PLAINS – The Plains Horsemen basketball team got an early jump on their season with a weekend scrimmage last Saturday.

The inter-squad game took place during the afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 6, at Plains High School.

The boys of the Plains team have a busy week ahead of them with the start of the regular season taking place at home on Friday.

The team got an opportunity to prep for their opener with some friendly competition between teammates during the team’s scrimmage.

According to Plains Head Coach Carl Benson, the teams were split on a position-by-position basis to give each team in the scrimmage a comparable lineup.

One group of Horsemen donned the team’s black jerseys, while the other half of the roster sported the squad’s white outfits.

At the end of 40 minutes of competition the final score was all knotted up and the scrimmage ended in a draw with a score of 37-37.

However, the inter-squad scrimmage wasn’t really about winning, rather it was an  opportunity for all members of the Horsemen roster to improve their basketball skills, while the team, as a whole, became comfortable playing in a competitive setting.     

“I am pretty pleased. The kids looked comfortable and put forth a lot of effort,” Benson said.

The coach added the team looked good on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

Both squads played heads up defense throughout the scrimmage limiting their opponents offensive opportunities.

“Defensively things looked really good,” Benson said.

Benson was particularly impressed with how the team handled the new offense the squad has been introduced to during the team’s preseason practices.

The coach believed the team executed the offense well, especially considering the team only learned several of their offensive sets a few weeks ago.

“The kids were really thinking out there. They did really well,” Benson said.

Later this week the Horsemen will tip off their regular season at home during the Sanders County Invitational in Plains.

During the tournament the Horsemen will compete against county teams and a couple of local squads.

In the run up to the tournament Coach Benson stressed his team’s focus would be on defense.

“We are going to be working more on defensive rebounding. That is our big focus out there,” Benson said.

The invitational is scheduled to kick off on Friday, Dec. 12.

Benson believes his team is ready to go and he is looking forward to the start of competition.

“I hope to see continued improvement in our offensive sets, solid defense and the boys working together as a team,” Benson said.