If you thought summer basketball in the park was only for kids, you haven't been following Spiders League of Wareham for the last eight years.  Last Thursday night at the Jason Andrade courts, the league concluded its 2010 summer season with a championship game between the Spiders Webs and the Brick Squad, with Spiders Webs holding on for a win 82-78.

The league, founded in 2002 by Wareham resident and businessman Larry Senna, attracts Southcoast-area players aged 16 and older (some very much older).

"As youths we have the Junior Basketball League (JBA) winter and summer, and you have high school sports," said Senna.   "But once you get out, there was nothing around here for basketball for the young adult, and I wanted them to have something to look forward to in town after work."

Senna also wanted to continue seeing the courts full.

"I have fond memories of playing basketball EVERY DAY in the summers at this very court," Senna said. "There were 20-25 guys wanting to play on the main court and everybody would be calling "winners"( I got next).  We would play from 5 to 8:30 pm and on Sundays it was even earlier and more people. There were cars parked all around and girls watching...it was a fun time...Always.... "

This year's championship game included basketball stars from past and present.  Ryan Pina and Jules Tavares of this year's state champion Wareham High School  team were joined by past Wareham stars Dommie Mello and Marquis Silvia on the Brick Squad.  They played against a Spiders Webs team that included past Wareham players Bill Cardoza, Colby Santos, and Rick McNair.

The Spiders Webs team started the game shooting and passing well, and they jumped to an early, double-digit lead that held until late in the second half.  But the Brick Squad cut the lead to three points with less than two minutes to go on a three-pointer by Jules Tavares (20 second-half points).  But the steady shooting and inside play of Spiders Webs standouts Santos (29 points) and Cardoza (18 points) were too much, and the Spiders held on to win.  Larry Senna, at 47 the oldest player in the game, scored 5 points, including a 3-pointer.

Senna said he will be organizing the Spider League again next year in the late spring and hopes to have at least eight teams.  This year's league included Southcoast players from Wareham, Carver, New Bedford, Bourne,and Hyannis.

And for anyone wondering why a league would be named after spiders, just ask Senna.  It's a nickname he acquired as a skinny, lanky teenager who loved to play hoop on Wareham's summer playgrounds.