Kings Win High-Scoring Scrub Final Over Bucks, 69-61

The Green Hornets boys scrub basketball league concluded on February 25 at Severna Park High School as the Kings defeated the Bucks 69-61 in the postseason tournament’s championship game.

A team-high 18 points by Kyle DeCrispino as well as 17 points by Hayden Toth and 15 by Nick Grazioli paved the way for the Kings to earn the 2017-2018 title and the all-important bragging rights that come with it.

“We got the team together, and we knew we were going to win the championship,” said Toth amidst laughter from teammates and surrounding moms and dads. “We had the talent and kind of finessed the draft and got some trades in. Easy dubs all the way.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Green Hornets boys scrub basketball championship, 2.25.18

The team of Kyle DeCrispino, Hayden Toth, Nick Grazioli, Ryan Gorman, John Kenny, Riley Toth, Jack Verde, Matt Poniatowski, Garrett Edwards and Owen Barrett finished 17-2 on the year. Edwards had nine points and Gorman had seven in the win.

The victory did not come easy against a Bucks team that was game. Luke Roche had a game-high 19 points for the Bucks, while Chase Cope scored 12, Nathan Garner had 10 and Mark Nobilio had nine. Mydland Williams (three points), Sawyer Phillips (two), Justin Gardner (two), Noah Anderson (three), Griffin O’Neill and Jake Powell also contributed to the Bucks’ runner-up finish.

The popular boys scrub league saw 320 high-school-aged boys compete on 32 teams this year, up from 300 boys on 30 teams last year — as boys basketball deputy commissioner Judy Tacyn playfully noted, the league is “bigger than the NBA.”

As the only high-school boys club basketball league in the county, the scrub league has grown immensely since it was founded in 2001.

The annual championship game continues to be one of the most sought-after and prized titles that can be won.

Grazioli seemed to draw a little territorial inspiration from the Kings’ NBA city in summarizing his team’s dominance of the league this season.

“All I want to say is, don’t come to Sacramento,” Grazioli said.

PHOTO GALLERY: Green Hornets boys scrub basketball championship, 2.25.18