The 2025 edition of the Summit Summer League tipped off Wednesday night with four games.
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 30-shot clock and an Elam Ending to close the games out. What is the Elam Ending? After the second half ends, 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 else did week one go in 2025?
EVERY GAME IS A NEW OPPORTUNITY
Predictable? Far from it. The first night of the Summit Summer League showed how each game is wildly new, no matter what happened to teams in their first game of the night. Every team went 1-1 on opening night, with Team Abram and Team Prokop earning blowout wins at the 7 pm hour over Team Deming and Team Vance respectively.
And at 8 pm? Well Team Vance then topped Team Abram and Team Deming got a win over Team Prokop. Get blown out? Respond. Win by blowout? Not so easy to just go win the second one.
In those blowouts, the winning teams certainly got to work with some big play moments. In Team Abrams’ win over Team Deming, guard play was heavily strong. Taurean Brown (Heritage) knocked down several big shots and moved the ball extremely well. Meanwhile teammate Titus Schultz (Huntington North) controlled the floor very well offensively and backed that up with an important defensive game. Dom Keferl (Carroll) and Stephen Akase (Wawasee) both put up big games as well for Team Abram; Keferl with 9 points, 5 assists and a pair of blocks and Akase was dominant with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks. For Team Prokop, the game one blowout was led on the interior where both Mason Pearson (NorthWood) and Avery MacFarlane (Lakewood Park) worked hard to take advantage of size mismatches and rebounding prowess to dominate the interior.
Team Deming went into their second game with a lot to prove after a struggle hitting shots in their first game, leading to a 63-61 win over Team Prokop. In the end, it was Collin McAtee (Norwell) that closed it out for Team Deming, but you can read more about that below. Team Deming led 39-27 at the half behind a very active performance from Nick McBride (Norwell) and his 11 points and 4 assists in the opening 20 minutes. George Poiry (Bishop Dwenger) was also clutch throughout both of Team Deming’s games as a sure handed guard with a solid shot that hit at some key moments.
Finally, Team Vance picked up a 60-56 win over Team Abram in the 8 pm slot. Team Vance’s lack of shooting touch from the first game also disappeared as they hit tough shots consistently. Multiple times, Team Vane was able to extend the lead to double digits only for Team Abram to push back. Both sides got big spurts out of different players with Jayden Moore (Bishop Luers) leading the game with 20 points for Team Vance. Taurean Brown (Heritage) scored all six of his points during the Elam Ending play, pushing Abram to the brink of a comeback. In the end, it was a battle between Ryan Stuckey (Angola) for Team Vance and Stephen Akase (Wawasee) for Team Abram that battled at the end with both guys getting some big time baskets, something Akase did in bulk all night long over two games. Stuckey got strong in the second half, and finished the game off on the free throw line for the Team Vance win.
BREAKOUT PLAY
In a league that is all about reps and growth, Prairie Heights junior Jake Stoy took advantage. He showed off some lead guard skills in both games for Team Vance, with some good heads up passing plays and timely buckets. But his real strength came on the defensive end, where he was a menace in game two’s win over Team Abram. Stoy was constantly hounding opposing guards, forcing several turnovers along the way that led to fast break points in the 60-56 win. His ability to turn defense into instant offense for his team was impressive.
A name to get acquainted with out of opening night was Team Abram’s Brayden Freiburger (Huntington North), who scored 9 massive second half points for his team in Game 2 of the night. He used his size very well to get down hill, read the floor well and hit some big jump shots in both games. With 6 Vikings in the league, there has to be some friendly competition to stand out and Freiburger certainly did his job in that regard.
Team Abram also got great work from Stephen Akase (Wawasee) in both games. Akase was consistent as an offensive threat and when het got downhill or played at the rim, he was a tough matchup for both Team Deming and Team Vance. He had 18 points against Team Vance and was the most consistent player on his team in that game, with 8 in the first half, 6 in the second and 4 during the Elam Ending time. Perhaps the most impressive thing out of Akase was how vocal he was, both having fun and picking up on the tendencies of opposing players; Akase made a great floor general for a non-guard.
FOR THREE!
The three ball is a great equalizer and it was used to perfection on night one by a handful of guys.
That started with Bishop Luers’ Cam Schimmele, who hit the first bucket of the 2025 league to put Team Prokop up 3-0 on Team Vance. Neither Team Prokop, nor Schimmele stopped there. He was a constant threat from deep all night, but his work against Team Vance was poetry at times. He showed advancements in his ability to move off ball and get to his shot. One thing anyone watching learned Week 1 is that you can’t leave Schimmele with much space, if any at all.
His high school teammate and game one opponent Jayden Moore (Bishop Luers) was also a big threat in Team Vance’s second game, knocking down three triples in their win over Team Abram, including one during the Elam Ending. Another Bishop Luers and Week 1 Team Vance team member Jaxson Minnick also hit two threes in the second Team Vance game, including one during the Elam Ending. That game showcased how big the deep shot is in the Elam Ending with Team Vance getting 6 of their needed 7 points in the extra frame from three point range.
The best Elam Ending of the night came on a three pointer in the 8 pm game between Team Deming and Team Prokop. Down 61-60 in the Elam Ending, Team Deming saw Caden Rice (DeKalb) back down his defender at the rim before perfectly reading the defense’s collapse on him so he could kick it out to Collin McAtee (Norwell) for a three pointer and the game winner. Threes are fun, but they are more fun when they are for the win.
Just for comparison, the other three games ended in blowouts or at the free throw line. So McAtee’s three was absolutely a highlight of the night, if not the best highlight in all of week one of the Summit Summer League.
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.
Check back next Tuesday as we preview week two of the league that will run every Wednesday in August.
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