SEBL Metro Conference, City Conference updates

SEBL basketball game summaries for July 31 and August 1-2 with updated standings.

SEBL Metro Conference A-League Summaries for 8-1-2018:

Baseline-1 78 Wood Elite Training 73 (OT) In a game with important playoff seeding implications, Baseline-1 had a tough night from the field, and chose an even tougher opponent to struggle against in Wood Elite. Despite trailing for most of the first half, down 37-35 at the break, Baseline-1 was able to battle back in the second half and reclaim the lead – lead they let slip late on consecutive ill-advised shot attempts. Subsequently, Isaac Thomas and Quinton Wood each drew fouls in those waning seconds of regulation, converting all four to send the game to overtime tangled at 68-all. In the OT period, Ryan Davis drove hard, made the bucket and the charity attempt, as a result of the foul he drew. Thomas immediately answered, to trim WET’s deficit to 71-70. But, on the ensuing possession, AJ Mosby buried a dagger from deep in the right corner to give Baseline-1 the 74-70 lead with 1:26 left. After WET misses, Baseline-1 had two chances to increase the lead, but a missed perimeter shot, followed by a missed front end of a 1-and-1 by Davis, gave WET time and hope. Josh Cooper delivered a three in the corner to bring WET back to within 74-73, with 35 ticks on the clock. Forced to foul, WET sent Davis to the line, who was true this time, giving Baseline-1 the 76-73 spread only 24 seconds showing. Wood was unable to answer on his attempt to re-knot the score, as Baseline-1 rebounded and flipped a pass down court for a Hakeem Winters slam at the buzzer, to and insult to injury. Thomas again led WET, who slipped to 5-2, with 23 points and nine boards, while Wood finished with 21. Cooper had 14 and Ray Reeves chipped in 12. Wood Elite had to endure a third consecutive overtime tilt, in what is believed to be an SEBL/Wilkins Pro Am record. For Baseline-1, who remain undefeated at 7-0, Davis recorded a double-double with 31 points and 10 boards, while Mosby finished with 25. Baseline-1, despite shooting an uncharacteristic 27/62 from the field, managed to seal the top seed for the upcoming playoffs, while Wood Elite is now fighting to remain in third, with one more regular season matchup to go.

Franklin Ford 91 Shaw Industries 67 Franklin Ford jumped out early behind the shooting of JR Davis, and Shaw was never able to mount a serious run to make the gave very interesting. Davis, who went 4/7 from behind the three point arc in the first half alone, rather nonchalantly added another seven treys in the second half, to chalk up an 11 for 20 three-point effort. Malik Rush and Kevin Hammett tried valiantly to keep pace, scoring 24 each, but Franklin just had too much on this night, as Davis would wind up totaling 39 points. Franklin’s Jozell Payne made matters worse for Shaw has he was 9 of 12 from the field for 18 points, while Talique Cochran had 11. Chris Brock, returning from a foot injury, and Willie Woods each netted nine for Franklin Ford, who improved to 3-4, and moved up into sixth in the standings with the solid win.

