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  • Stillwater junior Rico Thompson tries to get around a Putnam City defender during a scrimmage on Wednesday at the Pioneer Fieldhouse.

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December 28, 2011

Scrimmage helps Stillwater boys prepare for rest of season

By Nick Snow Stillwater NewsPress

STILLWATER, Okla. — Except for a smattering of parents, the scrimmage between the Stillwater and Putnam City boys basketball teams had little fanfare — as one would expect on a Wednesday morning.

Without the pressure of a crowd and coaches officiating the game, the experience gained by both teams will be invaluable as the second half of the season starts next week.

“I felt really good about how we played,” Stillwater coach Michael Davis said. “What Putnam City does and how they run their offense, you can’t simulate that in practice. But the main thing is we were able to have fun and get some tape on ourselves and them.”

For the players, scrimmaging against Class 6A No. 5 Putnam City means one less day of conditioning — affectionately known as Camp Davis by the Pioneer players.

“It is fun,” senior Tanner Killam said. “It’s definitely better than practice. Practice is harder during Christmas break. Camp Davis is what we call it. We’d definitely rather be scrimmaging against these teams than running our butts off at Camp Davis.”

It isn’t all fun and games, though. While the scrimmages fuel the competitive fire, they also show Davis how his team has progressed over the winter break.

“Our guys are very competitive, so they want to go up against a top-tier school like Putnam City,” Davis said. “It’s a great opportunity to teach them things we want them to do in a game situation. We’ve been working on our defense a lot over the break, but it’s still a work in progress. And the only way to make more progress is to scrimmage. That’s why we do it.”

There are some risks with scrimmaging. Unlike a normal controlled practice, injuries can occur when going up against an unknown opponent — as was the case when Jon Littell went down early against Putnam City. Littell is expected to be ready to go when Stillwater takes the court on Jan. 5 in the East Central Oklahoma Classic at Ada.

“We sat Jon out as a safety precaution,” Davis said. “He could have played, but we don’t want risk it for a scrimmage. These things happen — whether it is in practice or in a scrimmage. You just have to go out there and play. You can’t worry about it, otherwise you will get hurt.”

Even with the chance of injuries, both Davis and Killam said the rewards outweigh the risks.

“(Putnam City) is a top 10 team, and we beat some top 10 teams already this year,” Killam said. “It just proves to us that we’re capable of playing with anybody. Our goal is to win state, and playing them like we did gives us that hope and extra confidence that we can win state.”

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