6-7 SAMO STARR CLNCH LEAGUE TOTLE GO FOR PERFECT SEASON SATURDAY
8-9 AND 12-14 TEAM CAN EACH FINISH IN TOP TEIR OF LEAGUE
SUMMER LEAGUE PLAY COMES TO A CLOSE THIS WEEK
The 6-7 year old Santa Monica YMCA Stars continued their march towards an undefeated season with a commanding 24-9 victory over Culver team #3. Alex Brick was the high man with 4 baskets. Matthew Scholze had 3 baskets in his return from injury. Asher Zaczepinski showed his versatility and great defense by guarding the taller and best players of the other team, forcing them into turnovers, and limiting their scoring. Once again, Kellen McDonough had a complete all around game displaying his MVP skills.
Ben Steelman, Cassius Taylor, and Max Baracy showed why they are the most improved players this season by employing all that they had learned in practice, and stepping up to be leaders on the court.
Ben’s father made a comment that these games are the highlight of his week; it’s the same as watching a pro team playing and the improvement of all players on the team is incredible.
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The 8-9 Stars cruised to an easy win today at the Culver Middle School. Facing an overmatched opponent, the Stars showed some improved teamwork on the offensive end and stayed focused throughout the game.
Donovin Blackwin led the team in scoring with 7 on the game. He dominated inside as the Stars raced to a 9-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, highlighted by Donovin’s strong rebound and coast to coast drive for a smooth lay in.
Jake Ronn and Nathan Kashper turned steals into breakaway layups as the Stars led 17-0 at halftime.
At 15-0 the scoreboard operator gave up tallying points so this boxscore and write up will likely be the sole record for posterity.
With a 14 strong contingent playing time was limited but the kids made the most of their time on the floor – filling up the stat sheet with 25 rebounds, 16 steals and 6 assists.
All contributed to the win.
Emiliano showed aggression on defense, while Hunter filled up the boxscore, notching what one might refer to as an 8-9 year-old quadruple double – 2 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.
Darien, Tavio, and Asser showed some good play-making ability while Clark Elliott crashed the boards with fervor. Travis, Jacob, and Adi took advantage of scoring opportunities with smooth finishes at the rim while Amiel and Cooper battled hard on defense, tying up opposing ball handlers for jump balls several times.
The Stars are now 4-3 with one game remaining in the Summer League Season. Kudos to the coaching staff and especially Steven Sone for pushing many of the kids and helping them achieve much progress over the course of the season.
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The age 10-11 team, for better and worse, has not been in any games this summer that went down to the 4th quarter. They’ve had significant victories and resounding defeats, but this weekend at Culver City the game was back-and-forth for all 32 minutes. The main theme in the game was missed shots.
Samo had plenty of excellent looks that wouldn’t drop all game long, but played tough defense throughout to limit the opportunities for Culver. Jayson Badua and Quest Miller put points on the board in the first quarter, while Cy Backen and Nifty Tewodros hit buckets in the second quarter, as the teams exchanged buckets and the lead. Odin Williams and Quest did well on the boards and Shawn Sikder played well. After Culver took the lead, Shiva McIntosh hit a 3 to tie the game going into the fourth.
Nifty got fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit 1 of 3 to give them a 1-point lead, but Culver followed with a shot to take back the lead with 2 minutes to play. Timosha Moncher and Evan Daghighian put up their usual array of stats and applied significant pressure on Culver in the final minutes, as full-court defense is allowed only in the final minutes in this summer league. Unfortunately, all five of Samo’s starters missed potential game winning shots in the final 2 minutes; including 3 shots in the final 20 seconds. The boys gave a great effort and everyone had the opportunity to be the hero, but instead they went home with a tough 1-point loss.
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The 12-14’s fell behind early but rallied in the second half as per their usual modus operandi this season and won going away. The team celebrated the season with a part at their coaches home.