The varsity basketball programs participate in a pre-season league known as fall ball, which takes place at different high schools versus multiple teams.

Fall ball is the preseason where schools play other teams from outside the district so you can see what the competition is. 

“We do fall ball so we can get reps that we can’t get in practice,” senior Josh Pump said. “We definitely benefit from fall ball because we get to see and play against players we don’t see everyday in practice.”

Both varsity, junior varsity and freshman girls and boys teams are included in these organized scrimmages. Many teams look to make high rankings early with the use of these fall ball games.

“Our team participates in fall ball so we can build up a good reputation for ourselves,” senior Jordyn Lyons said. “We’re 17-0, with earlier tournaments and fall ball games. At the end of fall ball, a ranking usually comes out for your class and district. For us, we’re ranked first in 6A district 13.”

The coaches aren’t allowed to instruct their team during the games due to UIL rules. This means it’s free play with some structure. The coaching staff and team itself improves by looking at their mistakes.

“I think the harder teams we play make us better because we’re able to learn from what we do wrong,” Lyons said. “Especially since our coaches are able to watch us play, they can input what skills we need to fix in our practices.” 

Fall ball is not only a taste before basketball season but the teams are starting to build chemistry with each other with an exciting version of pick up. 

“I remember when we played East View,” Pump said, “there was this kid that was going on a fast break and Donnellan jumped up for a block and got his elbow on the backboard. It was crazy.”

Fall ball has come to an end and the real preseason starts, where their skills are tested again.

“ We had a scrimmage last Saturday and it wasn’t perfect, but we still go the win, 81-53,” Lyons said. “I’m glad we got to use fall ball to catch stuff that we needed to work on earlier rather than when it counts towards our record.”