Pirates prepare for Hanson Tournament

The Kaplan Pirates basketball team is coming off of winning the Parish Tournament this past weekend.

The two wins it took for the Pirates to capture the title were the first two wins for the team all season long.

It started the season losing four straight games until the Parish tournament.

The basketball team’s slow start was a product of the football’s team run into the quarterfinals of the state championship playoffs.

“I am glad to have my football players back,” Kaplan Head Coach Jeff Davis said. “I got the football players back, about three days before the Parish Tournament started. It was good we were the number one seed because it gave us a chance to have a little practice with them.”

Coach Davis also went on to mention that having a good portion of his team missing at the beginning of the season was both a good and bad thing.

“It was good that the football team did as well as they did,” Davis said. “It was good for the school and it was good because we got a chance to play some of the younger kids and get them some good experience.

“It was bad because we started out 0-4. Anytime you start out 0-4, for any reason, is never a good thing. It puts you behind in the power rankings in the beginning, and that definitely isn’t good.”

Despite the slow start, coach Davis is optimistic about his team for the rest of the way this season.

“The Parish Tournament and the Hanson Tournament will be huge for our team,” Davis said. “It will give us a chance to actually get the football players back in the swing of things. With those guys back, we play a completely
different style of basketball, and they need to work the kinks out and that is exactly what the Hanson tournament will do for us.”

Coach Davis also mentioned that he isn’t too worried about outcome. He said he wants to win, but the most important thing is winning district.

“We want to win, plain and simple.” Davis said. “Sometimes though, you have to work through things, and as long as we are ready for district play, that’s all that matters.”

Kaplan gets the Hanson Tournament underway tonight at Hanson.

Andy Bullard
Sports Editor