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Sunday, February 23, 2025 at 12:23 AM

Three make tourney appearance

Three make tourney appearance
Lady Chaps senior guard Lulu King brings the ball up the floor against the Whitesboro Lady Bearcats at the For the Love of the Game Basketball Tournament. Aubrey lost to Whitesboro 25-24 but won two of its next three games in the event hosted at S&S Consolidated ISD. Martin Edwards/The Post-Signal

The Pilot Point Bearcats, Lady Cats and Aubrey Lady Chaparrals basketball teams competed in the For the Love of the Game Tournament hosted by S&S Consolidated School District on Dec. 5-7.

The three-day event was a round-robin competition, with games shared between S&S High School and Middle School gyms and each team participating in four games.

The Bearcats went 3-1 in tournament play, with wins over Bonham, Tom Bean and Denton Calvary before losing their last game to Bridgeport 50-43.

“We had three practices going into the tournament, so I’m proud of the kids,” head boys basketball coach Jeff Price said. “We’re using the games right now as practice. We’re still trying to figure stuff out, and anytime you’re trying to [learn], it’s nice to get wins along the way.”

Price shared insight into how the team is coming together in his 15th season at the helm.

“We’re still honestly in the [experimental] stage and trying to find out who our best groups are,” he said. “We have a bunch of kids this year, and we’re subbing in and out, trying a lot of different combinations, [but] the kids are coming together and playing team basketball.”

Price said he hopes the nondistrict portion of the schedule helps the Bearcats learn on the fly as they approach the start of district play.

“We want to see a little bit of everything—some zone, some man, some press defenses—because we’re probably going to see some of it during district,” he said. “… We saw some of that in the tournament, and our guys did a good job, learning to adjust. Hopefully, over the next couple of weeks, and with a few more practices, we’ll be more crisp in everything we’re doing.”

The Lady Cats went 0-4 during the tournament but saw improvement in each contest, coming within 6 points of beating the S&S Lady Rams in their final game.

“We made a lot of progress,” head girls basketball coach K.J. Stastny said. 'This whole preseason has really been about the process more than the results, and I felt like every game we figured out more of how that process works and we built on it. … We finished up the tournament with S&S Friday; it was a backand- forth game, and I was really proud of how they played.”

Stastny said the Lady Cats are adjusting well under her staff’s direction in her first year as head coach in Pilot Point.

“You never know how teenagers are going to respond, but with the girls’ athletic program, not just basketball, I’ve been welcomed with open arms,” she said. “… They’re really starting to buy into our process, and we’re trying to teach them the things that you have to do to be a winning team and build a winning culture.”

Despite the slow start, Stastny shared how the team’s attitude has improved from last season.

“They’ve done a complete 180,” she said. 'As a coaching staff, our big push this year is that we want our kids to compete. We want them to have a competitive spirit, and we’ve seen that. … We're going to outwork other teams and play with grit and discipline. Those are the things that we're hoping to lay the foundation for this year and build upon.”

The Lady Cats go on the road Friday to meet the Ponder Lady Lions at 5 p.m. for their first district game.

The Lady Chaparrals went 2-2, with losses to Whitesboro and Pottsboro and wins against Denton Christian and McKinney Christian.

“Overall, I was really pleased,” head girls basketball coach Nicole Black said. “Going 2-2 was a big first step for us going into district. We’re still figuring out how to win, so getting those two was big for us.”

Black said the Lady Chaps are acclimating well to her and her coaching staff in her first season on the sidelines in Aubrey.

“I couldn’t ask for better,” she said. “They’ve bought in quickly, and they work hard. I’ve been impressed by their chemistry, considering this is basically a new team. Only a handful of these girls played varsity last year, so they’re all very new to each other, but they genuinely seem to enjoy each other and play well together.”

Defense appears to be Lady Chaps’ calling card so far, with them holding three of their opponents to 25 points or fewer in their tournament matchups, but Black added the team is still working to improve in other facets of the game.

“I was happy with how few points they’ve allowed against some good teams,” she said. 'They are working their tails off, and they’ve gotten so much better offensively. Shooting percentages are getting higher; now we just have to work our rebounding.”

Black emphasized that she wants the Lady Chaps to remember their experiences from the preseason and apply them in district play.

“I'm hoping we take those lessons we’ve learned from the losses, especially the close ones, and when we get in those situations come district, we've learned how to handle them, and we can come out on top and continue to get better,” she said.

Bearcats sophomore center Luke Conner, right, shoots over Warrior defender Tim Dellos. Pilot Point defeated Bonham 59-58 and went on to win two of its next three games

at the For the Love of the Game Tournament. Lady Cats sophomore guard Austin Crow, center, blankets the Lady Pirates ball handler. The Pilot Point Lady Cats went 0-4 in the tournament but saw improvement, coming within 6 Photos by Martin Edwards/ The Post-Signal


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