Summer Hill-1 87 Brighter Days 84 In a game another game worthy of a full article, Summer Hill-1 came back from double-digits in the second half, to surprise Brighter Days. Brighter Days bolted out to an 8-0 lead as Marcus Dortch quickly established he would be a “go to” guy for his team on this night, scoring six early points. SH1 trimmed it to 10-8 on buckets from Keith Ray and Cade Archer, but Brighter Days went on a 10-0 run, capped by a 30-foot bomb by Shaq Calhoun, to go up 20-8. Davy Fisher quickly answered with a trey for SH1, followed by consecutive strong drives from JP Pritchett, to cut it to 20-15. Archer sank two free throws, keeping SH1 close at 22-19. But, Brighter Days then began taking advantage of poor offense by Summer Hill-1, who repetitively drove the lane out of control, giving up easy transition. A block by Kevin Hobbs and flip up the floor for a Calhoun slam, gave Brighter Days what looked like a commanding lead at 35-23 with 7:29 left in the opening half. SH1 trimmed the lead down to 39-33 after a Jeremiah Shaw trey and Korley Grier drive, but a steal and slam by Dortch put Brighter Days back up 43-33 with 2:11 left in the half. But, Archer answered with a drive and lay-in, while drawing the foul, and sank the free throw. Shaw followed with another bucket, and Archer then coaxed another foul and hit both free throws, to help SH1 shave the lead down to 45-40 going into the break. In the second half, Brighter Days worked back out to a double-digit lead again, behind Dortch, but Elijah Hirsh also got involved, scoring nine of his 11 total in the second half. Dewayne Jupiter’s long bank shot put Brighter Days up 66-53 at the 10:24 mark. Just when it looked like SH1 was running out of answers, Ray and Grier drilled consecutive treys, to trigger a 12-0 run that ended with Archer netting two technical shots, and suddenly Brighter Days was reeling with their lead evaporating to 66-65 at the 6:48 mark. Two possessions later, Jonathan Fowler drained a long shot, to knot the score at 68-all. Hirsh made one of two free throws putting Brighter Days up 71-70, but Keith Ray came back with a strong penetration move, to give Summer Hill its first lead of the game at 72-71 with 3:48 remaining. After a long Brighter Days miss, Fowler found Fisher in the right corner for a transition spot up, and he was on the money. Ray then took a charge on Calhoun’s drive, followed by a penetration bucket and old fashioned three-point play, sinking the free throw, putting SH1 up 78-71 with 2:11 on the clock. After Dortch drew a foul shooting a trey and making all three, Fisher nailed another tri-fecta in the other corner, seeing SH1 go back up 81-74 with 1:43 on the clock. But, again, Dortch quickly answered with a trey, 81-77. Ray was fouled just past half court and calmly drained both shots. SH1 up 83-77. Dortch again had a solution, as he sank shots at the line, followed by a tough shot off the glass, to quickly cut their deficit to 83-82 with under a minute left. Buckets were traded with SH1’s Markel Williams breaking free for a finger roll, followed by a Brighter Days put back by Jupiter. Summer Hill-1 was clinging to an 85-84 lead as the seconds ticked down. On the ensuing possession, Ray was tagged with a charge, and with 18 seconds left, Brighter Days had a chance. After a timeout, they inbounded the ball. Calhoun attacked the right lane, and Ray slid in position to take yet another charge. Brighter Days was then forced for fouled Fisher with only 1.4 seconds left, and he hit both clutch attempts. Brighter Days then missed the desperation shot at the buzzer, giving SH1 an unlikely come from behind victory. Dortch torched the nets for 35, as Brighter Days slipped to 4-3 overall. Calhoun also got 19, while Hirsh finished with 11. Summer Hill-1, who moved to 6-1 and locked up the number two seed for the tournament, got balanced scoring from Ray who had 18, as Fisher had 16, Archer 13, Williams 12, Pritchett 11 and Grier nine.

Dream Chaserz 105 Toyo-1 95 The Dream Chaserz moved to 5-2 with a high-scoring, non-defensive win over a winless Toyo-1 team. It wasn’t as easy as the Dream Chaserz thought it would be though, as Josh Christian kept Toyo-1 within striking distance the entire first half. The combination of Brannon Hopkins’ long-range shooting and Shon Redding mid-range prowess, helped DC take a 49-40 lead into the intermission. But, in the second half, Toyo-1 charged back and actually led 64-62, after freethrows by Josh Christian. Hopkins answered with a three, to put DC back up one, but LD Strickland tipped a miss back in on the next possession and Toyo-1 was back up 66-65. It would be Toyo’s last lead though, as the Dream Chaserz’s Anthony Hilliard triggered a run with a bucket and freethrow, followed by rebound and backwards flip to a wide open Hopkins. Hilliard then hit a three for DC to open up a spread that Toyo-1 could never recover from. Though Christian and Bryan Owens tried to match with perimeter shooting, the Dream Chaserz, who would down 19 total threes were just too much down the stretch. Toyo-1, who fall to 0-7 on the summer, got 28 from Christian, as Owens and Strickland each getting 17 and Mello Hicks 16. Brannon Hopkins and Hilliard both poured in 34 for the now 5-2 Dream Chaserz, while Devonn Pierce finished with 4 and Shon Redding 15. The Dream Chaserz, currently in fourth, are looking to steal the third seed, with a win Thursday night and a loss by Wood Elite on Saturday.

SEBL Metro A-League Capsule for 8-2-2018

Dream Chaserz 90 Bartow Braves 82 The Dream Chaserz did themselves a favor by taking care of business for a second night in a row, after neutralizing the Braves with their speed, to come out with a big win. The Braves were strong for the first 17 minutes of the game, and were up by as many as seven at one point. But, the Dream Chaserz closed the half on a big run, with a flurry of buckets from Logan Shoffner and Anthony Passmore, to go in with a 47-41 lead. The Braves struggles from the field, continued into the second frame, as the Chaserz built as much as a 24 point cushion. Shoffner, again heated up, canning four straight long-range daggers in one stretch. Brannon Hopkins also got involved with a balance of treys and transition baskets off of long Braves’ misses. The Braves managed to make a run late, as Josh Wilson and Richard Olson were the recipients of conversion baskets, as the result of a frantically intensified defensive effort. The Braves wound up cutting the lead down to six in the waning moments, but the deficit proved to be too much to recover from. Wilson wound up dumping in 25 points, while Olson finished with 17, Marquise Brown 10 and newcomber Mike Fabre’ also contributed 10. For DC, who improved to 6-2, Shoffner took team-high honors with 25, with Hopkins finishing with 24, Anthony Hilliard 19, Passmore 11 and Shon Redding 11. The Dream Chaserz turned in another great team shooting effort from beyond the arc, nailing 14/30 attempts. The win ensured the Dream Chaserz will be at least a 4th seed for the upcoming SEBL playoffs, while a Wood Elite loss against the OG’s on Saturday could propel them into the 3rd spot. The Bartow Braves, who conclude the regular season at 3-5, are locked in the 7th seed for the tournament, and will be pitted against the OG’s in the 7 v 10 matchup on Sunday August 5th at 5pm, with the winner of that game taking on 2nd seeded Summer Hill-1, Wednesday night, August 9th at 8pm.

