Showcasing the Southern Md. Youth Basketball League
Fun evening caps organization’s season
Friday, St. Mary’s College of Maryland once again opened up its Michael P. O’Brien Athletics and Recreation Center arena to the Southern Maryland Youth Basketball League for a night of celebration that featured basketball, cheerleading and awards.
“It’s a long season and this is a celebration of the season,” league president Kenny Alvey said. “It is a celebration of all of these eighth-graders, and many have played for four and five years. This is just a great way to cap off their eighth grade year as they transition into high school.”
It was Alvey’s league president.
“This was my first year as the president and we are trying to make changes where we see we can,” he said. “We just really want to have something for the kids to come out and enjoy and have a great time playing basketball.”
The night featured two showcase games. This year, the teams were randomly constructed and featured a Red and Blue team of All-Stars squaring off as opposed to a North team first year as battling a South team. The Red All-Stars took care of the Blue 54-23 in the girls contest and 4735 in the boys contest.
“It was a fun competitive game,” said Stephane Ngounou of St. John’s School in Hollywood and a member of the Blue All-Star team. “I had fun playing and we didn’t come out with the ‘W’, but it was just for fun.”
Ngounou scored a game-high 11 points.
In the girls contest, Emmie Farren from Archbishop Neale School in La Plata scored 10 points, which included knocking down one three-pointer, to help lead the Red All-Stars to victory.
The girls showcase game’s Most Valuable Player was Caleigh Bergling of Mother Catherine Academy in Mechanicsville. The boys showcase game’s Most Valuable Player was Hayden Plakos from Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Solomons.
“It was a fun evening,” said Red girls All-Star head coach Jeff Gray, the head coach at Mother Catherine Academy. “We had a great time and a great group of girls to coach this evening. They all had a blast out there and did their best. You couldn’t ask for a better game for us.”
Bergling led the Red All-Stars to victory with a game-high 11 points and knocked down two three-pointers, while Plakos scored eight points in the Red All-Stars boys victory.
“Our new president, Kenny Alvey, has done a great job with the league this year and everything,” Gray said. “I’ve really enjoyed it and always have enjoyed this event down here at the college. It is a great atmosphere and the kids get to bond with the players from the other schools that they have battled with all year. It’s just a fun-filled evening with different competitions. We got a good crowd tonight. It was exciting to see that. It has been a long season. We start in late September early October and play through March.”
Cheerleading squads from Father Andrew White School in Leonardtown and King’s Christian Academy in Callaway performed during halftime and in between the third and fourth quarter of the girls game.
At the boys game, cheerleading squads from Mother Catherine Academy, St. Michael’s School in Ridge and St. John’s performed at the end of the first and third quarters and halftime.
The SMYBL announced its player of the year awards for basketball with Dreylan Howard of King’s Christian Academy named the boys Player of the Year and Bergling being named the girls Player of the Year.
The final was Award.
The award, created in 2006, is named after the 12-year-old Holy Angels Sacred Heart School student who died Sept. award of the festivities the Dylan Brown 9, 2004 after losing with leukemia.
The award is given to the one player in the league, boy or girl, who best embodies the spirit of Brown through his or her outstanding sportsmanship and teamwork, hard work and determination, embracement of Christian values and the true love of the game of basketball.
The award went to Lilly Merritt of St. Michael’s School. his battle