Wolves Win SEBA Summer League Tournament

Mike McManamey of the Southeast Basketball Academy organized this year's Tampa Bay summer high school basketball league.  The league included most of the best teams in Hillsborough, plus a couple of the top teams from Pinellas (Oldsmar Christian, Clearwater), Polk (Kathleen) and teams from Pasco as well for a total of 28 teams. The SEBA summer league tournament was a grueling ordeal, but in spite of missing some players as well as their head coach, the Wolves were able to win 5 games in 3 days to earn the championship. The tourney began with a first round match against Wiregrass Ranch Monday. Even without coach MacKey and last year's leading scorer Samal Shepherd, the Wolves cruised to a 69-36 victory.  In Shepherd's absence, Jake Hodges pumped in 25 points and Trent MacKey added 15, while Cody Dowd, Jamel Gist and LC Suber provided solid support, especially in rebounding. Jakarquisa and Jeff Bassell were able to contribute significant all-around games as well. In this contest it seemed Newsome could do no wrong as the team shot over 70% from the field.  

On Tuesday, it got ugly. In the summer league, nobody fouls out, and perhaps this contributed to the poor performance, or maybe it was something else.  Jesuit battled Newsome into overtime.  Neither team could find the hoop the whole game and perhaps appropriately neither team was able to score during the one-minute overtime, which ended with the score still knotted at 29.  With the speeded up summer league rules in place, this led to a second sudden death overtime. The game ended when Shepherd fittingly missed the first but sank the second of two free throws.  Trent MacKey led the team with 12 points.

Just when the fans thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.  Wharton, known for their stall ball slowdown game was up next. Having earned a bye, the Wildcats did not have to play earlier that night, so they were well rested. They played extremely aggressive hard-nosed defense, and the tired Wolves struggled even harder to find the basket than they had in the Jesuit game. At the half, the Wolves were behind 15-13, and 11 of those 13 points were earned on free throws. Fortunately in the second half, the Wolves rediscovered the basket. Early in the fourth quarter, Dylan Bridges grabbed a couple of offensive boards for putbacks when the Wolves desperately needed a bucket.  On the second of these, he was slammed to the floor.  As those who have watched this edition of Newsome basketball are well aware, this team always rises to such a challenge in a positive way. Just as it did in Gainesville when coach Cassreino and Hodges were hit with totally undeserved technical fouls, this challenge energized the Wolves, who played with a renewed intensity and energy level the rest of the game.  With their newfound mojo, the team pulled away to a 9 point 46-37 victory. Three Wolves, Hodges, Shepherd, and MacKey were in double figures in the game.

On Wednesday, Newsome travelled to Tampa Prep for the final four. While Oldsmar Christian battled Tampa Prep on one court, the Wolves took on Blake on the other. Blake of course has an excellent team, with two of the better big men in the area accompanied by one of the best point guards in the state in Andre Smith, and they proved to be a huge challenge for the Wolves. In true Wolves fashion, Newsome found a way to win as Shepherd and MacKey provided a lighting show, knocking down three after three.  Dowd, Suber, and Hodges did a great job all night of banging it up with the big guys under the basket all night long, but with a minute or so left the battle was just about even. In the final minute of the game, the Yellow Jackets gave the Wolves an opening.  In a terrible defensive lapse, the Jackets lost the hot-handed Shepherd behind the arc. Hodges found him for a wide open three to go up by four. In their haste to get the ball up court, Blake stepped over the end-line, turning the ball over the ball to Newsome. Shepherd returned the passing favor to Hodges, who did a great job of pinning his man, getting position on the block and making one of his patented power post moves with seconds left to bring the victory margin to 6.  Shepherd finished the contest with 23 points, 15 of them on threes, while Hodges added 18 and MacKey 10.

The stage was set for the final contest (at least after they rearranged the gym!). Oldsmar Christian, an independent team that left the FHSAA in order to have more freedom in recruiting and scheduling, had edged out host Tampa Prep for the right to face the Wolves in the championship game. Oldsmar, with a long and talented bench, came into the game a bit fresher than Newsome. The Eagles pulled out to a lead of as much as ten points early in the game, but by the half Newsome had managed to pull ahead by a tally of 25-20. From that point on, Oldsmar repeatedly pulled as close as two, only to have the Wolves stretch the lead back.  Jamel Gist played a key role, not only as a playmaker, but with several key baskets when the team really needed them. In the final minute the Eagles were reduced to fouling to gain possession, but the Wolves made their free throws down the stretch to preserve a hard-earned 67-59 victory. Oldsmar made a concerted effort to contain Shepherd but met little success as he still managed to register 17 points for the evening, while Hodges racked up 27 points for the Wolves.

Recognition should also be extended to coach Jon MacKey for the extensive teaching and preparation through which he has put this team. The value of his efforts was well demonstrated by the team in overcoming all obstacles. Special recognition should also be accorded to assistant coach David Cassreino, who did an excellent job of putting all that preparation to the test and passing with flying colors. Thanks also to Tampa Prep, not only an excellent team but a gracious host for providing and re-arranging their gym for this tournament.

This hard-earned championship caps a busy June session for Newsome which saw an excellent run of seven straight wins at the USF team camp, reaching the final four before falling by two in overtime to Tampa Prep.  In addition, they made a good showing in the UF team camp.  A few of the significant wins over the summer include Clearwater, PK Yonge, and Oldsmar Christian. The outstanding performance in the SEBA league championship should provide an excellent base of confidence to propel the Wolves to a great 2010 season.

This should reinforce what Wolves fans already knew.  Newsome has built one of the best programs in the area, and this year it should be much harder to overlook them, even with their inconvenient location to the media outlets.

Now that the high school summer basketball is over, the boys return to their AAU schedules.  Here is a rundown on some of those teams:

Dylan Bridges and the SEBA select will be in Louisville July 9-12, back in Tampa for the Best of the South on July 13-15.  They will travel to Orlando for the Disney Super Showcase July 21-23 and the Disney Fall Classic August 7-9.

Jake Hodges and the Brandon Bolts will be in Aiken, SC June 10-12 for the Peach Tree Classic, and then will be at the Wide World of Sports in Orlando for both the Super Showcase and AAU Nationals from July 23 through August 1.

Trent MacKey and the Florida Elite 16s will be participating in the Big Shots Exposure Tournament July 9-12. Upon return they will immediately play in the Best of the South in Tampa July 13-15, followed by the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando July 22-25 abd the AAU nationals in Orlando July 24-30, both at the Wide World of Sports.

Additional schedules will be posted when they are made available.

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