Former Mercer Island High School basketball player Quin Snyder was named the new head coach of the Austin Toros basketball team last week.
The Toros are apart of the National Basketball Association’s development league.
Snyder, who was the head coach at the University of Missouri, an assistant coach and scout for the Los Angeles Clippers and a standout player for Duke University, helped the Islanders win a state title in basketball and still holds numerous records at the high school.
Mudville SP wins Memorial Day tourney
Mudville SP, the select baseball team of mostly Mercer Island 12-year-olds, went 4-1 to win the North Seattle SuperBash B baseball tournament over Memorial Day weekend, May 25 through May 28 at the Lower Woodland fields in Seattle.
Mudville SP won three-straight games Monday to bring home the championship title.
SP began their run early on Monday by dominating the North Seattle Northstars 8-2 in a shortened quarterfinal game, led by Andrew Summerville and Adam Cline, who combined to pitch a 3-hitter while each crushing a double and scoring two runs. Ben Campbell ignited SP’s offense with a first-inning triple and three RBI’s.
Alex Emanuels, Campbell, and Lucas Shannon were overpowering on the mound in the semi-final, limiting a talented Auburn Wildcats squad to just three singles while notching eight strikeouts in a superbly played game on both sides. Sean Casey, Cline, Campbell, and Emanuels delivered clutch RBI-base hits en route to a 5-1 victory.
The Emanuels-Campbell-Shannon trio returned for the Championship Game, firing seven strikeouts while allowing only six hits in holding down the Snohomish Bulldogs, an all-star team from Maltby, for a 5-4 triumph. Summerville earned a save by coming in to get the final two outs, and also scored two runs and drove in the game winner. Logan Barton-Rowledge was 2-for-2 and scored the winning run.
Pacing Mudville SP’s offense for the tournament, Cline was 6-for-12 with a pair of doubles and Matt Orehek slugged three doubles and hit .467. Overall in its five tournament games, the team batted .305 and outscored opponents 34-14. All 12 SP players had at least three hits or an On-Base-Percentage above .385. Brian Higgins caught all 18 innings while knocking in five runs in the three games on Monday, and Isak Morris, Glenn Sherman, and Jamie Lungmus each scored or drove in runs in SP’s final-day sweep to the championship.
Mudville SP is coached by Russ Barton, Patrick Casey and Pete Higgins and sponsored by Security Properties. Seattle-based Security Properties owns Mercer Island’s Shorewood Heights and is one of the nation’s largest owners of multi-family properties.
Islander girls go undefeated at Mount Si
The Mercer Island High School girl’s basketball team entered the annual Mount Si Junior Varsity Basketball tournament on June 2. The Islanders were undefeated, winning each of their four games by 10 or more points. The tournament offers a peek at next year’s high school teams and the victory bodes well for the future of MIHS Islander Girl’s Basketball as eight of the eleven players are eighth graders. Members of the team are: Patty Chew, Hailey Gullstad, Kelly Han, Alfa Hordges, Kristen Mozeika, Kayce Ogishima, Meredith Pothoven, Jae Shin, Sarah Taylor, Debra Wang and Bethany Yollin.
MIHS basketball team takes Tip-Off Classic
The Mercer Island High School boys varsity basketball team won the Kentridge Tip-Off Classic on June 3.
The Islanders beat Enumclaw, East Valley, Kent-Meridian, River Ridge and Auburn High School to reach the finals. Mercer Island added a championship victory over perrenial state 4A power, Kentwood High School.
The team was led by seniors-to-be: Leroy Lutu, Sam Rasmussen, Drew Sexton, Evan Zahniser, Paul Morse, Ben Shoemaker and Luke Salaiz and junior-to-be, Jonathan Poli. Other team members that contributed on Friday and Saturday, were Matt Schut, Rahul Misra and Will Hansen.
The Islanders will be playing in several tournaments and leagues throughout the month of June.
Please visit the Mercer Island Boys Basketball Web site to register for the upcoming Ed Pepple Basketball Camp. at www.MIbasketball.org.
Summer Celebration 3-on-3 Basketball Tourney
Summer Celebration’s annual kickoff, the 3-on-3 basketball tournament is back and promises to be a grand event! This year’s tournament will be Friday, July 13 and is being organized by the MI Girl’s and Boy’s Basketball Booster Clubs and parents. Games will be played at the Community Center at Mercer View gym. The tournament will be modeled after the Spokane Hoopfest tournament with the goals in future years to acquire outdoor hoops and get the games back outside, possibly downtown Mercer Island! Anyone who has played Spokane Hoopfest knows how how much fun a 3-on-3 can be!
Due to the limited amount of courts, there will be only four divisions: Boys and Girls fourth (third graders eligible), fifth sixth and seventh Grade (as of fall 2007). Entry deadline: Tuesday, July 3. Space is limited. Go to www.migb.org for registration forms and details.
Brothers make water polo National team
Island residents Brian and Eugene Chong qualified to compete on the Water Polo National team training squad for their age groups during the 2007-2008 season.
Brian Chong is a senior at Mercer Island High School, who earned offensive MVP honors during the high school season and is being recruited by the University of California-Santa Barbara.
Eugene Chong is an eighth grader and is the youngest player to make the team.
