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Fort Payne boys struggle at team camp

By Lew Gilliland
The Times-Journal

Published June 24, 2009

The Fort Payne High School boys’ basketball squad had a tough time at team camp, but head coach Anthony Reid has not changed has opinion about the group’s potential.

Reid believes his 2009-10 squad can be a good one, but there is plenty of work to do.

The Wildcats finished 1-8 in camp at Pensacola, Fla., last Thursday-Sunday.

“I think we were kind of up and down,” Reid said. “We didn’t really have any consistency in anything we did.”

Reid saw three areas where his team must improve, including ball-handing and shooting.

He said every team Fort Payne played put heavy pressure on the Cats, and they struggled to deal with it.

“We didn’t shoot the ball real well. I think that will come around, but I’m worried about the ball-handling,” Reid said.

Reid said his squad is also dealing with a leadership void despite having seven seniors on the roster.

“We’ve got to find somebody who wants to step up and be a leader on and off the floor,” he said. “We’ve got too many seniors not to have good leadership.”

Fort Payne is coming off a 16-16 season in which it won area regular-season and tournament championships and made the third regional appearance in school history.

However, if next season is going to be as good as last, Reid needs some people to step up and fill voids left by graduation. Fort Payne lost several key contributors, including second-team all-state selection Blake Smith, the squad’s leading scorer.

While the team’s camp record doesn’t look good on paper, Reid said there were some mitigating circumstances, including the quality of competition.

“I’m not making excuses … but of the eight losses [several] were against teams that were just unbelievable,” he said. “They were quick. They were athletic. They were bigger than we were.

“We lost two games to a team from Mississippi that I think has a chance to win a state championship. We played a team out of Alabama — Baldwin County — that was just loaded. We were competitive in almost [every game]. The teams we were playing could beat just about every team on our schedule.”

Reid also spent plenty of time shifting people in and out of the lineup, trying to find what combinations work best.

“I still think the kids need more time playing with each other,” he said. “I truly believe that this basketball team has a chance to be very good. They’ve just got to get going in the right direction, and that’s my job.”

Still, he said the Cats couldn’t afford to completely dismiss their camp results, especially if they want to play deep into the postseason next winter.

“If they want to win a region championship, those are the type teams we’ve got to beat,” he said. “We can’t be satisfied winning area; we’ve got to go further.”

Fort Payne is entering the final stages of its summer program.

The Cats will participate in a playdate today at Boaz, with games against the host Pirates and Springville. Fort Payne will travel to Scottsboro on Thursday for exhibition games against Guntersville and Crossville.

Alabama High School Athletic Association rules allow teams seven playdates each summer.

The Cats will also have open gym opportunities through July 15.

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The Fort Payne Times-Journal | Publisher: J.D. Davidson

811 Greenhill Blvd.NW, Fort Payne, Alabama 35967 | Tel: 256-845-2550 | Email