Camp Verde Middle School’s boys basketball team concluded its season with a fourth-place finish at the Verde Valley League seventh- and eighth-grade Boys Basketball Championship Tournament on Friday, Jan. 27 and Saturday, Jan. 28.
The fifth-seeded Cowboys defeated Mayer Middle School on Jan. 27 to advance to face off against top-seeded Sedona Red Rock Junior High School.
They lost, 46-15, but head coach Donnie Shanks is not concerned with wins and losses.
“We’re a junior high, so winning is nice, but we’re here to grow them,” Shanks said. “As long as I see growth individually and as a team, then it’s successful.”
According to Shanks, the team has done just that. He said that the team “started out the season real raw,” committing about 10 fouls per quarter.
Since, he has seen his team improve, especially on defense, beginning to play more aggressively while moving their feet and not slapping at the ball.
Shanks also pointed out his team’s ability to take whatever kind of play he gives them, and being able to run it, something that he normally has trouble with.
The next step, he said, is developing on-court presence, making adjustments mid-game according to what the defense does.
For the future, Shanks said he is excited because of a good group of seventh-graders coming in.
