Last week, the Metro Summer League started off with a lot of action and close games. Look for more of the same this week with another eight games at the Omaha Sports Academy on Thursday night. All of the games were highly contested with final scores within seven points or less with the exception of one game. That shows how even the teams appear to be after one week of play.
The active Creighton and UNO players were all there last week along with several other former Bluejays and other veteran players who fans have enjoyed over the years. Here is what to expect with the matchups this week.
Game of the Night:
8:45 p.m. Court 4: OFWF (1-0) vs. Rooferees (1-0)
Bluejays to Watch: Davion Mintz, Toby Hegner, (Former Jays) Will Artino, Ricky Kreklow
Last week, Creighton incoming freshman Davion Mintz came alive in the second half to help lead a comeback and scored the last five points of the game to seal the win over Bank of Nebraska. A few of his one-handed dunks got the crowd a little fired up. For Creighton fans, they will be able to see why Coach McDermott will want to get him on the floor right away. Toby Hegner, Austin Hennings and the Moran brothers, Connor & Mitch were big contributors during that win as well.
For the Rooferees it was the combination of former Bluejay teammates Ricky Kreklow and Will Artino who connected on an alley-oop with two seconds left to get the 72-70 win. They, along with league organizer Jason Isaacson played shorthanded last week, but were still able to win. Expect former Husker John Turek to play and don’t be surprised if you see Grant Gibbs play with this team either this week or next week as he has his skills camp running the 27th-30th.
Other Bluejay Games
7:45 p.m. Court 1: Air Force (0-1) vs. Going Vertical (0-1)
Former Bluejays to Watch: Justin Carter, Austin Chatman.
Going Vertical was upset by NEBHSSPORTS.Com last week so expect them to come out and be ready to go for this one. UNO’s Tra-Deon Hollins and Treshawn Thurman were pretty fun to watch last week. Seeing them together with Justin Carter is a treat. The team has a lot of weapons with a lot of experience (Cody Levinson, Klaye Rowe, Ben Holling, Austin Chatman) and when they get in sync with each other, they will be tough to beat as the summer goes on.
There is still a lot of mystery with the Air Force team out of Offutt Air Force Base. They did play tough last week in their opener against the Regulators and it will be interesting to see how they match up this week with Going Vertical.
7:45 p.m. Court 2: Regulators (1-0) vs. NEBHSSPORTS.COM (1-0)
Bluejays to Watch: Justin Patton, Khyri Thomas
Before the game last week against Going Vertical, there was some skeptics that thought NEBHSSPORTS.COM team would get beat due to the lack of older, veteran players on their team compared to Going Vertical. It turns out the players on NEBHSSPORTS may already have that experience still in the college ranks. Khyri Thomas had a great night with a line of 24 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals. Justin Patton had his own line of 14 points, 10 rebounds and a few steals and assists. But it was KJ Scott’s 32 points that provided the most leadership hitting shot after shot when GV came up close. The challenge will be to keep that going against the Regulators.
The Regulators is made up of former Bellevue University players and with a team like that really familiar on how they play, that spells trouble for opponents.
7:45 p.m. Court 3: Bank of Nebraska (0-1) vs. EQ School of Hair Design (0-1)
Bluejays to Watch: Maurice Watson, Jr., Zach Hanson
Mo Watson and Zach Hanson are featured for EQ School of Hair who lost their game last week on a last second dunk by the Rooferees. Watson is always fun to watch in summer league and Hanson dominates the inside. Both Bluejay starters will continue to build their connection heading into next season.
Bank of Nebraska led most of their game against OFWF last week, but faltered down the stretch missing some key free throws in a close game allowing OFWF to come back. The team, full of current and former Hastings College players, will be ready to go.
8:45 p.m. Court 1: Judd Knispel Insurance (0-1) vs. Winning Mentality (0-1)
Bluejays to Watch: Marcus Foster, Kaleb Joseph
Marcus Foster and Kaleb Joseph were fun to watch last week, but they will need a third option to help them out. If you want a game with some spectacular plays, then this is the one you may want to sit down and watch. Winning Mentality was the only team to lose by double-digits last week and this could be a good opportunity see some high flying if this game gets out of hand too early.
8:45 p.m. Court 3: Lopers (1-o) vs. Narmi Group @ Baird (0-1)
Bluejays to Watch:Ronnie Harrell, Tyler Clement, (Former Jays) Matt Dorwart, Taylor Stormberg, Jahenns Manigat
If you want to watch a team full of Bluejays hit the floor, this one is one to watch with some of your current and former favorites. There are a lot of great options in the 8:45 slot to watch and the Lopers will create a great challenge in this one. The Lopers (UNK) picked up a win last week over Apex Foster Care (Peru St.) to kick off the summer and will have a lot of confidence coming in.
Ronnie Harrell worked hard to score last week for Narmi Group and summer league is a great opportunity to shine and build his leadership to be a bigger contributor with the Bluejays next season.
The Others
7:45 p.m. Court 4: Apex Foster Care (0-1) vs. UNO Alumni (1-0)
The defending champs, UNO Alumni, started off on the right track last week in a shootout against the Narmi Group to escape with the 100-96 victory. There was a stretch towards the end that let Narmi back into the game and they will have to avoid that to keep winning. Apex Foster Care will come in hungry for a win after losing against the Lopers last week.
8:45 p.m. Court 2: Shanks Law Firm (1-0) vs. BD (1-0)
This game should be fun because you have two teams that won last week to start summer league with wins, but also because they both will contend for the league title when you get to the end of July. Shanks Law Firm is made up of all Nebraska Wesleyan graduates, so they are familiar with how to play with each other. BD also has a bunch of former teammates in Jelani Johnson, James Parrott, Ben Imig, Galen Gullie and others. BD also was the only team to win by double-digits and put away Winning Mentality early. If you try to stop them from getting to the lane and dunking, they will shoot lights out from behind the arc.