By Ian Smay
The Times 

Local Hoop Teams Compete at Ocean Shores

Four-day basketball camp on the coast gives local teams chance for improvement

 

Crittenden

OCEAN SHORES, Wash. – During the summer months, many high school basketball teams hold practices, play in exhibition games, and compete at multi-day camps to help tune their skills during the long break between the end of one season and the start of the next.

The boys of Dayton and Waitsburg High Schools just completed one such camp, which took place here last month. The four-day camp is an annual favorite among coaches and players, and this year saw both schools make strides towards next season's campaigns.

Each team played nine games over the week, starting on Monday and ending on Thursday morning. The camp, which is run by BnB camps, is geared more towards Class B schools, but is also open to larger schools.

Waitsburg had 11 players – including four upcoming seniors – and two coaches attend, and had both improvement and success over their nine games.

"We had a mixture of varsity and junior varsity kids," said Waitsburg Head Coach Tavis Crittenden. "I think we did great. You know, the pressure is different over there on the west side than it is over here. I think they learned to handle it pretty well by the end of camp."

"We beat every 2B school we played, but lost to some of the bigger schools," continued Crittenden. "All of our losses were within single digits, so they were all pretty close." Crittenden also spoke about how his players improved, especially the play of his guards.

"Our guards definitely got better due to the pressure they saw during camp. Our JV kids got better too since they were forced to play against varsity competition."

When asked about the impact this would have on the regular season, Crittenden thought that it definitely helped his team on and off the court.

"I think it helps a ton. Basketball for four straight days definitely helps the kids," commented Crittenden. "Also, having the kids together for four days really helps team bonding, and they really came together. They were building trust, and that's important."

The end of camp also sees Waitsburg's summer activities start to slow down. "We've played 20 games in the last two weeks," Crittenden said. "Kids are starting harvest soon and a lot of them are going to YoungLife Camp next week. We will continue to have open gyms and maybe a couple of games and practices, but for the most part we are done."

Dayton also sent a team of their own to the camp. The team was comprised of nine players and two coaches, with six of the team members being incoming seniors.

"Well, it looked a little rough at first, like we hadn't played basketball in a while," said Dayton Head Coach Will Hutchens.

However, Hutchens did see a lot of positives from the camp, going on to say, "Good things happened. Tanner Bren had a good week, and had a game where he went off and shot the ball well. Most of our games were close, some of them weren't so close. It looks like we are starting to head in the right direction."

One thing in particular that Hutchens praised his team for was their ability to step up after one of their main scorers and offensive anchors, Ben Kleck, was sidelined with a rib injury. "Tanner and Junior (Helm) really stepped up after Ben got hurt. The guards really stepped up," Hutchens said.

The camp was also beneficial for Hutchens and his players, as it pointed out areas that need work going into next season.

Hutchens

"I think it really gives me an idea of what we need to work on. Mostly, it's offense and running through our sets. As a team we really need to work on ball handling and offense," he said. "Also, we need to learn how to rebound better, since we lost Zach Waggoner, who did a lot of rebounding for us. That's a hole we need to fill," added Hutchens.

At the end of the day though, basketball was not the only important thing gained by the Bulldog boys in the eyes of their coach. "One of the things about these camps, bonding is first and foremost, and basketball almost takes second priority. The long, seven or eight-hour car rides, spending all day together for four days. That went really well for us. The football guys also spent a lot of time with their Waitsburg teammates, so that will be good for football season," said Hutchens.

 

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