Thursday night’s summer league at the Omaha Sports Academy was the most active yet with a lot of players back in action and a lot of fans in attendance. BD and NEBHSSPORTS.COM continued their winning ways moving to 4-0 with both hitting the century mark. Six of the eight games had a 10 point or less deficit and one game went to overtime that ended dramatically. All in all, it was another great night of hoops. Here is the recap of the games.
BD 100, OFWF 77
Before the game, you had OFWF’s Mitch Moran (Iowa Western) showing off his hidden talent of getting up in the air and setting the stage for the game to come.
Was feelin’ a little bouncy today 🛫 pic.twitter.com/EMpqa02GWS
— Mitch Man-Man Moran (@MMoran2015) July 8, 2016
The game started off back and forth between both teams. Early on Moran threw down a jam that surprised many in the crowd. After a little problem with the scoreboard, things were back underway as BD took the early lead behind some great shooting from former Samford player, and OSA U15 National coach, Andy King draining from the outside. BD took a 50-42 lead into halftime.
In the second half, OFWF tried to mount a comeback. Creighton’s Toby Hegner hit some shots including an impressive spin move into a one foot fadeaway from 17 feet to cut the lead a bit. Then Mintz overthrew Moran for an alley-oop but he was still able to pull it down and dunk it. However, BD continued to answer due to the way they are able to spread out the scoring going a stretch where King, Jelani Johnson, James Parrott, Ben Imig and Galen Gullie scored on consecutive possessions to start pulling away. Johnson was hot in the second half with 10 points when OFWF tried to make a run. With about a minute to go, the game was called and the final was 100-77.
James Parrott had 21 points in the victory for BD. Davion Mintz had 21 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals while Toby Hegner had 19 points and 10 rebounds. OWFW moves to 2-2 in summer play.
NEBHSSPORTS.COM 108, Judd Knispel Insurance 101
For a game that featured a 3-0 team and an 0-3 team, this game drew the biggest crowd mainly because it featured Creighton players Khyri Thomas, Justin Patton, Marcus Foster and Kaleb Joseph and the opportunity to foster some teammate rivalry. in addition Justin’s brother Kendall was on the opposite side as well. Adding some intrigue, NEBHSSPORTS.COM also added former Bluejay Antoine Young to their roster this week.
Needless to say, the game was an offensive showcase throughout as defense was a privilege. Judd Knispel jumped out to an early lead based on some sloppy play by NEBHSSPORTS.COM and due to the hot shooting of Wayne State’s Matt Thomas. He was hitting 3-pointer after 3-pointer throughout the game as Judd Knispel went into half with a 50-45 lead. Thomas finished the game with an unofficial 35 points.
The second half was a different story as NEBHSSPORTS raced back out to erase the deficit and take the lead Behind some great play on defense.
Rejected! (cc: @JustinPatton17)#metrobball pic.twitter.com/IjA4mzGAuj
— White & Blue Review (@whitebluereview) July 8, 2016
And some offensive production
The put back dunk by @JustinPatton17 for team @NebraskaHSHoops pic.twitter.com/ksmNyFp2YE
— Bluejay Banter (@bluejaybanter) July 8, 2016
Although NEBHSSPORTS.COM had a nice lead, they started getting sloppy and careless with the ball late in the game and Judd Knispel made things interesting late in the second half. After a couple of consecutive turnovers, Judd Knispel cut the deficit to 100-93 after a Marcus Foster three-pointer with 1:33 left in the game. After a couple more wild possessions, Khyri Thomas was fouled with :38 left and calmly sank two free throws to make the game a two possession game again. Judd Knispel made one last gasp with another Foster 3-pointer with :13 left to cut things to 104-101, but NEBHSSPORTS.COM was able to survive and move to 4-0. Judd Knispel falls to 0-4. Marcus Foster had 21 points, Kaleb Joseph had 17 points. Some additional final stats:
Team @NebraskaHSHoops cont’d: @xThottiePippen 19 pts, 10 reb, 6 ast. @ChiefWADD 11 pts, 10 ast. @BEN_kosit52 9 pts, 5 reb. #metrobball
— Jacob Padilla (@JacobPadilla_) July 8, 2016
Narmi Group @ Baird 82, Apex Foster Care 80 OT
Apex Foster Care (Peru St.) was just coming off a big victory last week over OFWF while Narmi Group @ Baird lost to Winning Mentality by one point. Both teams had a lot to fight for in this highly contested game. Apex went into the half with a 37-36 lead. Apex continued to lead in the second half including this:
Whoa. Highlight of the night has to be a ridiculous alley-oop from @CDfromDeep3 to @Whoa_Dere_Root. I don’t even know how to describe it.
