Summit Middle School Ballers Take County Championship

SUMMIT, NJ - In order to win the county tournament, the Summit Middle School Boys Basketball team only had to defeat two teams that had bested them by 20 points in the regular season. Turns out that wasn't a problem as Franklin fell in the semifinals and Basking Ridge in the finals to give the squad the county championship.

"Winning our tournament as an underdog was my favorite part of coaching this year. Both the semifinals game and the finals game are two that I will never forget," Coach Justin Liss told Patch. "We played Franklin in the semifinals game. They beat us at home by 20 points in the regular season. We knew that they were going to be tough to beat, but we also knew how well we were currently playing and we all bought into the idea that we could take them down if we did the little things correctly; smart passes, making foul shots, and out-rebounding them. We did just that and actually beat them by 20 points in the semifinals."

That role reversal from the rgular season was not as seamless in the finals against Basking Ridge. The defending champs not only beat Summit by 20 during their regular season matchup but knocked off Franklin in the tournament finals last year with a buzzer beater 3-point shot. Despite the long odds, Liss said his team knew where they were vulnerable.

"Our gameplan was to take away their shooters, which they had a lot of talented players, and hopefully could beat their two big post players. I think they only made one three for the entire game," Liss said. "The fact that we never gave up and believed that we could beat them made all of the difference. We were losing most of the game, but in the end, we had momentum on our side and they could not come back. The tournament was ours. We won by a score of 53-47. An unbelievable last quarter upset."

Liss coaches the team with Matt Ferry and the roster consists of Sean Diczok, Brett Colon, Wes Hellings, Daniel Farberov, Graham Buchanan, Imevar Justice, Pierce Hillabrant, Jake Penner, Jake Rainero, Jack Holmes, Luke Harris and Tyler Kessel. The squad features ten eigtth graders and two seventh graders and is supported by managers Ryan Manahan, Alejandro Astua and Landon Evans.

According to Liss, the team was special and he could see that from the start of tryouts.

"My returning 7th graders from the previous year had now grown into mature 8th grade boys who had a competitive edge to them and had clearly worked very hard during the offseason to make this year a winning one. Those students were also my four captains, Wes Hellings, Dan Farberov, Sean Diczok, and Brett Colon. I knew that they were going to be great star players, but I knew that we needed a full team to have a chance at making it far into the playoffs," Liss said. "Some new students to arrive into Summit for other school districts were Pierce Hillabrant, Imevar Justice, and Jake Penner. These students made great impressions on me early into the tryout process. Graham Buchanon did not try out for the team as a 7th grader, but he worked so hard to make himself a starter and even won the MVP for the final championship game. Jack Holmes and Jake Rainero tried out as 7th graders but did not make the team. They both worked very hard in the offseason and proved that hard work does pay off by making the team as 8th graders. Two 7th graders, Luke Harris, and Tyler Kessel were players that stood out to me with their maturity, athletic ability, and character in the classroom. They were not only my future, but I knew that we would need them as critical bench players throughout the season."

He said that the entire team is special on and off the court.

"Their involvement in the school community is second to none. I often preface the season by sitting down the guys who make the team in order to instill the idea with them that school is a priority and must come first, even before basketball. Many of these guys buy into this logic. They continue to work hard in school and recieve good grades in all of their subjects, they volunteer in the school or in community activities during their free time, which is not often, and they work hard during and outside of school to improve their basketball skills," Liss said. "Practices were always a positive atmosphere during this season. Guys would come in looking determined and ready to improve together as a team. Their relationship and chemistry with one another as both players and friends is something that you cannot teach, but the way that they handled their differences in difficult situations and how they encouraged one another to get down to work each practice was easily one of my favorite parts of this year. They are special because they are not only determined and competitive at the heart, but they are willing to put in any amount of effort to achieve our goal of winning the tournament, which we did."

One of the captains, Sean Diczok agreed with Liss about a favorite on the court moment, but also had one off the court that sticks out in his mind.

"We had late practice one day and it was snowing out, so two guys ran out and bought donuts, and we sat and ate donuts in the stairwell while we were waiting to practice," he said. "We did have to bribe one teacher with a donut to let us sit there and eat."

Diczok also said a large component of the success the team found this season came from their fans.

"The support system was something that added to our success this year- always a big turnout from family and probably 60-70 students at every home game," he said. "We even had a fan bus of 40 students come to our Championship game which made it feel like we had the home court advantage."

The team ends the season with a 13-3 regular season record and a 3-0 record in the playoffs. For his part, Liss still has a full plate even with the championship season behind him, including coaching baseball.

"I will also look to help out the high school basketball team as they look to go to the playoffs coming in the next few weeks," he said. "As for now, I am looking forward to relaxing with my loving wife as she has put up with a lot of me throughout the basketball season."

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