Summer Play in Broadneck

Local girls have been using their summer break to hone their basketball skills as ’s High School Girls Summer Basketball League got under way June 14, with games being played twice a week. The season wraps up the end of July with playoffs July 26 and final playoffs July 28.

Bruce Springer, coordinator of athletics for AACC, offers this league every summer to give the high school athletes a chance to improve their skills and have fun playing in the offseason. Usually games are held at the college’s Jenkins Gymnasium but because of renovations, has offered their gym for the games.

Erin Thorne has a team of 16 girls competing against other high school teams in the area. Coach Thorne, a former Bruins starting center, just completed her first year as head girls' basketball coach at Broadneck High School and had one of the most successful seasons in nearly a decade finishing with a record of 18-7.

Thursday night the Bruins competed with just four players against the Chesapeake High School Cougars. They played 20-minute halves with a running clock until the last two minutes of each half. The lead wasn’t held long by either team but in the end the Cougars finished on top 30-26.

Kim Foley, mother of Elizabeth, said “Elizabeth has played basketball for the last five years and just finished up her sophomore year as a guard on JV for BHS. Most of the high schools put together a team made up of both varsity and junior varsity players.”

Elizabeth is a strong presence on the court and, at 5’ 11’’, not a lot was getting by her.

Abbey Meehan, BHS varsity guard, was also on the court aggressively stopping the Cougars from shooting and always on the move, passing to an open teammate.

With 75% of a team’s players gone, it’s a battle to overcome fatigue and keep the pressure on the opposing team, but in a summer league, it’s a common issue with family vacations planned.

This challenge, however, gives athletes extra playing time they might not usually have received with one of the area’s best girls basketball coaches. It also gives the coach more time to give individual attention to her players and help them to master their play.