The basketball scrimmage between the boys teams from Scott and Van served at least two purposes last Thursday evening at the Madison Civic Center.

First, it was a “dress rehearsal” or hoop tuneup for the teams as the boys basketball season tips off this week.

Secondly, a nice crowd had the chance to get in a basketball state of mind as the often-hectic, always-entertaining high school hoop season gets underway.

The Scott Skyhawks, playing for first-year coach Jason Kingery, had a convincing upper hand throughout the scrimmage.

However, Kingery and Van head coach David Williamson paid little attention to the scoreboard, focusing on the play, chemistry, and discipline on the floor.

Williamson remarked directly after the scrimmage, “We didn’t play well at all. We missed some open shots, and we just didn’t play like we have been practicing.

“Much of the time, we were too hesitant in taking open shots. I constantly drill our team on being patient, but tonight we kind of crossed the line from being patient to being hesitant.”

Jason Kingery said, “We are still learning to play together and we still have a long way to go, but I saw some things that I liked tonight. We looked pretty smooth as a unit and we had some good ball movement.

“On the other hand, our team defense must improve. We did not move our feet well enough to get in the position to take charging fouls. That is one area that we will work on, and we will get better.”

Kingery’s Skyhawks will be in action tonight (Wednesday, Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m.) in the annual Hoops Classic at the Charleston Civic Center, taking on the Nitro Wildcats.

Scott will travel to Mingo County this Saturday to meet Tug Valley, then will host Poca next Tuesday (Dec. 19) for the home-opener.

David Williamson’s Bulldogs will open their season at Chapmanville tomorrow night (Thursday, Dec. 14) before hosting Matewan this Friday night.

Williamson added, “This was our first scrimmage and Scott already had one under their belt. They looked good, but we have a lot of work to do and hopefully we can start to be more aggressive. It looks like Scott has a good team.”

Kingery concluded, “We shot the ball well tonight and that doesn’t surprise me, I expect us to be a team that can hit open shots. Shooting should be one of our strengths.”