SEBL Metro A-League Standings as of 8-3-2018: 1. 7-0… Baseline-1 ’05 2. 6-1… Summer Hill-1 3. 5-2… Wood Elite Training 4. 6-2… Dream Chasers 5. 4-3… Brighter Days 6. 3-4… Franklin Ford 7. 3-5… Bartow Braves 8. 2-5... Shaw Industries 9. 0-7... Toyo-1 10. 0-7... The OG’s

SEBL City Conference B-League Capsules for 7-31-2018:

SH-Baseline-2 61 GSM Ballers 57 Baseline-2 had to gut a tough win out against GSM, to keep the first seed for the upcoming playoffs. GSM fought all game, trading leads throughout the first half, with Blake Clay getting key buckets. Jeremiah Shaw had a strong first half, and his four treys helped Baseline-2 inch out to a 35-30 at the half. GSM battled back in the second to take the lead on several occasions, with Bryan Owens heating up. But, Markel Williams answered each time to put SHB2 back up. Tied 54-all with under 1:30 left, GSM had two chances to grab the lead back, but took tough shot attempts, and were forced to foul. Williams sank two, putting Baseline-2 up by two. Then, after another GSM miss, Shaw was fouled and sank two clutch charity shots. Again, GSM missed and fouled Korley Grier, who missed the front end. GSM failed to box out and Shaw snagged the board and executed the dagger put back with only 12 seconds remaining. Clay and LD Strickland each had 14 for GSM, while Owen finished with 13. For SH-Baseline-2, who takes the top seeding into the playoffs, Shaw had his usual production with 22, as Williams had 10 and Grier nine.

SH Warriors 76 BC Infinity 67 The Warriors secured the second seed for the playoffs by sliding past a very competitive SH-Infinity squad. Jason Greenburg put together a great opening stanza of his own, dropping 18 points, much of it coming on four shots from behind the arc, but the Warriors led most of the way behind the scoring of Cade Archer, who had 15 points of his own in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Warriors led 43-32 at the break. The Warriors could not seem to shake Infinity, as their offense dried up. Infinity fought back behind Latrel Jones, who took over the scoring load, downing 17 of his game-high 25. JP Pritchett got two driving buckets late to cut the score down to 68-65, but the Warriors answered efficient buckets from Mello Hicks and Jalen McKeller to ice the game. For Infinity, who finishes the regular season at 4-3, Greenburg supported Jones, finishing with 20, while Pritchett got 12 and Hunter Johnson nine. Infinity will enter the playoffs as the third seed. Archer led the Warriors (6-1) with 21, as Walter Brown scored 12 and Hicks 11.

Team Alumni 65 Toyo-2 60 Team Alumni showed they are not to be taken lightly, as the playoffs loom around the corner, picking up their first win over a Toyo-2 team that has buckled the last few games after moving up to second in the standings at one point. Tailique Cochran, producing points as usual in the first half, finally got some offensive help, as Courtney Gamble shook off some rust to bury four threes. Team Alumni built a 35-26 lead by the half. In the second half, Toyo-2 went down by as many as 16, before finally deciding to put up a challenge, fighting back behind a defensive effort that generated quick buckets from Josh Christian and Jozell Payne. They would trim the score down to two very late, but Gamble and Ken Shaw both came up with big baskets in the closing moments to seal Team Alumni’s first win of the summer. Christian finished with 16 for Toyo-2 (3-4), who lost their third straight, while Payne had 10. For, Team Alumni (1-6), Cochran had 21, while Gamble collected 18. Toyo-2 will enter the playoffs next week as the fourth seed, while Team Alumni didn’t move out of that sixth spot, but the win builds some momentum.

SEBL City Conference B-League Final Standings - 8-1-2018:

6-1… SH-Baseline-2

6-1… SH-Warriors

4-3… BC Infinity

3-4… Toyo-2

1-6... GSM Ballers

1-6... Team Alumni

SEBL City Conference Playoff Schedule:

The SEBL City B-League Bracket is set with the following games…

Sunday, August 5th - 6:00pm - #6 Team Alumni vs. #3 BC Infinity

Sunday, August 5th – 7:00pm - #5 GSM Ballers vs. #4 Toyo-2

Tuesday, August 7th – 8:30pm – Winner GSM/Toyo-2 vs. #1 SH-Baseline-2