background a bit in week one, Rodgers had a big uptick in effort and contribution in week two. He attacked the basket energetically and played really disciplined defense throughout his two games. He wasn’t the highest output of a scorer, but he did a great job of making himself valuable through his effort and strong, yet fundamental defensive effort.
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