Big two weeks upcoming in MVISBL

By Jose Negron

jnegron@yourmvi.com

The midway point in the Mon Valley Independent Summer Basketball League’s inaugural season has been reached and playoff time is near. 

Play in both the boys and girls divisions has heated up in recent weeks. Throughout the next two weeks, teams will be fighting for a spot in the four-team postseason next month. 

Through six games, there isn’t exactly a favorite in the boys division, but there is one team that stands alone atop the division standings. 

BeeGraphix sits in first place with a 5-1 record and seems to be the team to beat when you look at its roster as well as the league leaders. BeeGraphix has a dangerous trio in Laurel Highlands’ Rodney Gallagher III, Chartiers Valley’s Brayden Reynolds and Bishop Canevin’s Trey Champine as well as a talented group of role players. Gallagher and Reynolds are two of the top scorers in the league.

BeeGraphix might be even more dangerous down the stretch with the return of Quinton Martin, an incoming freshman at Belle Vernon Area.

In only his second game of the summer, Martin made his presence felt against Elite Physical Therapy on Thursday, scoring 23 points and adding seven rebounds and seven assists. Martin’s key performance came on a night in which BeeGraphix was limited to just five players. 

Imagine a lineup that consists of Gallagher, Reynolds, Martin, Champine and Ty Iwanonkiw. Now, that will be a fun group to watch. 

What makes BeeGraphix even more dangerous, however, is its bench players in Charleroi’s Jake Caruso and Thomas Jefferson’s Shawn McSwiggen and Nicholas Werderber. All three have proven to be as valuable as anyone on head coach Tim Tyree’s squad. 

Tyree has to be excited about where his team currently is and what his team could be capable of once the stakes get higher in the playoffs. 

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