Going camping

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

That was the message emblazoned across the back of the practice shirts worn by Mike McCombs’ inaugural girls basketball team at Eastern View High School, and it’s the mantra he and his coaching staff used to inspire the girls that crowded into the Cyclones’ gym this week.

“I can have an all-state player but it won’t matter if she doesn’t work hard,” McCombs said. “A lesser talented player that works hard will always catch up to and surpass and more talented one.”

Mere days after the first official day of summer, McCombs, — along with members of the EVHS and Floyd T. Binns coaching staffs — hosted Eastern View’s first girls basketball summer camp. The camp ran from Monday to Thursday and 28 rising fifth-graders through high school seniors showed up to put a little work in.

“I’m tickled to death,” McCombs said. “I’m really pleased with that number. It’s like I told the girls. ‘This was a great start. I’ll lose two seniors, but hopefully next year we’ll get this 26 back and maybe they’ll turn into 26 more.’”

McCombs had three goals in mind for his camp: Spark an interest in girls basketball in Culpeper, teach the younger players the fundamentals of the game and give the girls a chance to have some fun.

“These girls are the heart and soul of what we’re trying to do,” McCombs said. “We need to get people interested in girls basketball and one of my biggest things has always been to try and build a strong feeder program.”

This year’s Binns squad finished its season undefeated, and that’s a trend McCombs wants to see continue at the middle-school level and carry over onto high-school courts. That’s why he and his assistants spent so much time drilling the fundamentals.

“We want these girls to know how to box out,” he said. “We want them to have good form when they shoot. You know, the basic stuff.”

Each day of camp lasted about four hours with two set aside for fundamentals drills and the other two reserved for contests and games.

During the fundamentals sessions, each player went to six different stations to work on things like shooting, defense, ball handling, passing and foot work and then the players got to show their stuff on the court during the second half of practice.

“As a coach, the fundamentals part was the best,” McCombs said. “But we had a real good mix of younger and older girls that would probably tell you that the games were a lot more fun.”

As the camp wrapped up Thursday, the coaches held an award ceremony to recognize the winners of various 1-on-1, 3-on-3, 3-point and free throw contests. The staff also voted on four special awards.

Kayla Bryant won the best ball handler award, Jessica Shaw was named best defensive player, Julia Bennett took home the trophy for most improved player and Lauren Settle was distinguished with the camp’s top overall honor, the Coach’s Award.

“We went a long way toward building some depth this week,” McCombs said. “Most of these girls will be around for at least two more years, and it has always been my goal to have enough players come out that we have to build another gym.”

The Cyclones might have to wait for a new gym, but they were able to attract a couple guest coaches with impressive resumes to their first hoops camp.

One such coach was Highland School graduate Hannah Safren — a point guard on Shepherd University’s women’s team.

“She (Safren) was a gift,” McCombs said. “She talked to the girls about achieving her dream, which wasn’t to play in the WNBA, but to make it on a college team. She showed them how much work is involved and how important education is.”

Former Golden State Warrior Keith “Mister” Jennings was also in attendance passing on some basketball know-how.

“In my opinion, he (Jennings) is an offensive guru,” McCombs said. “He helped the girls with their foot work and had a great story about making it through college and into the NBA.”

McCombs was blessed with talented players such as Courtney White and Myesha Brock on his first EVHS squad, but he said it was the team’s workman-like attitude that carried them through the Battlefield District and into the regional playoffs, and that he and his coaches have worked hard to instill that same demeanor in the next generation of Cyclones.

“There is a lot more talent out there than what we have been seeing at tryouts,” he said. “And basketball is turning into a year-round sport, so we’re going to keep working hard to find players willing to come out and work hard.”