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Basketball teams keep busy over summer

By Kevin Reagan
SPORTS WRITER

HARRISBURG · For some people, the summer season is a time to kick back and relax, but for most student-athletes, it is used as a springboard to the upcoming season.

High school sports, anymore, go much further beyond the regular season, with teams competing or practicing all year round.

Basketball is no exception.

"Basketball is like any other sport now in that it is year round. If you're not playing year round, you are at a disadvantage compared to everybody else," Halifax Head Coach Pete Conrad said.

All six of the boys' basketball programs in the Upper Dauphin Sentinel's coverage area – Halifax, Line Mountain, Millersburg, Tri-Valley, Upper Dauphin Area and Williams Valley – compete in some form of a summer league.

In fact, all six play among each other in a summer league held at UDA High School every Monday and Wednesday.

Halifax and UDA go above and beyond that, competing in the Kirk Smallwood Summer
League against some of the top teams in central Pennsylvania. Millersburg played an additional summer session as well and just finished up in the Susquehanna Summer League where they lost 57-53 in the championship game July 1 to a team from Central Dauphin East.

In the Smallwood and Susquehanna leagues, teams play underneath the banner of a local business. UDA is sponsored by Klinger Lumber and Halifax plays under Keystone Insurers Group while Millersburg was sponsored by D&B Pizza. 

Kirk Smallwood, the Harrisburg High School head coach and athletic director, organized the league in 1991 and has watched it blossom into the premier summer league in central Pennsylvania.

Among the 36 teams in the league this year, are Mid-Penn Conference powerhouses Harrisburg, Central Dauphin and Susquehanna. 

"The competition level is much higher because we are playing bigger schools. We felt with a veteran team with four starters back we could improve by playing the best," UDA
Head Coach Mike Calnon said. 

Smaller, but elite, basketball programs like York Catholic also hone their skills over the summer in the Smallwood League, as well as Tri-Valley League playmate Greenwood.

No strangers to each other. As in any rivalry match, individual records can be tossed to the side

And that was just what happened when long-time TVL rivals Halifax and UDA met July 2 in a head-to-head match up at Manny Weaver Gymnasium.

UDA was coming into the game with a 4-2 record while Halifax (0-3) was still looking for their first win. Despite only bringing five members of their team to UDA's six, Halifax picked up their first summer league victory this season by a score of 56-45.

"It's always been a crap shoot  in doing this. Out of our top eight kids, only two play baseball so we usually have a core of six players there," Calnon said.

The summer can be a perfect time for teams to improve, but at the same time it can conflict with other engagements like family vacations and practice for other sports.

"We're playing a lot, but the challenge for us is getting everyone and a good representative team," Conrad said.

In the long run, though, any kind of practice, scrimmage or league will help any individual player sharpen his skills and any team build chemistry.

"Every time we come out we are trying to win, but even in defeat we are learning. We're learning how to play at a higher level and taking things from it," Calnon said.

Standings for UDA Summer League. Host UDA leads the league with a 7-0 record, followed by Williams Valley (5-2), Halifax (3-2), Millersburg (2-3), Tri-Valley (1-5) and Line Mountain (0-6).

Schedule for UDA Summer League. Teams play on a rotating basis every Monday and Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Gordon Foster Gymnasium.

In honor of July 4, no games will be played this week, but the schedule will resume Monday, July 10. Playoffs are scheduled for the final week of July.

Click logo for complete Tri-Valley League sports schedules & scores

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