The 2024 edition of the Summit Summer League tipped off Wednesday night with four games, including an exciting conclusion to the night with Team Durnell besting Team Deming 62-58 in a game that went to the Elam Ending (target score) tied at 54.
For the uninitiated, each week the teams will change and players will play with different teammates under different coaches. The games are played in two 20-minute halves with a 35-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.
The league, as it has been the previous two years, is still a breath of fresh air under co-creater Logan Traylor and the expansion to four teams, forty players and two courts at SportOne Parkview Fieldhouse really added a lot to an already great existing property.
So how else did week one go in 2024?
FOR THREE
In my week one preview, I talked about the intrigue of inside play this year in the Summit Summer League and believe me when I say there was great physicality and back and forth in the post, so I won’t negate that.
But there are some guys who put on a shooting showcase on Wednesday night and that three ball proved to be the great equalizer as teams raced towards the Elam Ending finishes of games.
No better shooting display than from the hands of Owen Smith (Homestead) as he led Team Abram to a game two win over Team Prokop. Smith was injured at the end of the high school season, missed the entire spring of AAU and when he came back into the fold, especially in July, his shooting was in top notch form. Wednesday, he showed even more that he has developed past high quality stand and shoot player into a guy who can get his shot off both quickly and precisely with a defense collapsing. Against Team Prokop, Smith buried six three pointers on his way to a game high 20 points and a win. He knocked down a couple more threes in a game one loss to Team Deming.
Game one on court one saw 15 total triples between the two teams, highlighted by a nice shooting effort from Nolan Chard out of Union City (Michigan). Chard, as much of an unknown locally as anyone in the league being from a different state, torched the nets and helped keep Team Prokop in the game in the first half with three of his four makes from deep.
In Team Abram’s second game, while Smith was draining triples on one end, it was Trevon Maley (Fort Wayne Hawks) keeping it close with him as he knocked down four second half three pointers making it 10 makes from just those two as Team Abram. On the other side of the court, Carter Coffman (Garrett) hit three triples of his own.
While we will talk about Team Durnell/Team Deming more below, there was one guy from each side of that game getting hot from deep with Parker Reed (Garrett) knocking down three and Jake Coolman (Homestead) hitting four triples. Michael Raudenbush (Homestead) also had a three triple game in Team Deming’s win over Team Abram to open the night
Overall, 61 triples were hit across the four games, averaging 15.3 three pointers made each contest. So yeah, you could say it was a long range kind of night.
AN INTRODUCTION OF SORTS
While his presence or ability is nothing new to Bounce, it is safe to say that a lot of people in Northeast Indiana basketball were introduced to Isaiah King on Wednesday night.
The homeschool sophomore put on a phenomenal display in both games and led the league in scoring week one with an average of 17 points per game.
His highlight? A fast break hammer dunk that got Bounce’s guy Tim Atkinson of Summit City Sports out of his seat. It was a great example of King’s ability to run the floor, fill a lane and finish with a monstrous authority.
And he rebound well. And he shot well. And he moved with a fluidity beyond his years and experience, also in a way that you may think his size could prohibit. Bounce fully knew what Isaiah King was capable of and it was encouraging to see him rise to the occasion in a different setting and play very comfortably outside of what you would think was a comfort zone.
So while some knew about him, this opening week was a very pivotal introduction to many others.
And it was also another hint to all the OTH readers that homeschool basketball is no joke.
THE EAST NOBLE COACH SHOWDOWN
It was the last game to wrap up and that makes sense because it was the best game of the night as East Noble head coach Brandon Durnell led his team to a 2-0 mark on the evening by beating coach Josh Deming‘s team, 62-58 after going to the Elam Ending tied at 54.
The end avoided being anticlimactic despite the game finishing at the free throw line on a make by Parker Reed (Garrett).
The two teams dueled and the coaches were really into it as Deming is part of Durnell’s staff at East Noble. Their back and forth and the intensity and fun of the play led the crowed to really get into it all as well. It made for a great closing environment of week one as players and fans ventured over from court two to see the conclusion of the battle.
Wyatt Weaver (Homestead) scored eight second half points to help power Team Durnell, including a great extra effort to get Team Durnell within one point of the Elam Ending target score of 61. Durnell was able to call a time out with the teams tied at 58 and drew up a play that saw Reed get a clean look, but when it didn’t go, Weaver cleaned it up and pushed Team Durnell ahead 60-58. Ever the tactician, Durnell didn’t let Team Deming get a shot to win it with a three ball, instead opting to foul and put Jake Coolman (Homestead) on the line, where he missed his free throw. High school teammate Weaver pulled down the rebound and got it ahead to Reed, who was fouled on his transition take to the rim and finished the game at the free throw line.
The entire game was high energy and skill and despite losing a couple of impact players to slight injury, the tempo remained impressive as the two teams and coaches seesawed in a game that there was a lot of effort to pull off.
Coolman’s 20 points led both teams and he was joined by 17 points from Isaiah King on Team Deming. Team Durnell was paced by Reed’s 17 points and 12 from Weaver in the nightcap.
OTHER STANDOUT EFFORTS
Outside of the many outstanding efforts mentioned above, the league was full of exciting movement throughout night one.
Team Durnell showcased a really strong ability to get out and run from the onset and it really seemed that teams thrived making sure that the 35 second shot clock didn’t come into play very much.
Team Durnell opened their first game against Team Prokop building a lead with guys like Parker Reed, Justin Carlson (Lakeland), Colt Kirkpatrick (Central Noble) and Jacob Fraley (Angola) all flying downhill at the basket. That was something that they continued all night, making sense as to why they were the team that ended up 2-0 on the night while Team Deming and Team Abram each went 1-1 and Team Prokop went 0-2. Reed, one of the top scorers in the league on night one, showed a really nice aggression in both games both through his scoring and physicality.
Team Abram took a little bit to get their feet under them after dropping game one, but again it was their transition that really helped them a lot. It was especially nice in game one to see a couple of nice transition connections from Nathan Bowker (East Noble) to big man Oliver Adams (Woodlan) and when Adams was running the floor well, he was too big to step in front of.
The Tippecanoe Valley duo of Stephen Akase and Davis Cowan proved to be strong despite no wins for Team Prokop. Akase was dominant at times in game two, scoring 20 points in a loss to Team Abram, while Cowan scored 16 in game one and added nine in game two as Prokop’s pace setter. The duo ended up as two of 11 guys to average double figure scoring on the night.
Dom Keferl, who missed game one due to Carroll High School’s intro meeting with new head coach Chris Benedict, didn’t miss a beat when he joined Team Prokop in game two, scoring 12 points and pulling down eight rebounds as he remained incredibly active in what was a seesaw game early.
Another standout for Team Durnell was Mason Pearson (NorthWood) who was really dominant at times, not only using his height and power inside but also stepping out and knock down shots. For guys who aren’t as familiar to the Northeast Indiana audience, Pearson was another who made a stamp on the league week one.
Smith, Akase and Coolman each provided one of the night’s top scoring performances, each hitting 20 in a contest.
CHECK OUT THE GAMES
Miss the games this week but want to see what Bounce’s excitement is about? The games are available to watch in replay on the Summit City Sports YouTube channel: Court 1 and Court 2.
And next week, catch them live at SportOne Parkview Fieldhouse at 6:15.
Check back next Tuesday as we preview week two of the league that will run every Wednesday in August.
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