Gilmer High basketball used the summer to start building team chemistry for next season, but COVID-19 altered the Bobcats’ normal routine.
Head coach Jordan Hice and the staff previously took players to camps held at Tennessee universities where they were able to scrimmage and face unfamiliar competition. The pandemic cast enough uncertainty this summer that GHS made its way to local schools to get some ever-important court time.
“We didn’t go out of state because you could never tell, and some of the camps were saying you had to get tested for COVID,” Hice said.
The Bobcats made the short trip to Fannin County for four days of games and were at North Murray High School for three more days of exhibitions. GHS got to face schools from larger classifications at camps at Forsyth Central and North Forsyth high schools.
“The varsity and JV played pretty much the same number of games and it was probably around 23,” Hice said. “We played some teams that were about the same as us, played some that were not as good and played some who were really good. It was good competition, and I wouldn’t say it was any less than past summers.
“We saw some teams we play in region and played a few 7A teams at Forsyth.”
Gilmer graduated four starters off last year’s team. Exhibitions were a key to the summer so Hice could assess the new roster and observe how players responded in game-like situations.
“We did a lot of five in, five out (substitutions) trying to get all those rising juniors in,” Hice said. “The biggest thing is you get to see what each player has. They get the opportunity to make mistakes and figure out what type of player they are instead of waiting until the start of the season. I saw some good things and feel like we have more players who can get playing time at different positions.”
All-region performer and starter Cade Carter returns for his senior season, as does fellow post player Lewis Mulkey. They will take the court at the same time more than they have in the past as Gilmer shifts to a two-post offense.
“Now that I have Lewis and Cade both in there, I’m doing a lot of stuff with them at the same time,” Hice said. “When one gets a break, we kind of shift back to some of our older offenses. Since I’m running a two-post game, we’re trying to do a little bit of a different offensive scheme.
“The players like it, and we got a lot of players playing different positions. In some situations, we have Lewis coming out and helping the guards. I think the main thing was they played a bunch of spring ball together, too. They’re getting in the groove of things a whole lot earlier than they were before.”
Players received July off and will convene for preseason conditioning ahead of the first official day of practice Oct. 25.