Week 2 Recap

Reminder: No games this weekend. Play will resume July 12.

The 2nd week began with a late-arriving Swag team falling to Team DMV 53-50. Swag got off to a hot start, but failed to maintain their offense once Team DMV switched to a zone. Swag also made just 6 of 17 free throws, where Team DMV made 19 of 25. Team DMV was led by C. Phelps (16 points) and G. Thomas (13 points). Swag was led by #32 (20 points) and Big Lou Stevens (18 points).

Night Cap defeated Old School 70-66 when "The Captain" Casey Craig (20 points) made a steal in the closing seconds, dribbled the length of the court on a 2 on 1 and then passed to Mark Viggy (12 points) for the winning lay-up. Old School had a chance to tie, but Khari Brown (16 points) missed a 8 footer. Night Cap got out of the gate fast with a 10-0 run fueled by Casey and Jelani (6), but Old School - as they do - came back with 21-5 run of their own as Evans Watson (16 points) displayed his new-found jumper.

High Fliers defeated Moose in a tight finish, 86-77. Moose found themselves down 48-17, but then made a furious comeback to get within 1 - however they couldn't get the lead as they missed 3 layups, two from Big Brian (14 points) who was otherwise unstoppable. The first half was highlighted by a follow up dunk by the High Fliers' Nate (23 points) and then an in-your-face dunk on the other end by Frank (9 points). High Fliers were led by Nate and the "3 Point Machine" Mack (21 points - 5 3's).

Justin Harrison (28 points) and David Shaw (17 points) led a re-built Sons of Travis Henry past The Warriors, 83-80 in double overtime. Justin scored 2 in the first overtime and 5 in the second while point guard Raphael (13 points) scored 4 in the second overtime period. The Warriors were led by the quarter of Evan Burress (18), Jason Thomas (17), Bryan Sullivan (18) and Charles McGuire-Wein (16). The Warriors used deft 3-point shooting to keep them in the game - they hit 10 3's in the game, although none in overtime.

In the final game of the day, 5 Guys defeated a resilient Egg Nog 87-75. Egg Nog fell behind in the first half and was never able to recover. Sean O, the poor man's Tyler Hansbrough, led 5 Guys with 27 points. Chris also dropped 26 for the winners. Egg Nog was led by Dan Comstock, who missed the first week, with 27, 4 from beyond the arc. John and Brian added 20 each in a losing effort. The difference in the game was 5 Guys ability to get to the line - they were 12 of 18 at the line where Egg Nog was only 5 of 7. Had James hit his free throws for 5 Guys the margin would have been greater. James made just 5 of 11 free throws.

Standings and scoring leaders will be updated Thursday.

Week 1 Recap

The Balance Elite League got underway this past Saturday. In the opening game, Old School defeated Egg Nog 84-46. Mark Awantang (27) and newcomer Evans Watson (25) fueled Old School. The first half was dominated by Old School , 45-17. In one particular play, Watson fed Awantang for a monster dunk. On the next possession, Awantang was feeling his oats - he stepped back and drilled a 3 from the corner ala Bruce Bowen.

The second game featured rivals Moose and Swag. Swag was without its point guard tandem of Pete Tucker and Ross Mitchell and this proved huge as Moose used turnovers to blow out Swag 101-57. Moose were led by Matt Rozier (14), "Marcus Beasley" (14), and summer add-on Adam Harper (28). Spring League MVP Robert Stevens led Swag with 36 points.

Night Cap defeated an improving Warriors, 91-85. Night Cap were led by sharp-shooter Casey Craig (19) and big-man Matt Vankoski (27). "Byron Mouton" (23) and George McCullogh (19) led the Warriors.

In the fourth game, newcomer Team DMV blew out the Sons of Travis Henry 84-54. Team DMV stands for DC, Maryland, and Virginia, not the Department of Motor Vehicles. Team DMV led by 6 at half-time, 31-25, but ran away in the second half as Kenny (10 2nd-half, 16 game), Garrett (13 2nd-half, 17 game), and Clayton (12 2nd-half, 18 game) led the way. The Sons of Travis Henry were led my Justin Harrison (16)and David Shaw (15).

The final game saw the last season's #1 seed 5 Guys beat newcomer High Fliers 75-63. Versatile big-man Sean O led 5 Guys with 20, 15 in the first half. Teammate Chris chipped in with 18, 9 of which came from beyond the arc. High Fliers, another new team, were led by Chaya Jones with 13. 8 other players scored for High Fliers, with no one getting more than 9.

Schedule is live!

Games start this Saturday! The odds will be up later this week. Of the new teams (Egg Nog, Team DMV, and High Fliers) look for Team DMV to make a run - they looked sharp in their 4 games. Egg Nog is a mixed bag - they had a good showing in terms of numbers last Saturday, but how they mesh will be determined through the season. High Fliers are an unknown.

As a reminder, the league fees include Friday night pick-up hoops. We will need a complete roster so that you and your teammates can play.

Summer Mini-League Update

The season is around the corner – get your team ready!Here are the teams that we have for the Summer League:

Team 1: Sons of Travis Henry
Team 2: Old School
Team 3: Swag
Team 4: Egg Nog (New Team)
Team 5: Night Cap
Team 6: Warriors
Team 7: Andrew's Team (New Team)
Team 8: The Truth
Team 9: 5 Guys
Team 10: Moose

We have space for 2 more teams. If you’re on the fence, the deadline is Saturday, June 14. If you haven’t paid yet, please do so by the 14^th – call me to arrange payment.

Saturday, June 14, 11:30 – 5:30 – Official Pre-season

Games are 10 minutes long with the 30-second shot clock running. This is a great time for new teams to check out the competition.

Free Agents are welcome to attend and should be ready to play.

Pre-Season Schedule

11:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Teams 1-5
1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.: Teams 6-10
3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.: Open to all teams

Saturday, June 21, 12-6 p.m. – Opening Day.

The schedule will be up by the end of this week and a printed copy will be available during the Pre-Season day.

Look forward to seeing you Saturday and during the season, although you’ll miss my elbows and knees this season…I injured my knee last Friday (Possible ACL tear – MRI on Wednesday).

-Graham