ALTON – Summer basketball has become an important part of the high school basketball scene nationwide; it's allowed players to work on aspects of their games to prepare for the coming season.
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The Gateway Under-17 AAU basketball team, which features players from Marquette Catholic, Civic Memorial and Edwardsville, among other teams, hosted a shootout at Marquette Wednesday that featured games with the Illinois Bucks team, Marquette's girls, Waterloo Gibault's girls team and boys and girls teams representing the Youth Sports Lions, a select club from Antwerp, Belgium, who are on a 15-day tour of the United States.
Gateway opened the shootout with a 75-26 win over the Lions, but the chance to play together was a good one for Gateway.
“It was a good experience for everyone,” said Gateway assistant coach Don Halling, who coached the team Wednesday. “The boys have been with their school teams in June, so we haven't played together since the first weekend in May; we haven't had the chance to practice, so it was a fun opportunity for the boys to get back together and get things back rolling as we get ready for our July live college period (an open period for college coaches to watch potential recruits in game action under NCAA rules).
“We got up and down the floor really well; we've got a bunch of kids that can all run the floor pretty well and we were able to get some steals on defense.”
The Lions started their tour in Chicago and were in St. Louis for the Independence Day holiday; they were in attendance at Tuesday afternoon's St. Louis Cardinals game at Busch Stadium against the Miami Marlins. “We started in Chicago, then we came here and then go to Hermann (Mo.) from here,” said Lions coach Wim Dresselaers. “Their team is a very good team; they're more athletic. The style (of play) and tactics are a little bit the same, but they're more athletic than we are. It's a very good experience.”
The experience of playing in the USA is something the Lions players will remember. “My son is playing with this team,” Dresselaers said. “I think it's an age they can remember the experience. The hospitality here is very good; I'm very impressed by the hospitality. There are very kind people here.”
Gateway features Marquette's Sammy Green, Reagan Snider and Jake Hall, all of whom played key roles in the Explorers' run to the IHSA Class 2A Carbondale Super-Sectional back in March, as well as CM's Jaquan Adams and Edwardsville's RJ Wilson. “Sammy did a great job facilitating (the Gateway offense),” Halling said. “He's such a great point guard; for a team like ours, he doesn't need to score as much as he maybe does for his school team. He can really excel running the floor and passing.
“We've got a couple of kids, Isaiah Bowers (from Lincoln, Ill.) who did a good job scoring for us, Jake Hall did a good job of scoring for us, Jaquan Adams had a good game.”
The chance to play an international team was a great opportunity for the Gateway players. “Anytime you get an opportunity to interact with kids from another country – anytime you get an opportunity like that, you can't pass it up,” Halling said. “We've been able to do this the past couple of years, so it's a great experience for the boys; it's good for the boys to experience that and see what other kids are like, have fun and enjoy it and get to play some basketball.”
Bowers led Gateway with 19 points, with Hall scoring 16, Tyler Joest of Breese Central 15, Adams 11, Green eight, Wilson four and Snider two. The Lions were led by Lucas Verle, Khayodele Wellems and Klass Wawters with four each, Sam Rous, Jules Van der Goten, Sander Smets and Frederik De Paep with three each and Ibe Voleberghs with two.
