The Tharptown boys basketball program is taking advantage of summer workout time to focus on individual skill development.

“The new health protocols have made the normal way we would do summer much more difficult,” said Wildcat boys basketball coach Shannon Benford.

With scrimmaging – whether five-on-five or one-on-one – challenging to do unless masks are worn, skill development has become a central focus.

“Summer is for skill development anyway,” said Benford. “It would be great to play games against other schools, but that usually doesn’t do much good in June and has nothing to do with what you will look like in November.

“Every player is different and has different things they need to improve on. To me, that is what summer is for.”

Tharptown will return two senior starters for the coming 2020-21 season. One senior started in the 10th grade but missed much of the past season with an ACL injury that occurred during summer games.

The Wildcats will have a mix of senior leadership and newcomers in November.