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SPORTS
Fundamentals drive Timberwolf Basketball Camp
Drew Harper drives past Zach Thornburg as boys and girls age 7 to 14 perform drills during the Timberwolf Basketball Camp on Monday, July 27, 2009, at Spring Valley High School in Huntington.
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SPRING VALLEY -- Spring Valley's boys basketball team has built a winning tradition based on the basics of basketball.
The Timberwolves generally never have the fastest, biggest or most athletic kids, but they have averaged 15 wins per season over the last five years by sticking to the core fundamentals.
The success has not gone unnoticed, and this week is proof. There are 44 boys and girls ranging in age from six to 14 are at Spring Valley High School taking part in the Timberwolf Basketball Camp, led by Spring Valley boys basketball coach Steve Morrison.
"We're really pleased with the turnout. Our camps have been very successful. I think the word has gotten out that we stress the fundamentals and that has helped," Morrison said. "The kids go through four stations -- a ballhandling station, shooting station, defensive station and fast-break station. They go through those stations every day and then the last 30 or 40 minutes of camp, we let them play."
One of the stations that gets stressed the most is the defensive station. The work done at that station has become the staple of Spring Valley's success. It led the team to 19 wins and a Class AAA, Region IV semifinal appearance last season.
"I feel that's the way we have to play," Morrison said. "Defense is a factor for us so that's what we teach. Defense is not taught at a lot of camps, but we do. We do in our camp what we do in our practices."
That does not just limit the camp to future Timberwolves. The camp is open to any participant who wants to come to the camp.
Morrison said that part of the joy for him is seeing the players from different areas react to how different his camp is from the practices they are used to.
For those young players who are going to play for Spring Valley in the future, it is a chance for them to get acclimated to the system early.
"I don't care where they go to school. I'll help anyone I can regardless of who they play for," Morrison said. "For the ones that are coming through our system, they get a chance to see first-hand what we do. It makes a big difference and helps them get a head start."
Always a competitor, Morrison admitted that there have been times in the middle of basketball season where a kid who attended his camp from another school has done well against Spring Valley and forced him to reconsider his policy on opening it to everyone.
"We've been burned a few times by guys and girls that have come to our camps," Morrison said with a smile. "You can tell that they've got an understanding of what we do. I might think about it for a second, but we take kids from everywhere, I don't care where it is."
Also unique to the camp is the timing. Most basketball camps occur in early June right after school lets out, but Morrison said he feels more comfortable having a camp right before the start of the fall sports season when everyone is ready to get back into school-mode.
"We like to do it right before football starts," Morrison said. "We thought about moving it to June but then everyone else is having one. It's a little different time, but this is what works for us."
The camp runs daily through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon at Spring Valley High School.
