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Summer court time comes with relief from heat but also a youth movement and plenty of questions to answer
Often times, when it comes to basketball, talk is of gyms heating up with exciting action during the winter months.
During the summer, especially over the past few weeks, the opposite is holding true as county teams get a break from the sweltering weather with plenty of practices, leagues and camps ahead of the 2022-23 basketball season.
For most of the teams around Putnam County, June is a chance for coaching staffs to figure out what they have and, for many, it’s a shift from an experienced roster to a much younger composition.
A total of 33 players graduated from the eight county teams last year, leaving multiple vacancies that need to be filled, many by a large group of young players entering the high school ranks.
Such a large youth movement makes work during the summer all the more important and events like South Putnam’s girls’ basketball summer league key barometers for coaching staffs to see what needs to be addressed in the next few months.
The informal league, a six-night gathering on Tuesdays and Thursday, has seen all four county schools participate, as well as several schools from around the west central area, including Cascade, Speedway, Monrovia, Covenant Christian, Crawfordsville, Southmont, Northview and Owen Valley.
Depending on attendance, teams usually get two games on a given evening, each with two 20 minute halves, allowing each school to get multiple chances to expose newer players to varsity-level game speed.
“The biggest thing about is watching the girls get better,” South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner said. “One thing I love about summer play is getting to see varsity competition before the season begins so the girls get a feel for things.
“There’s been a lot of good stuff this summer. Not everyone is out there playing but every chance the girls get to play is a benefit and they’ve picked up a lot of good things.”
Gardner, who has run the league for the past eight years, said the league is just a part of the summer schedule, one which includes practice days, optional open gyms for shooting, a D1 camp at St. Francis and a team-bonding trip later in the summer.
Several other teams follow a similar calendar with much of the work done in June before athletes turn their attention to fall sports in July.
“We definitely like playing in the South Putnam league, at other leagues and at shootouts,” North Putnam head coach Lukas Haworth said. “We do a team camp at Vincennes to finish up June with the goal there to make strides on the floor and see where all the pieces fit together.
“It’s important for us, with this group, to continue developing individual skills, game knowledge, concepts and spend time together continuing to grow, not just on the floor but in our personal relationships with one another.”
For some teams, it’s also a chance to get in some community service while still building up skills and physical traits.
“We did a volunteer event with Jack’s Trash earlier this June, helping to get totes out for use,” Greencastle boys’ basketball head coach Bryce Rector said. “We’ll go to a D1 camp, which is an overnight camp and a good way to get some kids away from home and a bit out of their comfort level on the floor.
“We lift and do agility with coach (Andrew Tirotta) here at the high school, which has been great as well and is important for out young guys. They may not see it now or even next year but by the time they are juniors, they’re going to really see the benefits of all that work.”
The amount of camps and leagues varies from team to team with Greencastle girls’ basketball head coach Doug Greenlee opting for a more in-house approach
“Some schools have practice every day with everyone there and team camps where they play 15 games in three or four days,” Greenlee said. “I have to keep reminding myself that we haven’t practiced as a whole team during the summer to teach offense and defense.
“This year, we’ve had more of an emphasis on weight training with Andrew Tirotta, our strength and conditioning coordinator. A lot of our kids, especially our girls, are in those advanced physical education classes and the program has continued into the summer with our Wednesday morning workouts for speed and agility, which are open to all our athletes.
“The girls are getting faster and stronger, which I feel is important as they got banged around on the boards last year,” Greenlee added. “We’ve had some open gyms, though not as many as other schools as we know we’re playing 12 games through June while still continuing our speed and agility training.”
Introducing good habits now is important with most of the schools looking at fielding far younger rosters than in previous seasons.
Wednesday, the Greencastle boys’ team scrimmaged both Monrovia and Parke Heritage at McAnally Center with Rector using three freshmen in his first five players on the floor, noting it was a trend that was going to carry on into the upcoming season.
“There were times when we had five freshmen and sophomores on the floor and that’s not going to be just (Wednesday); that’s going to be a thing throughout the season,” Rector noted. “There’s going to be times we’re physically outmatched but there’s a lot of growth going on this summer.
“We have a lot of young guys that haven’t played a lot of varsity competition and that’s what summer is great for, to get them experience so that later this year isn’t the first time they’re facing 16, 17, 18-year old kids.”
For some coaches, the summer games are a chance to size up the kids coming into the program in a live situation to better prepare what to work on with the full squad come October and November.
“Right now, we’re just looking at ability, strengths and weaknesses,” Greenlee said. “It’s a time to start teaching team concepts and integrate the players together as, if we call a play we ran last year, we might have three returning players and two freshmen on the floor and those younger kids don’t know the sets.
“Defense is each as you can assign someone to guard someone and either they do it or they don’t. Offensively, we’re evaluating basic skills, which will help is October.
“The good news is that our younger kids are anxious to be in the high school program, which is a good thing,” Greenlee added.
While getting younger players involved is important, it’s equally as important for the more experienced players to help shepherd the group, especially in teams where there are few seniors on the roster.
“It may be a little before their time but, with the same group they’ve been teammates with, our returning players are doing a nice job of stepping up into leadership roles,” Gardner said. “Danae (Cline) and Kelsey (Custis) are two girls who are stepping into those roles, explaining and helping the girls who haven’t gone through a season what to expect.
“We have other girls who haven’t played as many minutes as those two but we’re starting to see glimpses from them as they step into new roles as well. The biggest thing, and the most fun thing, is to watch them grow as a team together.”
Haworth echoed Gardner about younger players having to step into much larger roles this season, adding the returning players understood things weren’t going to be exactly the same as last year but was encouraged by their drive to keep the good times going.
“This group is young but honestly has exceeded our expectations three weeks in,” Haworth said. “Kyndal (Brewer), Samie (Hoops) and Lexi (Daigle) are taking those leadership roles and bringing the younger girls along while adjusting to new on-court roles.
“Addi Osburn and Saylor Carrell are doing a phenomenal job and Jacy Huffman is leading the girls by example. Whether it’s vocal leadership or by setting the tone, the girls understand it’s going to look different on the floor but they don’t want it to look different on the scoreboard and the results at the end of the day.”