HOOPS IN JUNE: LaFayette hosts big Basketball Playdate
Published 7:27 pm Friday, June 13, 2025
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By: Chad Martin
There was basketball excitement in the air on Tuesday, June 10, as LaFayette High School hosted a summer play date in several locations around Valley. Boys and girls teams from over 20 schools participated in the event.
Games were played at Valley High School, Fairfax Elementary, and the Valley Sportsplex. The latter of which had two games at a time.
Schools in our coverage area that participated in the playdate were LaFayette, Valley and Beulah. Each school had a good showing as they get ready for the basketball season later in the year.
The tournament host, LaFayette High School, put on a strong showing. The boys went 3-2 and focused on starting fast and getting out in front early on the court. The girls went 2-1 with their only loss coming to a 7A Smiths Station team.
“Our only loss to that strong Smith Station squad could have possibly been different if I would have kept my starting rotation in, but I also mixed in the middle school girls with the varsity,” said Coach Carswell, LaFayette girls coach. “We have a young team with only 3 seniors and 17 players overall from the middle school and up, which is a good problem to have at a small school in which you are trying to build. Last year, I came into girls basketball late due to my football obligations, and this year we are right where we need to be in player development and it shows.”
The Valley High School girls’ team played early in the day and put on a good showing. Coach Myrthil has been impressed all summer long with the play of the veterans and the new additions to the team as they head into their final play date next week at Southern Union.
“So far this summer we have played eight games and have gone 5-3 with wins over some good teams,” Coach Myrthil said. “I have seen some growth with all our girls having coached the core of our team now for two seasons.”
Both Beulah teams played hard in their games and look to have promising seasons ahead of them. The boys team executed well in transition on offense and in their man-to-man defense, with conditioning being the biggest factor in the moments they did not play as well. The girls team played hard and for a team as young as they are, that will pay off big time in the long run.
“The team did well,” said Davis Lamb, one of the Beulah coaches for the girls. “We are young so it was good to see how they would respond to the older girls. We are looking forward to how they progress through the summer.”
The event turned out to be a huge success overall and a great way for local teams to showcase their abilities and learn where they need to improve. Coach Lewis, the LaFayette boys coach, has been planning this event since March and was very pleased.
“This was a very good playdate and I want to thank Valley Rec for allowing us to host a big tournament and we are in the works to make it bigger next year,” said Coach Lewis. “It was really good and went smooth. I would also like to thank my basketball parents and my wife and daughter for helping that day, as well as the LHS coaching staff and Coach Myrthil at Valley.”
