The Summit Summer League has returned for a second year. The unique and evolving league was a hit last year when it popped up in August with different rule sets and contests to break up the monotony of the regular high school basketball offseason leagues across the area.
Flow Hoop, the group behind the Summit Summer League, saw success in year one, so back it came for year two starting on August 9 and running for four weeks. The brainchild of Jeremy Rauch and Logan Traylor, Flow Hoop does much more than just this league but it is certainly the premiere event right now.
Each week, the teams will change and players will play with different teammates under different coaches. The games are played in two 18-minute halves with a 24-shot clock and an Elam Ending to close the games out. What is the Elam Ending? The clock in the second half is stopped at two minutes and seven points is added to the winning team’s score; that total becomes the target score that needs to be hit to achieve victory.
So how did week one go in 2023?
Game One: Team Rauch 72, Team Traylor 61
Rauch’s team immediately started by forcing a shot clock violation first possession, which went a long way in establishing one of those different rules that makes the Summit Summer League so fun. Tucker Day (Canterbury) scored the first five points of the game for team Rauch, showing a dominant post game in the process. His height and post skill separated him from the field on week one from the get-go while he was fresh.
Team Traylor team got going on a Ryker Quake (East Noble) three from the corner. Quake then put down two more threes in consecutive possessions to push Team Traylor’s lead to 9-7. By the time the first substitutions took place, Team Rauch was back on top 12-9 with Quake accounting for all nine of Team Traylor’s points and Day accounting for seven of Team Rauch’s 12. The start helped show two things: Day can still be really tough and Quake has evolved into having the chance to be the area’s breakout player this coming season. Although Quake didn’t score a ton the rest of the way, he was consistent and his defensive pressure stood out.
It was an almost three-minute scoring drought for Team Traylor before Gannon Smith (Mississinewa) pulled out a nice floater and then scored again on the next possession. As Team Traylor closed the gap to 19-17, it was a midrange shot from Preston McCann (Mississinewa) and back-to-back great dribble moves leading to scores from Qualyn Clopton (Snider) that spread the gap again. A Kobe Hudson (Northrop) closing seconds basket pushed Team Rauch’s halftime lead to 29-22.
Brady Lehman (Spire Academy) was another strong player for Team Rauch in the first half and it only got better in the second half as he showcased a much-improved jump shot from his time last season at Eastside. Braylon McCoy (Churubusco) also had a couple of really nice lead guard passes for Team Rauch.
The Mississinewa duo (McCann and Smith) battled with some exchanged baskets and saw Smith block McCann in a fun moment. Throughout the three games of the night, it was fun to see high school teammates from multiple teams have fun guarding each other. Day and Lehman stayed an unbeatable duo for Rauch as they extended their lead before the first sub break in the second half. With 12 minutes left, a Jackson Hauser (Blackhawk Christian) three put Team Rauch up 49-37.
Wyatt Weaver (Homestead) was a catalyst in trying to get Team Traylor back in the game, highlighted by a smooth shovel shot with 8:20 left, but Team Traylor still trailed 51-42. Heading to the Elam Ending, Team Rauch led 64-57 and closed out a 72-61 win on a John Parent (Canterbury) layup.
OTH’S PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Brady Lehman (Team Rauch), Ryker Quake (Team Traylor)
Game Two: Team Durnell 81, Team Rauch 63
Jackson McGee (Leo) opened the game with a three pointer for the fresh Team Durnell, followed by another one from Owen Prater (Rochester). After not too many great three point looks in the first game, this one started with three triples as Jackson Hauser (Blackhawk Christian) finally answered for Team Rauch.
Team Durnell got out into transition well with McGee rebounding and led 8-5 on a Jackson Davis (Canterbury) basket before Brady Lehman (Spire Academy) and Preston McCann (Mississinewa) came in and immediately scored two baskets each in five total trips up the floor for Team Rauch. That was about the time that Michael Raudenbush (Homestead) just took over this game. Raudenbush hit a nice quick trigger three off a Jaxon Robinson (Garrett) ball screen, followed up with the duo connecting again, this time off the Robinson pass for another Raudenbush three pointer. It was part of a 9-2 run that gave Team Durnell a 23-14 lead with 8:44 left in the first half.
Team Durnell’s lead was cut as close as it would get the rest of the game at 25-20 on an Ayden Moore (Leo) deep wing three off a nice give and go with Braylon McCoy (Churubusco), who for the second straight game showed off solid passing. But that was a last first half gasp for Team Rauch as Team Durnell’s Makhi Davis (Northrop) and Prater controlled the offensive glass and Conner Slee (Fremont) hit back-to-back shots including a smooth triple with 1:26 left in the first half to push the lead to 39-25.
