As Salmen wrapped up its third annual Summer HoopFest on June 24, Spartans’ coach Daryl Thomas couldn’t hide his excitement about the lessons learned.
The three-week league featured seven teams, including Salmen, Covington, Northshore, Pearl River and St. Scholastica, along with Franklinton and Picayune High. The games consisted of two 18-minute halves with a running clock.
“For me, summer league ball is all about finding out who can play and handle various situations heading into the regular season,” Thomas said. “It’s about the X’s and O’s, seeing what they can handle and trying to develop their skills.”
Salmen senior guard Zoe Nastasia said developing relationships with teammates is critical.
“I use it to help me with my conditioning and trying to improve my overall game,” Nastasia said. “We’re working hard as a team, learning to trust each other in game situations. With new players, we’re still figuring out team roles, always trying to improve.”
Salmen sophomore guard Kendal Thomas agreed: “I think we can all do a better job communicating, both at practice and in these summer games. I’m happiest when I’m pushing the ball up court, so I’m working on finishing layups at the basket. I also want to get better at kicking the ball out to my teammates for open shots when I can’t finish inside.”
Northshore coach Michael Gowland said his summer approach is simple.
“It’s all about evaluating my players, learning their strengths and weaknesses,” he said. “It’s an early starting point, fine-tuning their strengths while trying to fix their weaknesses. It’s a learning process, working with our new players and finding out who can earn my trust in tight games. They’re progressing well.”
Northshore has the luxury of having highly recruited senior standout Cherie Spencer back. She’s a proven player who can score and defend.
“I’m working hard on improving my midrange jumper,” Spencer said. “I’m always comfortable hitting the 3, but I know I can improve on the closer-in shots. I use the summer to help bring my teammates along. I try to keep everybody focused regardless of what’s going on.”
Fellow Panthers’ senior Kiley Lizana agreed: “We’re doing a good job adjusting with new, younger, less-experienced players. We’re working on overall teamwork, building our chemistry and trying to bond over the summer. I’m working hard to motivate the younger players, helping keep them focused. I need to work on being confident shooting the ball more.”
Pearl River is another team looking to reload after graduating six seniors from a team that won 26 games last season.
Senior Rylee Smith said she’s excited to lead a squad that includes five juniors, five sophomores and three freshmen.
“We’ve worked hard learning how to play together with such young, inexperienced players, and we’re getting there,” Smith said. “We’re figuring it out and becoming more comfortable with each other. My teammates have been very receptive. I’m more comfortable shooting the 3-pointer, so I’m working on improving my short jump shot and taking closer shots, which will help the team.”
Rebels’ coach Christina Hursey said her young Rebels are growing up fast.
“This summer, our coaching emphasis has been on building team chemistry with our youngsters and trying to bring them along as quickly as possible. We probably doubled our summer schedule to give them as many opportunities to grow up fast,” Hursey said.
“It’s been a learning process, growing together for us, since some of our players are new to basketball. As a staff, we’re fortunate these are good character kids who work hard and try to improve.”
Sophomore guard/forward Jalaysia Tillison expects to build on her freshman season.
“At first, my biggest challenge was the fast pace at the varsity level. We’re all doing our best to step up, and we’re progressing as a team. You can see the improvement, so I’m excited,” Tillison said.
For St. Scholastica, the summer league was a chance to build on a 23-win season, said sixth-year coach DJ Dauphin. The Doves’ players have already approached their coach about opening the gym in July so they can continue to grow as players and teammates.
Seniors Emily Duet and Addison Pontiff, both members of the Doves’ 1,000-point career scoring club, are a dynamic duo, but the rest of the roster also grew this summer.
“I’ve always been a scorer, but I know my teammates need me just as much on the defensive end,” said junior Victoria Darrah. “I want to continue to grow, testing my limits, offensively and defensively. My focus is improving my defense, adding to my bag, which is probably only half-full.”
Darrah said she wants to become a more vocal leader and bring out the best in her teammates.
Freshman Abigale St. Pierre (5-foot-1) was another summer league standout for the Doves.
“I like the challenge of being a younger player at the varsity level,” St. Pierre said. “I’m using the summer to develop my offense. I want to become more confident and shoot my jump shot without any hesitation. Our team plays hard for each other. We can learn from our mistakes by moving on to the next play.”