Early-season tournaments give coaches an idea of where their teams stand as well as provide opportunities for players to grow.
With two of three varsity returners who played regular minutes last year getting hurt in the second game of the Phoenix Country Day School Desert Classic, Camp Verde High School’s boys basketball team focused on doing just that.
“There was a lot of opportunities to learn lessons for our group,” Cowboys head coach Dan Wall said. “I think a lot of things became apparent to us, and I think we have a pretty good idea of some of the things we’ve got to work through to get better. It was a great experience for our kids to get more game competition.”
Going 0-5 across the two-day tournament on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 1 and 2, the Cowboys saw the necessity for defensive improvement rise to the forefront.
Wall said being beaten off of the dribble, slow rotations on help defense and boxing out stuck out most. The less experienced players learning what it takes to play hard at the varsity level was part of that.
“We have certain kids that already know what it’s like to be at the varsity level and they’re ready to bring the effort that we need,” Wall said. “I think some of the younger ones and the ones who haven’t been able to play a whole lot these last couple of years are in the process of figuring that out.”
Sophomore guard Abe Gonzalez and junior center Dayton Smith each got injured during the 67-43 loss to host Phoenix Country Day School.
Camp Verde opened the tournament with a 54-53 loss to Tonopah Valley High School, the most competitive of the five. With time winding down, Gonzalez missed a contested shot off of a well-executed inbounds play. The rebound was kicked out to senior guard Chase Decker, who missed a three-pointer as time expired.
The team shot 40 percent from beyond the arc during that game. Shooting was one of the points of emphasis after last season.
“The kids have worked on it pretty hard from the offseason to this year. I’ve been pretty happy with them,” Wall said. “We haven’t got it to drop as well as what we would like. I’d say overall we’re taking good shots. In the times we weren’t we were able to figure it out and try to fix it a little bit. I think our shot selection definitely is better than last year.”
After losing to the Eagles, the Cowboys then took on the Salome High School Frogs, falling 45-38. On Dec. 2, they opened with Joy Christian School, losing 61-45 before finishing things off with a 65-45 loss to Parker High School.
“We’re going to get a lot better defensively. I think we’ve got kids that are desiring to be good and so they’re willing to sacrifice a little bit and put the effort in that it’s going to take to make us better defensively,” Wall said. “We’re definitely improving at playing hard every possession.”
They next play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, at home against Bourgade Catholic High School.
