Summer basketball tips off in Torrington

TORRINGTON — The 41st season of Torrington Summer Basketball League began Friday, June 21, on the court at Torrington Armory.

Housatonic Valley Regional High School is represented in the TSBL by participating athletes from both girls and boys varsity teams.

The boys team from HVRHS played the season opening game against Nonnewaug June 21 with an 8:30 p.m. tip off. Varsity Coach Kurt Johnson was calling the shots courtside for HVRHS.

In years past, varsity coaches were not permitted to coach their team in the summer league, but Johnson said, “they changed the rules this year so we can get in there.”

There was another highly anticipated change that did not come to fruition for the 2024 season: air conditioning. Fortunately, the week-long heatwave had broken by game time after a series of thunderstorms late Friday. While the temperature dropped to about 70 degrees outside, the thermostat within the Armory read 84 at tip off.

All TSBL games consist of two 20-minute halves with a running clock, meaning each game is less than an hour of real time. The fast-paced nature of the league allows for four to five games to be played in the Armory every night.

Coach Kurt Johnson shares words of encouragement to the team Friday, June 21Riley Klein

HVRHS’s lineup appeared to have put in some work since the most recent varsity season ended. Smooth footwork under the basket created strong scoring opportunities, but their shots just weren’t falling.

Despite commendable hustle on defense and good ball movement on offense, Nonnewaug continued to pull ahead and build a lead. Nonnewaug shot at a high percentage both from the field and the stripe.

Nonnewaug won the game 54-32 to start the summer season. The effort of the HVRHS squad offered reason for optimism on the court this summer.

TSBL games will continue every weeknight beginning at 5:30 p.m. through the first week of August. Saturday games will be played in the mornings starting at 8:30 a.m.

The HVRHS girls began their summer season Tuesday, June 25, against Torrington Gold.

Results and schedules can be found at www.quickscores.com/torringtonct