Pre-Season Schedule and other league news

The season is around the corner – get your team ready! Pre-season is this weekend (details are below). Games are open to all players – those already on teams and free agents, so please spread the word.

Here are the teams that we either confirmed or are waiting for confirmation (and payment) for the Fall League:

Team 1: Moose
Team 2: Old School
Team 3: Swag
Team 4: Night Cap
Team 5: Critical Mass

Team 6: Lights Out

Team 7: Warriors

Team 8: 5 Guys
Team 9: Sons of Travis Henry

Team 10: Egg Nog

Team 11: High Fliers

Team 12: Team DMV (Defending Champs)

Team 13: (Open spot – The Truth?)

Team 14: (Open spot – Cougar Hunters?)

Saturday, September 20, 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 and pay.

Pre-Season Schedule

11:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.: Teams 1-6

2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.: Teams 7-12

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.: Open to all teams

Saturday, September 27, 11:30-6 p.m. – Opening Day.

The schedule will be up by next Monday and live on the blog page(http://elitehoopsleague.blogspot.com/).

We’re looking forward to another great season. I’m working on a new prize for the champions – stay tuned.

Balance Team Registration Open!

Balance Gym announced that team registration has opened for the Fall 2008 basketball season.
For more details, see the league's website.
http://www.balancegym.com/sports/leagues.htm

Congrats to Team DMV

Final Game Recap

The Final game was a fitting end to a highly competitive BALANCE GYM Summer League. There was a quiet intensity and confidence brought by High Fliers and Team DMV the 1 and 2 seeds respectively.

The opening minutes saw quick paced transition scoring. Team DMV’s Carlton Phelps (19 pts) pushed the tempo and Brian Lewis (16 pts) was on fire from the perimeter. Even with the High Fliers Evan Thomas (9 pts) and Brandon Thompson (10 pts) getting to the rim in transition as well as Mackel Purvis (26 pts) driving and hitting 3’s from Connecticut Ave; a stingy zone defense and accurate shooting by Clayton Lea (23 pts ) provided Team DMV with a 23 – 12 lead.
After efficient offense by both teams to start the game; by the 10 minute mark the game had become characterized by sloppy play leading to a large number of turnovers. High Fliers capitalized on this and was able to knot the game at 27 – 27.
For the remainder of the first half whenever Team DMV made a run High Fliers Mackel Purvis and Denon Watts (10 pts) would hit key tres to keep the contest close and ultimately pulling ahead for a half time lead 38 – 36.

The second half began with both teams shooting a high percentage from the perimeter and finishing at the hoop. Andrew A and Denon Watts got buckets for High Fliers while Brian Lewis kept bombing from deep for Team DMV. At the five minute mark in the second half Team DMV had regained the lead 52 – 48. But Purvis continued to hit big highly contested shots to bring things tight at 52 – 52. A run by Team DMV led by Clayton Lea and Garrett Thomas (15 pts) blew the game open to 61 – 52 with 10:00 minutes to go. Lea was a machine from the high post draining shot after shot. With tough defense and scoring from Lea and Carlton Phelps with 6:00 minutes left Team DMV increased their lead pulling away 70 - 55. It was at this critical moment that High Fliers tuned up their defense. On one play Brandon Thompson finished strong at the cup while getting fouled. This play commenced a High Fliers mini-run bringing the score to 70 - 60.

With the clock becoming a factor, both teams upped the intensity on defense and execution on offense. And it was time for High Flier Purvis to take over the game for his squad. Including two 3’s launched from what seemed like Rock Creek Park, Purvis closed the deficit to 74 – 68 with 3 minutes to go. With the two teams playing hard at both ends of the court, Purvis hit two pressure filled free throws to keep High Fliers close at 76 - 70 with 1:20 to play.

With time winding down and High Fliers applying pressure, Team DMV stepped up their defense getting crucial stops. One stop led to a sick Garrett Thomas breakaway which he finished with a reverse flush- with only 1 minute left and the score 80 - 70 the victory was sealed.

The final score 82 – 70.

In the end the fans enjoyed a hotly contested game marked by quality play, much heart and good sportsmanship.

Team DMV takes title in first season

Team DMV led by Carlton Phelps, Brian Lewis, Kenny Weston, and Clayton Lea defeated the High Fliers 82-70.

More details coming soon!

Playoff Recap

Semifinals:

In the game, first-season High Fliers used superior guard play to defeat veteran Old School 79-75. Sharpshooting Derron Watts (11 points) nailed 3 first-half threes while Andrew Argabright's 8 first half-points led High Fliers to a 37-32 halftime lead. Old School's Mark Awantang's nasty alley-oop slam (from a Sean Glover pass) was highlight material. In the second half, High Fliers' guards kept creating open shots and three-point opportunities for their shooters. Essentially, their offense resembles the latest craze in the coaching circles - the Dribble Drive Offense. Each player has the option to dribble in the lane and either finish or kick out for a wide-open three. This opened the door for Mack's buttery shot (3 threes, 14 points) and Katoe Chapman (17 points total, 11 second-half points). While Old School's Awantang (22 points) and Randy Roy (10 points) tried in vain to keep the game close, the High Fliers were too much at the end.

In the second semi-final, Team DMV beat Swag 69-67 in overtime as Carlton Phelps hit two free throws with 1.6 seconds left. Team DMV overcame a 10 point half-time lead to tie the game at the end of regulation. Swag had a chance to win the game in regulation, but a key steal by M. Jones sent the game to overtime. Team DMV's Kenny Weston (12 points, countless rebounds) played a huge came, coming up with key rebounds and huge buckets including one where he snagged an offensive rebound, hung in the air made a spectacular shot while clearly getting fouled (none was called). For someone of his (6'4", 230), Kenny displayed remarkable quickness on all free throws. Team DMV's other immovable force, the soft-shooting big man Clayton Lea (16 points) forced Swag to double in the post and opened up the door for the shooters. In regulation, Swag's Roberts Steven's (20 points) three gave Swag a 5 point lead with just minutes to play, but Phelps nailed a three, Swag then turned the ball over and Team DMV tied up the game. However, overtime belonged to the team who had the ball last. Swag's Lou Stevens (19 points) had just tied the game on 2 free throws but with 12 seconds left, Team DMV had one last shot - Phelps drove the lane, was fouled, and put the game on ice with two clinching free throws. Ross Mitchell's last ditch three was wide and onto the finals went Team DMV.

Playoff Results

Recaps coming later today, but here are the scores and schedules:

Semi-Finals:

High Fliers beats Old School 79-75.
Team DMV beats Swag, 69-67 (OT).

Finals
Saturday, 12:00 p.m.

High Fliers vs. Team DMV.