By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After a forced year off due to COVID-19, the Darting Basketball Academy 3 on 3 Summer League has returned with a vengeance this summer.
The 3 on 3 league, which made its debut in 2019, has had 220 players, age 8 through 18, take part this summer, drawing players from across the area to Shawnee Heights.
"We weren't able to do it last year because of COVID but we have more players this year than we did the first year and we have kids from all over,'' Kerry Darting said. "We have kids from Salina, Manhattan, Sabetha, Lawrence, Kansas City.''
Darting Basketball Academy's Kerry Darting (second from left) poses for a picture with 3 on 3 Summer League elementary level MVP picks Ryder Valdivia (left), Hudson Heim and Lucy Martinie. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
KK Emmot (left) and Mason Becker (right), middle school MVPs from the Darting Basketball Academy 3 on 3 Summer League, pose with Kerry Darting Tuesday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The six-week league has a unique format, with players rotating from team to team each game to give players an opportunity to team up with players of varying talent levels.
"You're going to be playing with the best players, and some who might not be as good, and you've got to learn how to still win when you're playing with kids that may not be as talented and it's the same way if you're a kid that's not as talented,'' Darting said. "You get to play with some better players so that raises your level as well.''
A lot of the 3 on 3 entrants are coming off 18 weeks of instruction through the DBA and Darting said the summer league is a fun way to cap things off.
"Most of these kids train with us all year and are trying to work on their skill level, but here they get to come in and have fun,'' Darting said. "But more than that, 3 on 3 kind of allows them to learn how to play. In 5 on 5 you're either sitting out a lot and maybe not in the action a lot if you're not one of the better players. Even if you're one of the better players you're shooting maybe 10 to 15 shots a game where in here you come in for for an hour and a half and they're getting 30, 40, 50 shots and they're learning how to pass it and they're learning cuts and they're learning screens and everything that they're probably not taught.
"It kind of gives them motivation during the workouts to get better and now they come in here and get to put to use what they've been learning over the 18 weeks in the training. That's when it's fun and the kids love it.''
A unique scoring system allows participants to accumulate points during the six-week league, culminating in the presentation of Most Valuable Player trophies to the top point-getters in each division.
Third through eighth-grade participants closed out league play Tuesday, with high school competitors set to wrap up their 3 on 3 league Thursday.
Ryder Valdivia received the MVP for Tuesday's youngest division while Lucy Martinie and Hudson Heim were named MVPs for the elementary girls and boys.
KK Emmot was named the middle school girls MVP while Mason Becker earned the same honor for the Middle School boys.
