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AMERICUS – On Thursday, June 1, the Dwight Harris Boys Club Summer Basketball League began its 11th straight season. This is the brain Child of Dwight Harris, who began the league 11 years ago for the purpose of giving the children and youth of Sumter County something positive and constructive to do during the summer. It has also been officially documented by the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office that the league’s existence has resulted in a drop in crime amongst the county’s youth over the summer months.

The first game of the day featured two teams from the boys’ 7-8 year old division: the Lakers and the Kings. Early in the first half, the Lakers jumped out to an 11-0 lead, but the Kings closed out the first half with a 7-2 run and only trailed 13-7 at halftime.

In the second half, it was a low-scoring affair between both teams, but Brody Edwards brought the Kings to within two points at 14-12 with a basket with about a minute left. However, the Lakers were able to hold on to a 14-12 victory.

E.J. Williams led the Lakers with six points in the victory.

The second game of the day featured two teams from the 12-14 boys division: the Lakers and the Warriors. This game was, for the most part, a back and forth affair between both teams. For most of the first half, the contest was evenly matched, as the score was tied at 13-13 late in the half. However, the Lakers went on a 6-0 run to close out the half and led 19-13 at halftime.

Early in the second half, the Lakers went on a 9-2 run, but the Warriors responded with a 13-2 run of their own that was capped off by a three-pointer from Caiman Williams, making the score 30-28 in favor of the Lakers.

Over the final minutes of the game, it was a back-and-forth affair, but the Lakers held on to win 43-36.
Austin Davis led the Lakers in scoring with 25 points and Caiman Williams led the Warriors with 13.

The third game of the day featured two teams from the 13-17 girls division: the Liberty and the Aces. In this game, the Liberty dominated from start to finish. They jumped out to a 25-10 lead at halftime and continued to dominate their way to a 39-24 victory. Liyah McGarrah led the Liberty with 21 points and Dearia Clark led the Aces with 22.

The final game of the evening featured the Nicks and the Lakers from the boys 15-17 division. This game was also not a contest, as the Lakers jumped out to a 31-12 lead at halftime and went on to win by the score of 60-33. Corderian Leverett led the Lakers in scoring with 13 points and Jayden Dunning led the Knicks with 13 in the loss.

The league will have games every dayMonday through Saturday and will go all the way through late July.