Week 2 of the 2026 Summit Summer League takes place this Wednesday, August 12.
After an opening week with Team Deming going 2-0, Team Riikonen and Team Bloom at 1-1 and Team Prokop at 0-2, teams will be mixed up for Week 2 games. Want to check out games this week? They start at 6:30 p.m. at PSM Fieldhouse.
All new teams, new faces to play against, new faces to team with, likely a new coach on the sideline. The weekly shake up-makes it real.
Click here to see the league’s program with a schedule, rosters and rules for week 2
INTANGIBLE GUARD PLAY
While not among the top scorers in the SSL in Week 1, three guards stood out for their all-around play. Even better, they are three guys who are certainly under the radar heading into the season, two of which are sophomores who could really make a difference this winter.
Bishop Luers’ Judah Allen should be someone that everyone else should look to box out this week. The Luers guard pulled down a co-second-best 9.5 rebounds per game last week. It wasn’t just one game that built up his numbers, as he had 12 in Game 1 and seven in Game 2. But that initial performance put him on watch as one of the best rebounders in the league and certainly the best rebounding guard. This week, Allen is part of a Team Bloom that has some length, but doesn’t have a true big, so he could be huge again in rebounding the ball.
Another junior guard who did all of the intangible things in Week 1 was Bluffton’s Gibson Grieser. He is the first-ever Bluffton player to participate in the SSL and although he only scored twice in Week 1, he was among the most active players in both games he played. Activity in a league like this will help you stand out big. It also stands out because he helped Team Deming go 2-0 last week and will look to do the same with Team Bloom this week. In Game 2 last week, he pulled down seven rebounds to go with three assists and a steal. In Game 1, he nabbed three steals as one of seven players to have three or more steals in a game last week.
Sophomore Tommy McGuire (Bishop Luers) came out of nowhere last week to be one of Team Bloom’s most reliable players and this week he is going to be a focal piece for a young Team Deming. McGuire’s play in Week 1 has to be helpful as this week’s Team Deming has just two upperclassman. McGuire played like a vet last week, with his 11 points holding his team from being blown out in Game 1. He then added 14 points in Game 2. He also averaged 6.5 rebounds and three assists per game.
WHO WANTS THE TOUGH DEFENSIVE MATCHUPS?
There were plenty of times in Week 1 where we saw the best defender match up against the best opposing offensive player. There were other times we saw some surprising faces step up to match up with the likes of Bishop Luers’ Zen Szaferski and Bishop Dwenger’s George Poiry.
If growth is what you seek as a player out of the Summit Summer League, these defensive matchups can be some of the best for the players and some of the more unique ones to watch. As much emphasis as offense gets in basketball in general and in this league, there can always be break-out defensive performers too, and we do get to see that year after year. Yes, blocked shots and steals are nice ways to gauge that, but so are the non-stat worthy showcases of forcing your opponent into a tough shot.
Sometimes, they do make it. We saw Poiry do this on multiple occasions last week despite some stellar defense at times from the likes of Huntington North’s Andrew McCutcheon and Bishop Luers’ Tayvon Stidams.
But that doesn’t mean that stops aren’t potent. In Game 2 last week, Huntington North’s Cohen Sorg picked up Szaferski multiple times. Did he have some success? Sure. Did Zen put him in his place a couple times? Absolutely. But that is the point, a freshman coming in with no high school experience with the chance to guard one of northeast Indiana’s premier guards. You either step up and take a swing or you hide, and Sorg didn’t hide last week. In that same game, Churubusco’s Bryar Kuehnert stepped in to battle Manchester’s Wyatt Schroll and got a couple of stops despite Schroll being one of the best players in the gym opening week.
On the statable side of things, Carson Waltke (East Noble) led the league last week in blocks with four total, while Schroll and Szaferski led the SSL in steals with five each.
GAME OF THE WEEK POTENTIAL
This week, OTH is going to go with Team Bloom versus Team Prokop at 6:30 p.m. on Court A as the early frontrunner to be the game of the week. Coming off a week where there was a good deal of separation on the scoreboard by the end of games, this could really be the closest game come the final buzzer.
Team Prokop boasts power on power with a heavy load of the senior class and four total guys who averaged double-digit scoring a week ago. This is a heavy lineup, so you always have to ponder how a coach may break this up. A lot of times, you see Summit Summer League coaches balance their lineups when doing these five-in, five-out hockey-style subs that the league sees. Other times, like Team Bloom’s second game last week, you may see a coach send their five best out first to establish early power or get a lead.
Seniors Titus Schultz (Huntington North), Carson Waltke (East Noble) and Jake Stoy (Prairie Heights) and junior Wyatt Schroll (Manchester) were among the best players in the league last week, so it’s a great place to start for Team Prokop. Collin McAtee (Heritage) also had a great week doing a lot of intangible things, but mixed in some important buckets as well. Landon Kralis (Warsaw) is a physical presence and him next to Waltke is a scary frontcourt. Kralis is a do-everything kind of player who was menacing at the rim, while also capable of stepping out into the midrange or deep. Meanwhile, the likes of Kobe Marquardt (Lakewood Park), Owen Poulson (Huntington North) and Malaki Christian (Tippecanoe Valley) are always shooting threats. This is a pretty balanced and loaded team this week.
Team Bloom will counter this with solid scoring and length too. Keaton Delagrange (Woodlan) didn’t score a ton last week, but is capable of doing so. He will handle the interior, but Brody Bolen (Huntington North) and the aforementioned Judah Allen (Bishop Luers) are both capable of mixing it up at the rim. George Poiry (Bishop Dwenger) was the player of the week last week for the league for good reason, scoring 20 in each of his games and showcased his ability to take over. He can lead the backcourt with Andrew McCutcheon (Huntington North), who was a steady scoring presence at times last week. Will Starnes (Churubusco) had some stellar moves to the rim last week as well and Gibson Grieser (Bluffton) – as mentioned earlier in this column – did all of the intangible things.
Mark this one down as a must watch on paper.
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