SEBL Metro A-League opens 2018 season
The SEBL Summer Metro Men's A-League started Saturday at Aubrey Street Gym in Cartersville. The SEBL Men's City B-League and the Women's SEBL also got underway on Sunday.
Capsules for games played July 7-8, 2018
Baseline-1 ’05 95, OG’s 46 After trading buckets in the opening moments, Baseline began to gradually, but convincingly pull away from the OG’s. Behind the crafty scoring of Hakeem Winters (Point Univ) and Bryce Gober (Concordia). Combining for 24 points, they helped Baseline build a 49-26 spread by halftime. Chris Brown (Chatt Tech) was a bright spot for the OG’s with 14 first half points, including three treys. In the second half the onslaught continued for Baseline, as Ryan Davis (Francis Marion), Cade Archer (Reinhardt) and AJ Mosby (Alcorn) fueled the offense, joining for 32. Brown finished with 21 for the OG (0-1) while KJ Stallworth netted nine and Dominique Richards (Chatt Tech) seven. For Baseline (1-0), Davis led all scorers with 26, while Winters finished with 18, Gober and Archer 14 each. Mosby tallied 10 points, but dished out 12 assists in the season-opening win.
Dream Chaserz 69, Shaw Industries 68
After leading for much of the first half, the Dream Chaserz found themselves fighting from behind for most of the second half, after Shaw rallied and took the lead early in the final stanza. With Shaw up 65-63, DC’s Brannon Hopkins (Point Univ.) nailed a long trey, but put his team back up 66-65 with 1:20 left, capping a furious 8-0 run. Randy McClure (Albany State) then answered to put Shaw back up 67-66. With about 22 seconds remaining, Shon Redding (West Ga) drew a foul and make one of the two freethrows to knot the count back up at 67. McClure was able to draw another foul, making the first, but missing the second attempt – Shaw was back up 68-67. On the ensuing possession, Travien Geter (Life Univ.) broke free for a bucket with only :07 remaining, to give DC the slim 69-68 edge. Shaw’s shot at the buzzer was off, giving the Dream Chaserz the opening day victory. For Shaw (0-1), McClure led all scorers for the game with 25, while Kevin Hammitt (West Ga) had 24. For the Dream Chaserz (1-0), Hopkins downed 19, while Redding, Chevelan Pearson (Life Univ) and Arrington Perry (Ga Southern) each shared 13.
Opening Day photos - Click on image to enlarge.
Brighter Days 85, Franklin Ford 66
Brighter Days debuted with a solid win over a roster-depleted Franklin Ford squad, who has returned to the league after a 20-year absence. Behind Kevin Hobbs, Brighter Days quickly built a 14-5 lead, then extended their lead to 43-24 by halftime. Hobbs exploded for 24 first half points. A cold-shooting Franklin Ford team, finally found some fight in the second half, as JR Davis (Ga Highlands) and LaChaz Phillips (Chatt Tech) stepped up their defensive efforts, pressuring the ball, triggering several comeback opportunities. In the effort Davis and Phillips also combined for six treys. But, with the usual sharp-shooting Chris Brock (Kennesaw State) never finding his mark for FF, coupled with Elijah Hirsh (Berry) and Marcus Dortch (West Ga) taking over offensively in the second stanza for Brighter Days, the comeback never amounted to anything significant. For Franklin Ford (0-1), Latrel Moore had 21, Davis 17 and Phillips 11. Pacing Brighter Days (1-0), Hobbs, who attended LSU, led all scorers with 33, while Hirsh had 21 and Dortch 20.
Bartow Braves 90, Toyo Tires-1 62
The Bartow Braves opened defense of their 2017 crown in good fashion with a relatively easy win over Toyo-1. After putting up a good battle for much of the first half, Toyo-1 faltered to allow the Braves to take a 33-21 cushion into the intermission. The offense for both teams opened up after the break, but the Braves had a better combination of nine combined threes from Tim Fortenberry (Bryan College), Richard Olson (GA NW Tech) and Marquise Brown, coupled with the athletic slashing of Josh Wilson, to the tune of 57 second half points. Josh Christian did his best to keep pace with 18 of his own. Toyo-1 (0-1) was led by Christian’s 25, as LD Strickland had 13 and Bryan Owens (Chatt Tech) 10. For the Braves (1-0), Wilson had 27, Olson 25, Fortenberry 22 and Brown 13. Nick Highbear chipped in three.
