Heading into the weekend鈥檚 Mike Smith Classic, 足交视频 East and 足交视频 West are looking to get back in the groove of basketball season.
Coming off the UIL鈥檚 five-day mandatory break, the Mike Smith Classic at 足交视频 East High School serves as an opportunity for both teams to ramp up to top speed.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just trying to get back in the groove and back in some kind of shape,鈥 East head coach Ralph Almanza said. 鈥淭his will be kind of like a practice and let鈥檚 try to get back in shape and in the groove we had before we left for the break.鈥
The break for East came when the Titans had found their groove. East (11-9, 2-0) beat West (5-8, 0-1) 46-40 in last week鈥檚 district opener before defeating Rosenberg Terry 57-29.
East has been playing some of its best basketball, but Almanza believes the break couldn鈥檛 have come at a better time.
鈥淚 think the kids were ready for a break,鈥 Almanza said. 鈥淚 was ready for a break, I think it kind of falls at a good spot, I know we were kind of in a groove, but hopefully with this rest it gets us a chance to get everybody more healthy and we can come back stronger than we were before.鈥
For West鈥檚 young team this tournament serves as another opportunity to gain experience.
鈥淲e just have to continue to grow throughout the season and with young guys, every varsity game they get under their belt they鈥檙e going to get better,鈥 West head coach Cody McDonald said. 鈥淭his is an opportunity to gain some experience and get some games under our belt.鈥
When West takes the floor against El Campo at 9 a.m. Friday, it will be the first time the Warriors compete against an opponent in 10 days.
The game against East was the first time all season the Warriors had its full complement of players. Between an extended football season and some injuries, West was without its full rotation.
McDonald plans to experiment with new lineups in the tournament.
鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be opportunities to play different lineups,鈥 he said. 鈥淔or the kids there鈥檚 opportunities to see what they can grow and expand on as we get into the heart of our schedule.鈥
West won the tournament last season, defending the title is not the ultimate goal.
鈥淭hat hasn鈥檛 been much of a talk in our locker room,鈥 McDonald said. 鈥淥ur real focus has been district and this team is very focused on earning their playoff spot.鈥
The tournament will have a different format this season. The field has expanded from eight to 12 teams.
鈥淏oth Cody and myself really want to grow basketball in 足交视频,鈥 Almanza said. 鈥淲e have some great teams in the surrounding area so for us to be able to grow this thing was a goal of ours and the competition should be really good this year.鈥
The tournament will feature four pools of three teams each. West will be in a pool with El Campo and Taft. East is in a pool alongside Kingsville and Brenham. Pool C will feature Seguin, Edna and Corpus Christi King. Pool D has Pflugerville Connally, Aransas Pass and Edinburg.
All pool play will take place Friday while all bracket play will happen Saturday. The top teams in the pool will advance to the gold bracket, the second place teams will play in the silver bracket, while the third-place teams will head to the bronze bracket.
Tournament play begins at 9 a.m. Friday with West facing El Campo. East will take the floor for the first time at 10:15 a.m. when it faces Kingsville.
