Men’s Summer Hoops League Tips Off 27th Season With Old Guard Looking to Hold Off Young Guns
When Winberie’s faced King’s Pizzarama last July in the best-of-three championship series of the Princeton Recreation Department Men’s Summer Basketball League, it was a clash of grizzled veterans against young turks.
Utilizing its savvy, Winberie’s was able to prevail over upstart King’s, posting two tightly contested victories to win the series 2-0.
As the summer hoops league tips off its 27th season on June 10 with a triple-header at the Community Park basketball courts, league commissioner Evan Moorhead expects a similar scenario to play out this year.
“I think the overall theme will be, can the old guard, Winberie’s, Ivy Inn, and Dr. Palmer, hold off the young guns, like King’s, Aria Health, Belle Mead Physical Therapy, and SAT Smart,” said Moorhead, noting that the league will have 10 teams this summer, up from nine in 2014, and that there has been a key rule change as it will take seven team fouls rather than 10, as in the past, to trigger one-on-one bonus free throws.
“The older teams have experience but not the youthful legs any more. Experience tends to win it, with Winberie’s and Ivy Inn winning the last two years.”
Winberie’s and Ivy Inn appear poised to lead the old guard again this summer.
“The big story is that Chris Hatchell is officially retired,” said Moorhead, the assistant director of the Rec Department.
“Kurt Simmons is the GM. Cliff Pollard, Chris Edward, and Terrence Bailey are back. Any time you have Bailey, you can score points. Ivy Inn is back and Skye Ettin (former Princeton High and TCNJ standout) is going to be playing with them. Shahid Abdul-Karim, Buddy Thomas, and Mark Aziz are all back.”
Another veteran unit, Dr. Palmer, has returned after a one-year hiatus from the league. “Dr. Palmer is back with some new names but also some familiar players,” added Moorhead. “They have Mika Palmer, Gary Wilson, Larry Upshur and Brad Billmeier. They say they have a 6’10 player.”
Last year’s finalist, King’s Pizzarama, figures to be a powerful young gun. “King’s will have a similar team; they had a really good season last summer,” added Moorhead.
“They have the two Princeton football players, Anthony Gaffney and Jakobi Johnson. They have also added Justin Leith (a former Princeton Day School standout and current Stuart Country Day athletic director who played pro basketball overseas).”
Another young gun, Jesse Krasna, who gave Winberie’s some young legs to help its title run last summer, will be heading a new league entry, Aria Health.
“Jess has broken off and has a new team,” said Moorhead. “He has the Sibol twins (John and Zach) from the old Blue Devils team. Jesse is a heck of a player and he brings people together. He has experience in the league and he knows what it takes to be competitive so I am assuming his team will be tough.”
SAT Smart, the TCNJ entry, has the potential to be a tough team. “Bobby Brackett will be one of the top players in the league,” said Moorhead. “They have a couple of guards back. They will be competitive if the guards can get Bobby the ball in the post.”
Princeton Youth Sports (PYS), the Princeton High boys’ hoops entry, along with Princeton Pi, Bring Me Food, and Belle Mead Physical Therapy, will be hoping to be competitive with rosters stocked with young players.
PYS should feature high-scoring Matt Hart, an ALL-CVC performer last winter for PHS while Princeton Pi returns last summer’s leading scorer, Juwan Harrison. New entry, Bring Me Food, figures to get firepower from Davon Black, a former PHS standout who was a first-team All League performer last summer for Northeast Realty. Belle Mead boasts strength on the perimeter with All-League performers Jalen Parham, Jonathan Gregory, and Matt Johnston.
Moorhead, for his part, believes the action on the Community Park courts will heat up with the temperatures.
“We have started to hit up the social media,” said Moorhead. “With the rain last week and 58 degree temperatures, it is hard to think about summer hoops. Hopefully the temps will be going up and that will bring people out.”