The championship game of the River City Pro-Am Summer Basketball League came down to the top two teams in the St. Louis Starz and Y Lie.
The second-seeded Y Lie team built up a huge first half lead, then held off a furious Starz rally in the second half to take a 81-79 victory for the championship on Monday night at Cardinal Ritter.
It was Y Lie’s second consecutive appearance in the championship game of a local summer Pro-Am League. Y Lie was defeated by 200 Proof in last year’s Mo Betta Pro-Am championship game last year.
“It felt great to make it back to the championship game and win this year,” said former Lafayette High and UMSL standout Aareon Smith. “We felt like we should have won last year, so get all the way back and win it this year means a lot. We worked very hard during the summer, so it’s nice to win something like the River City Pro-Am League. There is so much talent in the league.”
It was indeed a different story this summer for Y Lie as they survived a pair of close encounters to win the championship. On Sunday, they edged Big Time 68-66 in the semifinals on a pair of Scott Suggs free throws with five seconds left in the game.
The championship game looked like it was going to be a blowout as Y Lie led by as many as 24 points and built a 55-39 halftime lead on the strength of 10 3-pointers. Smith made five of those 3-pointers and scored all 22 of his team-high points in the first half.
“My teammates found me in good spots and from there, it’s just repetition,” Smith said. “I worked hard in the summer and I got up a lot of shots, so whenever I get good looks, I am confident that I am going to knock them down.”
In the second half, the No. 1 seed Starz slowly reeled in Y Lie behind the trio of James Washington, Kenny Williams and Lance Harris. The battled all the way back to having a chance to tie or win the game at the end of regulation. The Starz went for the win as Harris’ last-second 3-pointer bounced off the rim, giving Y Lie the championship.
Smith led Y Lie with 22 points, followed by former Washington High star Scott Suggs with 18 points. DeSean Cooper scored 12 points while Gerald Weatherspoon added 10 points. All four players are playing professional basketball overseas.
Washington, a former Vashon High and Middle Tennessee State standout, led the Starz with 24 points. Williams scored 20 points and Harris chipped in with 17 points.
