VERSAILLES – Whether it’s during the regular season or during the summer, Versailles girls basketball coach Jacki Stonebraker wants her team to face the best possible competition.
The Lady Tigers, who finished this past season as the Division III state runner-up, got that opportunity this summer with a summer league at Fort Loramie. Versailles competed each Tuesday evening against some of the best teams in the area – and in the state – such as Fort Loramie and Minster.
“This is what we play all year so this is what we want to play against in the summer, too, to get us ready for the year,” Stonebraker said.
Along with the summer league, Versailles also competed in shootouts at Miami University, Thomas More College and Xavier University.
“Just for the team to play with each other,” Stonebraker said of her goals for the summer. “Every year it’s a new team, new players. And just for those incoming girls to play with the older girls, you know the more veteran girls, and get to know each other a little bit better.”
This upcoming season Versailles will have to replace six departed seniors, who were part of the Division III state championship team in 2015 and state runner-up teams in 2014 and 2017.
Getting girls ready for varsity action and team bonding is important, and the summer months provide a great opportunity to accomplish those tasks.
“The team bonding we have during camps is very important,” Stonebraker said. “It’s going really well this year.”
