Berlin's Sunday Night Basketball League Raises $1,200 on Championship Night for the Ryan Lee Foundation

By Tyler Catlin

The founders of the Sunday Night Basketball League (SNBL) ran a fundraiser to help the Ryan T. Lee Foundation Sunday night.

The night started with the two-ball competition. Teams of two had to alternate shots from different spots on the court with varied values to try and come up with the highest possible score. 

Brian Malloy and Mike Spyros set the bar high with their initial round of 41.  Max Delorenzo and Tyler Catlin followed it up with a ridiculous performance that the mathematician/scorer/math guru Brian Mothersele saw otherwise.  Delorenzo and Catlin finished with a score of 31 in that round and were eliminated from the competition. Following Tommy Liberda and best bud Marco Gianonne’s high score of 47.  Liberda/Gianonne defeated the Malloy/Spyros clan in the finals to claim the two-ball title.

The 3-point contest was everything plus a little Joe “Simms.”  Twelve individuals took to the court in an attempt to take the 3-point title.  John McNair, John Guzze, Tom Liberda, and Eric O’Neil advanced to the final four.  Liberda defeated McNair and Guzze defeated buddy O’Neil to advance to the finals in a heads up final match up. Liberda, once again, took the cake and cashed in on an exciting 13-12 victory over Guzze.

The slam dunk contest featured one person who could seriously dunk, Steve Faulkner, versus a few Berlin guys who could jump a little higher on this night in front of the sold out McGee crowd.  

Once again, you guessed it; Liberda jumped off Mike Mendoza’s back and almost killed himself but completed a spectacular dunk that got the crowd going. Eric O’Neil got the crowd going with his thunderous slam-dunk that he fed to himself off the bounce. But the real crowd pleaser was Faulkner, a Middletown product, who did a windmill from the free throw line along with a reverse 360, two-hand slamma jamma.  Faulkner was given the nickname Steve “the slam dunker” Faulkner from SNBL scorekeeper Christina Gorneault soon after the event as he captured the first ever SNBL slam-dunk competition title.

The Rock N’ Jock Celebrity All Star game was a tight one between the Regulators and the Bricklayers. Regulators head coach and league funny guy, Marco Gianonne had his troops raring and ready from the start with the multicolored 10-point money ball, which the teams could pull out four times throughout the game.  

Regulators forward, Tyler “Chicken” was able to connect on a couple of 10-point plays throughout the game to keep his team on top.  Bricklayers’ guard, Liberda might have scored every one of his team’s points, as there wasn’t a shot he didn’t like.  The Regulators held on late for a 59-56 victory in the 20-minute running time match up.  

Gianonne received the Rock N’ Jock MVP for his John Wooden-esque coaching and was ecstatic afterwards.  

“I just told my team if we score more points than the other team at the end of the game than we win. Seemed to motivate everyone to do better and that’s all it took. I can’t thank God enough for this big win and I’ll be sure to put this MVP trophy on my fireplace mantle next to the painted picture of my Mustang.”

The table was set and the crowd was then ready for the first ever Ryan Lee SNBL Megabowl Championship game between the McGee Milers and #Crew teams. Prior to the game, comedian and league host, Rob Santos delivered a touching and thoughtful speech about Ryan that had everyone in the crowd moved. Santos did an amazing job providing funny commentary the entire night for the competitions and big game.

#Crew started out the game red hot out of the gate behind Brian Malloy’s 13 first half points. Malloy was found practicing all week with teammate and best friend Mike Spyros in preparation for the big game. Spyros was quoted before the game saying, “This is the biggest game of my life.” Spyros scampered off to the bathroom right after the announcement before tip off, as the butterflies may have been too much for him to stomach.

The Milers, despite the slow start, were able to take the lead into the locker room at half, 33-30. The second half started and Steve Glowiak and Max Delorenzo led the Milers out the gate. Glowiak scored 26 of his 36 in the second half while Delorenzo scored 20 of his 29 in the second half.  The duo combined for 65 of their team’s 86 team points.  

Steve Faulkner and Brian Malloy willed their team until the final buzzer finishing with 24 and 26 collectively.  It wasn’t enough as the Milers were able to complete the first perfect season in SNBL history to cap the Ryan Lee Megabowl Championship by a score of 86-79.  

Glowiak was obviously thrilled after the game.  “After the preseason captains ranking picked us to come in last there was nothing sweeter than picking up the trophy with my teammates and completing this perfect season,” Stu said. Five-year SNBL veteran Mike Mendoza was all smiles after the game as he hoisted the championship trophy around, “I’ve won a lot of big games in my life, nothing feels as sweet as this right now,” Mendoza said.

The champions along with #Crew team celebrated a solid season at Bella Pizza immediately after the conclusion of the game over pizza and soda. There were 17 speeches/toasts given throughout the celebration in appreciation to a good night.

This marked a good night for the town of Berlin. The SNBL was able to bank $1,200 dollars to donate to the Lee Foundation. Paul Powers and Mason Powers of Powers Trophies donated every trophy on the night, which each league member appreciated tremendously. Rob Santos was great behind the mic and deejay Ray Pons provided the sound this event so truly needed.  Mayor Adam Salina and Joe Aresimowicz were so kind enough to allow the league to use the friendly confines of McGee Middle School on a night in which weather was suspect for the usual outdoor summer league.  

League scorekeeper, Christina Gorneault was also recognized for her continued support of the league over the past five seasons with a plaque. Catlin was quoted as saying “She is the glue of the league or how I like to put it, the Cal Ripken of the SNBL as she hasn’t missed a Sunday in the past 5 seasons.”  Kudos to Christina and everyone in the league that helped make this night possible. Thanks to all the businesses and individuals who donated to this fantastic evening in Ryan’s honor.