The 2026 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 with a 20 minute first half an 18 minute second half 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.
Two coaches returned this year with past SSL experience as David Prokop and Josh Deming have coached each of the last two years. Joining them this year are Snider head coach Josh Riikonen and area trainer and coach Kevin Bloom.
So what and who stood out in the opening week of the 2026 event?
LADIES & GENTLEMEN: GEORGE POIRY
Team Deming was the only group to go 2-0 on the first night of league play this year and there were a lot of reasons for that across the board.
That said, no reason was bigger than Bishop Dwenger senior George Poiry, who the Summit Summer League named their Player of the Week.
In game one’s win over Team Bloom, Poiry was a problem child early and often. He buried five three pointers in the game but it wasn’t just because he’s pretty good. It was because he ran the floor, navigated spacing and communicated with his team pretty well. None of those things happen easily in this league, especially on night one when everyone is still trying to figure everything and everyone else out.
Sure, Poiry had some mistakes here and there, but far less than most do on night one in this league. Instead, he was confident, he was collected and he helped make things happen on both ends of the floor.
In game two’s win over Team Prokop, het got involved early but his spacing was crucial as he helped spread out of the floor in a balanced effort win. He scored nine points in the first half to help Team Deming to a 34-25 lead and chipped in six more in a very balanced half where seven different players on the team all scored between four and six points to build their lead heading into the Elam Ending. This game was probably the best Elam Ending of the night, with the Target score at 79 and Team Deming going in leading 72-63.
While Team Prokop got scoring from four different guys for their seven Elam Ending points, Poiry went for 8 of his own to close out the game. Two of those being on three pointers – his 7th and 8th of the night between two games – that were not only fairly deep, but well guarded to boot. In a league with a lot of breakout potential, Poiry reminded everyone on Wednesday night that he is still going to be a big factor in the SAC and the area this winter.
EXPERIENCE PAYS DIVIDENDS
The perk about the uniqueness of the Summit Summer League is that once you start to get used to the adaptability portion, it is easier to shine. We saw that Wednesday night with a lot of guys who have played before and stepped up in new or even different the roles the first week of the 2026 campaign,
One of those who stood out as an experienced SSL guy was Bishop Luers‘ Judah Allen. He is one that popped in as a freshman with not a ton of name recognition and is now playing in his third Summit Summer League. He his some good shots, averaged 7.5 points per game on the night, but he really was impactful for Team Bloom in both of their games rebounding the basketball. In a game one loss to Team Deming, Allen was one of the best rebounders on the court, hunting the ball down for his team both on defense and on offense. Allen’s rebounding, along with his general tenacity and scoring a bit helped Team Bloom come back from a big deficit in the first game and helped them maintain a quality lead in their second game, a win over Team Riikonen.
Allen took the lead in many ways in my mind when it comes to experience paying off, but he was far from alone.
WHO SET THE BAR
The last two paragraphs were a set up to mention some big time work here. And it starts with Team Deming.
The only team to go 2-0 on opening night produced the league’s official Player of the Week in George Poiry, with the Bishop Dwenger senior averaging 20 points per game on the night. But Team Deming really had a lot to showcase with three other guys who helped set the bar.
Wyatt Schroll (Manchester) was one of the area’s top scorers last season and Wednesday night was a reminder of why he should be mentioned alot as we get close to the season. He was quickly down hill, but still kept his defender guessing and often jumping with shot fakes on the perimeter. He even tried to rise up and dunk one in the second game. Schroll really stood out. On that Team Deming run, so too did a pair of scrappy and tough post guys in Landon Kralis (Warsaw) and Camden Keyser (Huntington North). Kralis showcased a good inside-outside game, knocking down some outside shots but also knowing when to assert his will around the rim. Keyser is a name that is going to be newer in the Viking rotation this winter, but was very hard to defend getting downhill. Against Team Bloom, he had a few and-one finishes as defenders struggled with his physicality.
Team Bloom saw a pair of Bishop Luers standouts for a couple of different reasons. Those who have kept up with the Summit Summer League know that at the end of the league last year, it was Tayvon Stidams who left a lasting impression. Well, its safe to say that he picked up directly where he left off. After what we can all just call an ok 11-point opening game, Stidams couldn’t miss in game 2’s win over Team Riikonen. He used his size, length and athleticism to score almost at will sometimes, but he shot the ball at an extremely effective clip, knocking down five triples in the game and finishing off the Elam Ending win with an open fast break dunk. Stidams finished with 30 in the second game, the scoring high for the week, and also was the league’s leading scorer in week 1 with 21.5 points per game.
Luers teammate Tommy McGuire should turn some heads too after his 12.5 point per game out on Wednesday. A name that isn’t a common one on the local basketball scene, McGuire played with really strong and structured pace in both games. He showed off a good motor and a strong intelligence with the ball in his hands.
Both Team Riikonen and Team Prokop put up pretty wildly balanced performances as the scoring in the league was among the most balanced week top to bottom that the SSL has produced ever.
In game one, Team Prokop had three guys score nine points and another score eight. In game two, scoring was 12-10-9-8-7-6 for their top six scorers, led by Zen Szaferski (Bishop Luers) with the 12. There were a lot of guys getting consistent looks as they felt the league out. The same could mostly be said for Team Riikonen, with Brody Bolen (Huntington North) scoring 11 in game one to lead a lineup of 11-10-10-9-9 in scoring and in game two it was Titus Schultz (Huntington North) with 16 to be followed by 15 from Carson Waltke (East Noble), 13 from Kobe Marquardt (Lakewood Park) and 11 from Brody Bolen.
In all, 11 different players averaged double digit scoring in week 1 and 20 players – aka half the league – averaged seven or more points per game.
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 week as we preview week two of the league that will run every Wednesday in August.
These opinions represent those of Bounce and Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers. Follow Bounce on Twitter at Bounce_OTH
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