Kirk teams prep for tournament

Courtesy of The Grenada Star

Basketball season is a long, grueling season for the players. It begins in the Summer with workouts and ends just prior to Spring. They have a short break before the process starts over. Kirk Academy coach Mike Reans understands just how grueling of a process this is for both players and coaches. The veteran coach likes to divide the season into parts. This enables his team to focus on individual parts instead of looking at the season as a whole. After closing out the regular season Tuesday night at home against Oak Hill, Reans and his squad turn their attention to the District 1-AA Tournament. It is set to begin Thursday at Indianola Academy. “The season is a long and grinding one,” Reans said. “We try to break it down into parts. You have the summer, the preseason, the non-conference, the district, and the postseason. We are heading into the last part of the season.” The coach will use the three days prior to his opening game to work on fundamentals. “We will regroup and work on getting our fundamentals down,” Reans said. “It’s a time to restart our engine and get the energy going into the district tournament.”

The first-year Kirk coach has seen his team show improvement defensively during the course of the season. “We have come a long way defensively,” Reans said. “I can tell it in the way we play and the way we think. Reans can see it also in how his team adjusts during the course of a game. “We see, as the game progress, how to better handle certain sets of a team,” Reans said. “You can see the wheels turning in their head.”

Another important part of the postseason is the mental approach. Reans knows that from his days of taking Marvell, Ark. to several North A, State A, and Overall Tournaments. “Our mental toughness has to be good,” Reans said. “You will be playing before bigger crowds with a lot riding on the games. You can’t get too high or too low during those games.” There is also some work to be done on the offensive side. “We need to polish our offensive skills,” Reans said. “Things like our touch and our execution. They need to get better.” Kirk is having its best season in 20 years having a 25-2 mark heading into last night’s contest. “It’s been a tremendous season,” Reans said looking back. “Everything has far exceeded expectations. You have to give the kids credit. They have come together for a common goal.” Reans would like nothing more than to see his squad make a deep run in the postseason. If they were to slip, it wouldn’t take away from the accomplishments of the season. “Anytime you are eliminated, it’s tramatic,” Reans said. “It would not take away from what these girls have been able to accomplish. As a coach, you want to be able to teach faith, togetherness, and playing as a team. Those qualities are so important as they get into the world as adults.”

The Raiderettes are slated to see their first action Friday at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of West Memphis and host Indianola. Kirk has two wins each over both those schools. Still, Reans knows that nothing is a given this time of the year. “We have had some near misses this season,” Reans said. “Our girls have learned to respect whomever we play. Every game is different.” The winner of the semifinals advances to the finals Saturday. The top three teams move on to the North AA next week at Leake Academy.

On the boy’s side, Cliff McCain’s troops have struggled to just three wins this season. He inherited a young, inexperienced team. “It hasn’t been the type of season that we would have liked,” McCain said. “We started the season with an inexperienced team. We asked people to step up and do things that they weren’t used to doing. Even our older players brought little experience to the table. That made it tough in a very good league.” McCain hopes that his team can make some noise in the tournament this week. It would be big boost to the program heading into the offseason. “It would be huge to be able to advance and gain that type of experience that we would need for the future,” McCain said. “Being able to make it to the North would allow us a chance to prepare and play someone we probably haven’t played this season.” The Raiders face Indianola in the opener at 7:15 p.m. Thursday. Kirk has won two of three games from the Colonels this season. The last time, the Raiders won a 12-point decision at home. “We match up well with each other,” McCain said. “They have some advantages and we have some advantages. It’s at their place this time. They play well there and it will be a challenge for our players. It’s a rival game and our guys have a lot of confidence having beat them twice earlier this season.” The winner of the contest advances to the semifinals Friday against top-seeded Marshall.