The Duncan Middle School basketball teams headed to Cache.
The Cache Tournament started Monday and will go through Wednesday.
“I think this will help me understand where the team is before the season starts,” boys coach Isacc Mason said.
Mason said tournaments, including those early in the season, help him, as a coach, better understand his players.
Kathryn Jeffords, seventh-grade girls basketball coach, said she thinks the tournament will help the team improve and get the girls ready for future tournaments, especially with them having so many scrimmages. She said the goal is to get the players better acquainted with the game.
The coaches said the main things they would change about the Cache Tournament include having food for the players, changing the tournament to a day game to keep the teams from playing away at night, and the teams they play against during the tournament.
Several of the students also talked about the need for work on their own basketball skills.
Evenlyn Cruz, an eighth-grader on the girls basketball team, said she, along with her teammates, needs to work on her shooting game. Kooper Biffle, an seventh-grade girls basketball player, said she needs to work on free throws, and her team needs to work on making shots.
For Rizden Ray, an eighth-grade boys basketball player, the main thing he needs to work on is his short game. Ray said that he has confidence in his team, but he still wanted to offer his teammates encouragement as they learn to come together as a team.
“Keep fighting no matter the score,” he said.
All of the DMS basketball teams will play every night during the tournament. Eighth-grade boys are scheduled to play their first game at 7:30 p.m. Eighth-grade girls will start at 7 p.m. Seventh-grade boys will start at 6:30 p.m., and seventh-grade girls will play at 6 p.m.