SEBL City B-League Opening Day Results
SH-Baseline-2 73, BC Infinity 66
Baseline-2, who breezed through the City Conference last summer, opened up with a solid 73-66 win over a talented BC Infinity squad. 2017 B-League MVP, Jeremiah Shaw (Vermont Tech) didn’t disappoint as he sank three treys in the early going, helping SH2 to a 16-7 spread. Infinity’s Latrel Jones (Vermont Tech commit) tallied 10 first half points and Vincent Wallace hit two treys, to help them keep pace, but they went into the intermission down 36-27. SHB2 was able extend their lead in the opening moments of the second half, with buckets from Korley Grier (Reinhardt) and Markel Williams (Chatt Tech). Down as many as 15 at one point, Infinity began mounting a comeback, behind Kingsley Okezie and Kaylon Aker, who decided to wake up and contribute. SEBL newcomer Hunter Johnson’s long-range three, along with a mid-range bucket, saw Infinity trim their deficit to 56-51. But, clutch baskets from Antoine Wesley, Shaw and Grier all aided SHB2, as they were able to hold on for the win. Jones paced BC Infinity (0-1) with 19, while Okezie had 15 and Wallace 10. Aker finished with nine and Johnson eight. Shaw took game-high honors with 23 for SH-Baseline-2 (1-0), as Williams scored 13 and Grier 12. Wesley finished with eight, along with six from Kameron Whitfield and Brett Role’.
SH Warriors 57, Team Alumni 35
In a defensive minded match-up, the SH-Warriors were able to gradually build a 9-point cushion by half-time, going in with the 23-14 lead, after holding Alumni to only six baskets in the opening stanza. The defensive trend continued well into the second half. Talique Cochran was finally able to generate some offense for Alumni offenses began to open up a bit, scoring six straight at one point to trim the SHW lead to 35-29 with about nine minutes left. But, the Warriors’ Jalen McKeller (Chatt Tech) answered with two free throws, then a transition bucket on a pass from Cody Henderson, and Cade Archer drilled consecutive threes, to thwart any comeback attempt. Archer would score 14 of his game-high 20 down the stretch, as Alumni couldn’t generate any more offense. Cochran would be the only Alumni (0-1) player in double-figures, as he finished with 18. Dustin Glenn contributed six and Ken Shaw four. For the SH-Warriors (1-0), LaChaz Phillips supported with eight, while Henderson, McKeller and Kevane Washington each had seven.
Toyo-2 66, GSM Ballers 63 After building a comfortable 39-25 lead heading in to the half, Toyo-2 had to overcome bad shot selection and internal personnel issues in order hang on for the win, fighting off a scrappy GSM team in the waning minutes. Leading by as many as 55-39 mid-way through the second half, GSM began to take advantage of Toyo-2’s failure to share the ball when LD Strickland got free for a couple of buckets in the lane, followed by a trey and several drives to the cup by Patrick Printup, where he drew fouls and sank four of six at the line. The stretch produced a 20-5 run, that saw Bryan Owens sink a long-range bomb and Strickland connect on another drive to the basket, cutting the Toyo-2 lead to 60-59 with only about 2:15 on the clock. Donlin Hinton’s left side attack to the basket gave Toyo the 62-59 spread, followed by another Strickland bucket for GSM. 62-61. Josh Christian then put Toyo back up by three with an another athletic drive to the hole, 64-61, but GSM answered again with a lay-in by Justin Beaver with only :08 showing. Forced to foul, GSM sent Toyo’s Eddie Melvin to the line with only :04 left. He calmly sank both, pushing the lead back to 66-63. After a timeout advanced the ball to half court. With a chance to potentially force overtime, GSM miscued on a double-screen play for Owen, as Toyo deflected the pass as time expired. Strickland and Beaver paced, GSM (0-1), with 19 and 15, respectively, while Printup and Owen each finished with 10. For Toyo-2 (1-0), Christian scored 17, Willie Woods 13 and Eddie Melvin 12. Hinton finished with nine.
WSEBL Women's Capsules:
RAK 62, Summer Hill-3 44 RAK, the reigning 2017 Champs, got off to a good start with a 62-44 win over Summer Hill-3 on Sunday afternoon at JH Morgan Gym in Cartersville. Summer Hill-3 fought valiantly, but the combination of Bethany Headrick and Carrie Cheeks were simply too much. The 5’9 Headrick battled her way to 26 points on the afternoon, with an array of scoring from inside and out, while Cheek, a 6’3 post from Lee University, pounding the paint for 19 points and load of rebounds. Summer Hill-3, in contrast, collectively sank eight threes and made several runs, but just couldn’t keep over the long haul. Tess Wright and Becca Cheeks helped RAK (1-0), with six and five, respectively, while Re’Tevia Floyd drilled five treys for 15 points to lead Summer Hill-3 (0-1). Kaelyn Irby and Miesha Dozier each scored six in the losing effort.
Elite77 52, Lady Lions 49 (OT) Elite77 re-entered the WSEBL scene with a bang, hanging on to a season-opening OT thriller against the Lady Lions. After falling behind 27-22 going into the half, Elite77 grabbed the lead a few minutes into the second on back-to-back tri-fectas by Tanisha Woodard and Madison McKinney and looked to be in control headed down the stretch. But, the Lady Lions got key buckets from Taylor Delasbour and Lochlain Corliss, to fight back and force overtime at 49-all. In the OT, Taya Gibson was the only to muster up a basket, as she drew a foul and also sank the charity shot, giving Elite77 the win. For the Lady Lions (0-1), Delasbour led the way with 14, while Hope Forrester had 11 and Corliss 10. Allison Smith also contributed eight in the losing cause. Elite77 (1-0) was paced by Woodard’s game-high 19, as Gibson got 12 and McKinney five.
