Basketball season may "officially" end but it's never really over
No sooner did spring sports season end than preparation for fall and winter sports began.
Didn't baseball season just end?
Yes it did. The IHSAA State Finals were played at Victory Field this past weekend.
But football seven-on-seven tournaments and basketball shootouts are now in full swing.
Friday and Saturday Linton-Stockton hosted the Miner Basketball Shootout. Five Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference teams competed in the two-day event.
The host Miners were joined by conference rivals Bloomfield, Clay City, Eastern Greene and North Central. From farther away Covington, Riverton Parke and Wood Memorial made the trip to Linton.
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If it seems like basketball is becoming more or less a year-round sport, it it. But it's always been a year-round sport, at least in Indiana.
But the biggest difference between today and 40 years ago is, it's actually legal for coaches to coach their players in the summer.
Since 2002 when the IHSAA relaxed its restrictions, allowing high school coaches to work with their players year-round, the summer shootout format has become increasingly popular. The format lets coaches see their teams play in an organized game setting. And they gain exposure playing against teams not on the regular season schedule.
Linton-Stockton coach Joey Hart likes the shootout format because, "It gives us the chance to get all our guys playing together."
When Hart has his full complement of players assembled for a shootout he'll run as many as four squads - Varsity, varsity reserve, junior varsity and freshman teams.
And the Miners' coach will no doubt be looking for some players from last year's undefeated junior varsity team to step into varsity roles this winter.
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Many of these players are multi-sport athletes. And they're also involved in their other sports during the summer period.
The shootouts allow these players to get some court time in between football workouts or summer baseball.
Two prime examples are Linton-Stockton's Kendall Williams and Trey Passen.
Both are three-sport athletes - baseball, football and basketball.
Williams and Passen both played in Friday's Shootout session. "That was the best I've ever seen Kendall Williams look," coach Hart commented.
But neither was available for the Saturday session. They were participating in a football seven-on-seven tournament.
And as soon as baseball season ended two weeks ago at the Providence Regional, the Miners' middle infield combo dove straight into American Legion baseball.
These two have to be busier than a pair of one-armed wallpaper hangers.
And with the arduous travel schedule associated with Legion baseball I wonder when they find time to eat and sleep.
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One area player to watch this winter will be Eastern Greene's Ethan Helton.
The junior-to-be flew a little under the radar last year, missing the first half of the season with torn ligaments in his ankle.
Helton has been playing AAU basketball with Team Blaze Select out of Bloomington and drawing some attention.
On one play in Friday's shootout, Helton's 3-point attempt was short. He followed his shot, raced in, grabbed his own miss and scored the putback.
Reminder kids: Be sure to always box out!
Terry Schwinghammer is a sports writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 27. He can also be reached via email at tschwing32@yahoo.com.
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