Davis was a standout in the first half showing how athletic he can be, getting to the rim and getting up high for rebounds. While Team Durnell shined throughout this entire game, Team Rauch had a couple of solid showings including that of Hauser, who played really well and looked for his shot confidently.
With 15:26 left in the second half, we got arguably the biggest highlight of the entire first night when Team Durnell’s Jackson Davis came up with a monstrous two-handed block on Canterbury teammate John Parent. Davis then followed it with a three on the other end. Watching Davis and Parent defend each other was another of those fun teammate versus teammate battles we got to see, both smiling big in the process.
Raudenbush continued to be, arguably, the best in the gym on night one with another big three with 13:47 to go. After a Parent fadeaway pushed the Durnell lead to 20 for the first time with six minutes to go, it was Raudenbush who put down the first dunk of the league with 4:47 to play for Team Durnell to go up 71-49. It seemed like there was nothing that Raudenbush couldn’t do in this game and he was clearly the star of the night with his consistent shooting and well flowing movement in this game.
McCann’s inbounds assists to a Parent three with 2:20 to play cut the Team Durnell lead to 71-60, which was important heading to the Elam Ending time but Team Durnell never let up. McCann shined for Team Rauch in this game; his scoring pace and clean midrange pullup shots helped keep Team Rauch moving despite their deficit. Durnell led 73-60 heading into the Elam Ending and back-to-back Prater stops quelled any momentum Team Rauch tried to come up with. Team Durnell closed out their win, 81-63, on an Owen Smith (Homestead) third chance putback layup.
OTH’S PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Michael Raudenbush (Team Durnell), Preston McCann (Team Rauch)
Game Three: Team Traylor 63, Team Durnell 54
This game was perhaps the most interesting of the night as it started very balanced before Team Durnell took off much as they did in their first game. But again, it was the fresher team that got the last laugh.
Durnell took a 12-11 lead in the battle at the 10:44 mark on an Owen Prater (Rochester) basket, but Ryker Quake (East Noble) immediately answered on the other end. Team Durnell was solid in transition, but Jayson Hart (Snider) started to find a rhythm that he didn’t seem to have in game one; a three from Hart put Team Traylor up 16-14. Team Durnell answered to tie the game as Prater spotted up in the low post with a beautiful backdoor pass to AAU teammate Owen Smith (Homestead). Smith used the entire game to show some of his versatility, even though he also found plenty of times in both of Team Durnell’s games to knock down his patented three pointer.
A pair of Jaxon Robinson (Garrett) baskets, including a three pointer with 4:15 left in the first half pushed the Team Durnell lead to 32-22 and then was extended on a great transition post play find from Jackson McGee (Leo) to Prater.
Jake Stoy (Prairie Heights) was a bit of an unsung hero in the first half of the final game of the night as he just got involved across the offensive end and played solid defense. Even if he wasn’t putting up a lot of scoring, the freshman was making winning plays. At the half, Team Durnell led 38-26.
The second half was very much a showcase for Joey Taylor (Churubusco), who was able to display his high-level speed getting downhill. He hit a deep two with 15:34 to play and then on the next possession burned his way downhill to the rim for a basket that completed at 10-0 run for Team Traylor. Owen Smith knocked a three on the other end to end the bleeding for Team Durnell and push their lead back up to 41-36.
Again came Taylor to start another run with a three pointer with 12:19 left. A really solid on ball defensive effort from Gannon Smith (Mississinewa) then led to Team Traylor forcing a shot clock violation and a Kyle Hartsough (Lakeland) three pointer gave Team Traylor back the lead, 42-41. Quake again turned up with back-to-back baskets to push Team Traylor’s lead to 46-41 with 9:21 to play. Jackson McGee (Leo), who had been somewhat silent for Team Durnell, scored eight straight points with a hard power dribble to the rim against AAU teammate Hart, a three pointer and a steal and score that cut the Team Durnell deficit to 49-48. With 37 seconds left before the Elam Ending, Hartsough took a key charge to maintain a 56-51 Team Traylor lead heading into the target score portion.
Quake scored the first five points of the Elam Ending portion and Team Traylor finished off Team Durnell, 63-54, on a Gannon Smith putback.
OTH’S PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Joey Taylor (Team Traylor), Owen Prater (Team Durnell)
Week one of the 2023 Summit Summer League was certainly a success with a cleaner opening week and more competitive start even than 2022’s inaugural run. To me, it was Michael Raudenbush who stood out as the top all-around player for week one, but it was great to see all 29 kids contribute in some way during their two games they each got.
The teams will get all mixed up again for week two on August 16. Games start at 6:30 p.m. being played at the 07 Complex (formerly Events at the Summit) at 1025 Rudisill Blvd. in Fort Wayne, with a $5 spectator fee.
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