Pair of inaugural summer leagues come to a close Murphy, Rudd lead Gophers to Swish City Title | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

Fast forward about four and a half months, and the Gophers can now call themselves champions.

Led by stellar play of rising seniors Danny Murphy and Tyler Rudd, the Gophers captured the Swish City Summer League championship this past Saturday, defeating St. Paul's 62-59 in the title game.

"Summer league is summer league, but we wanted to make sure we had the right momentum going into next season," said Glen Burnie coach Mike Rudd. "The biggest difference is our chemistry. They just have it. They've played together for a long time, they like each other and there are no egos. With Tyler and Danny we have two strong senior leaders."

The Gophers went 7-1 in the eight-game regular season, with their only loss coming at the hands of league-host St. Paul's. But their record was good enough to earn the second seed and a bye for the playoffs, and after dispatching Milford Mill in the semifinals, Glen Burnie exacted revenge on St. Paul's to take the title.

Tyler Rudd finished second in the league in scoring, netting 19 points per game, and Murphy added 15.

The Gophers also got a boost from 6-foot, 6-inch forward Justin Kuntz, who averaged 12 points per game.

Kuntz, a rising junior who played at Cardinal Gibbons last year but won't be attending the school this year, lives in the Glen Burnie school district, Mike Rudd said. Though he has not officially decided to en- roll at Glen Burnie High School, Kuntz was able to play and make an immediate impact for the Gophers.

The front line of the 6-6 Murphy, the 6-4 Tyler Rudd and Kuntz dominated the boards and score loads of points in the paint to key Glen Burnie's success.

"When they had Kuntz, Murphy and Rudd in there together, they were a very good rebounding team," said Rick Palmer, tournament director and an assistant coach for St. Paul's. "They get in a triangle around the basket, and it's hard to crack it."

The 11-team Swish City Summer League was in its inaugural year. The league was comprised of only high school squads, and the top six teams made it to Saturday's one-day playoffs, with the top two teams earning byes.

Each game had 20-minute halves, with the clock only pausing during stoppages in the last two minutes of each half. Coaches had one full timeout and one 30-second timeout per half.

"It was very successful," Palmer said about the league. "Kids getting out there and playing is beneficial to all teams in the area."

Other teams in the league were: Towson Catholic, Glenelg Country School, Randallstown, Patterson Mill, Wilde Lake, Northwestern, Woodlawn and North County, who played under new coach Andrew Lazzor for the first time.

"It gave him a chance to meet his guys in a game situtation before the actual start or the season," said Mike Rudd, who had Lazzor on his staff as an assistant from 2000-2005.

Prior to this year, coaches were not permitted to coach their teams in practices or games until the middle of November. But under new rules, Rudd, Lazzor and coaches throughout the summer league spectrum have made the most of their newly-available time.

Rudd didn't actually coach the Gophers through their first few games, but after seeing them fall to St. Paul's from the bleachers, he came back down to the coaches box for the remainder of league play.

"Rudd's team started out well, but he could see from the stands that they started to get ahead of themeselves," Palmer said. "He got back in there, lit the fire and took them all the way."