NORTH AUGUSTA — The basketball wasn't always at its prettiest, as is often the case with June hoops.
Consider the opening tip-offs in the first two games: One produced a drive to the wrong basket, then a traveling violation when that player stopped after hearing the shouts from the bench; the other immediately drew a whistle for a back-court violation.
But the quality quickly improved and the intensity was evident, and last week's action still very much served a purpose for the schools taking part in Fox Creek's Summer Shootout, a two-day event.
"We've got a pretty young group this year," said Fox Creek head coach Andrew Peckham. "And we have a bunch of guys that play football, too, so the summer's kind of the time to develop their skills, fundamentals. We work a lot on that in practice.
"But then having something like this gives us that opportunity to kind of see where we stand going into, obviously basketball's not until November-December, but it lets us as coaches and me as a coach evaluate our guys."
Peckham got to evaluate his Predators in games against Silver Bluff and Airport high schools, and Strom Thurmond was also present for a day of competitive, if not always crisp, basketball.
"I'm learning a lot about my team. You know, June basketball is always fun," said Silver Bluff head coach Robbie McKenzie. "I've had great numbers so far. I've had 35-plus kids pretty much every day we've worked out. It tells me I've got a lot of kids excited. ... We've got a lot of question marks. I lost both of our post players, and we're trying to fill in some gaps with some of those kids."
McKenzie knew his Bulldogs were in for some tough competition coming over to Fox Creek. Among those great numbers turning out so far for the Bulldogs are players who have been contributors to the varsity and junior varsity programs over the last few years – this kind of event is a chance for him to see them playing together heading into the school year.
PHOTO: Kyle Dawson/The Aiken Standard
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