— Jacob Padilla (@JacobPadilla_) July 8, 2016
However, Narmi had some spectacular plays of their own:
Former Jay @JManigat12 with the oop to current Jay @Sniper4_ pic.twitter.com/gwcQgFql0i
— Bluejay Banter (@bluejaybanter) July 8, 2016
Late in the second half Narmi made their run. Former Bluejay Jahenns Manigat hit a three to cut the lead to 75-74 with 1:25 remaining. On the next possession another former Bluejay Taylor Stormberg hit a three in the corner to put Narmi up 77-75 with 1:13 remaining to get their first lead of the second half. Apex was able to tie the game up at 77 with :45 remaining as the game eventually went to overtime.
In the overtime period, Apex held on for most of it with an 80-79 lead with one possession left for Narmi to win the game. Creighton’s Ronnie Harrell was setting up to take the last shot. As he drove to the lane, the ball was knocked away by the defender but the ball rolled right into the hands of Manigat who launched a 3 from the corner that went in with :02 remaining and Narmi escaped with the victory.
Going Vertical 94, Shanks Law Firm 84
Going Vertical is quietly moving back into being a serious contender this summer with the relatively easy victory over Shanks Law Firm (Nebraska Wesleyan grads). GV was able to jump out to a 51-41 halftime lead and continued to maintain their lead to move to 3-1. Shanks Law Firm fell to 2-2.
UNO Alumni 80, Lopers 76
After getting run by BD last week, the UNO Alumni team bounced back early with a 43-32 halftime lead. But similarly to their other wins this summer, UNO Alumni flirted with disaster letting the Lopers (UNK) back into it late in the game. However, UNO Alumni hit their free throws this week and held on to victory to move to 3-1. The Lopers fall to 1-3.
Winning Mentality 81, Bank of Nebraska 78
Winning Mentality stayed on the winning track with the close victory. Winning Mentality was down 35-34 at the half as the game went back and forth throughout the rest of the game. Winning Mentality moves to 3-1 while Bank of Nebraska falls to 2-2.
Regulators 84, EQ School of Hair Design 81
Derek Bryant hit two free throws with :21 remaining to lead the Regulators to victory. The Regulators had a 40-38 lead over a decimated EQ School of Hair Design team that had very few of their rostered players. However, the piece-mealed roster stayed in it cutting the lead to 80-79 with :42 remaining before Bryant extended the lead late in the game. The Regulators move to 3-1, while EQ falls to 0-4.
Rooferees 94, Air Force 45
The Rooferees finally had a full roster for the most part with Andre Smith, Jason Isaacson, Dylan Travis, Brett Dougherty and Derek Fletcher anchoring the team along with the addition of former Bluejay Grant Gibbs for the night. The game was close early as the Rooferees took a 35-22 halftime lead. However, they exploded in the second half to score 59 points while the Offutt team struggled to get shots to go in.
Grant Gibbs (@DoubleGfor3) made a guest appearance at #metrobball tonight and had this block, among other plays: pic.twitter.com/jBPyKRW4Vt
— White & Blue Review (@whitebluereview) July 8, 2016
Summer League hits the court again on Monday, July 11th (note the day of the week change) at the Omaha Sports Academy with games at 7:45 and 8:45.
For more on the night’s action visit the OMAMetroLeague Twitter timeline and visit the MBL mini-site.