Area HS basketball coaches slightly differ on holiday (hoops) wish lists

All area high school basketball coaches want for Christmas is … well, that depends on which one you ask.

No two wish lists are the same, and very similarly every hoops squad is unique in itself. With the holiday tournament season in full swing, each is looking at the brief period as opportunity to tie up their team’s loose ends.

Knowing the all-important region stretch of the schedule immediately begins after the new year, Conway boys basketball coach Michael Hopkins is among those wanting to utilize the time to its fullest.

“It is a great opportunity for us to get some practice in, learn each other as a team even more,” Hopkins said. “This team we are playing with now, it is not the team we played with this summer. We have guys still learning each other, finding their roles and learning who can do what before we head into a crucial stretch of the season.”

The Tigers will take part in the Panther Classic, a tournament that will have quite the local flavor. In addition to Conway and host Carolina Forest, other Grand Strand squads taking part include Carvers Bay and Myrtle Beach.

It is the only tournament in which Hopkins’ squad will take part in this year, opting for added practice time rather than taking on an unfamiliar foe.

“Usually, we would play in two tournaments, one before Christmas and another after,” he said. “But we believe the practice time will be good for us this year.”

Most coaches are much in line with Hopkins’ way of thinking, opting to play in only one tournament this holiday season. Only four teams – Carolina Forest, Carvers Bay, Myrtle Beach and St. James boys hoops squads – are scheduled to spend both weeks of winter break on the hardwood.

According to St. James interim boys basketball coach Jeremy Heinold, playing in a pair of holiday tournaments can have positive ramifications for his team in more than one way.

“We’re going down to Hilton Head and playing three days down there, and then going up to Newberry after Christmas for a tournament where we’ll see some good teams as well,” he said. “We still have some growing pains as a team. We have a lot of juniors, four seniors that semi-played last year, but this was a team dominated by seniors a year ago.

“We go through those growing pains … turnovers, shooting droughts and we’ve got to learn to fight through it. We must play basketball and work through them. That’s where playing in these tournaments can help.”

While most are trying to adjust, Myrtle Beach girls basketball coach Jennifer Dennison is tinkering with her squad, merely looking for ways in which a team with aspirations of again playing for state title can get better.

“We’re just trying to mix it up a bit and get everyone involved, knowing that after the holiday season we’ll narrow down the roster, giving less girls playing time,” she said. “But right now, we’re just letting them enjoy their holidays.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2016 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Area HS basketball coaches slightly differ on holiday (hoops) wish lists."