The Ronan High School boys and girls basketball teams got a chance to showcase their abilities and new teams in front of the their home fans in an Orange and Black Scrimmage Friday night at the Ronan Events Center.

The Chiefs and Maidens have reasons to be optimistic as they prepare to begin their season. Last year, the Chiefs fell one point short of earning a state tournament bid and the Maidens are coming off a historic season that they finished with an undefeated record before falling in the Class B state tournament.

Ronan will have three girls from last year’s starting five varsity team returning but according to Maidens’ coach Steve Woll, their spots will all have to be earned as he continues the process of solidifying his team’s roster as they prepare to enter the 2017-2018 season.

The Chiefs and Maidens got to see how they would perform in a game setting despite it being a preseason tournament, Woll said.

“I thought the practice was great and we got to see obviously what we need to work on to make a practice plan,” Woll said. “I thought it gave everyone a little boost and our players get tired of practicing against each other. There is a boost of energy and excitement. We got a chance to see (different players) we could put into spots for the upcoming season. We can see who fits where like some players might play at the frosh-soph level, some players might play at the JV and some may play at the varsity.”

Woll made it clear that no spot on his team will ever be given.

“Every spot on the roster is still wide-open,” Woll said.

Woll said there are still four practices left before the beginning of the season spots are solidified.

“I’ve told my players that they have four practices left including this weekend,” Woll said. “I don’t tell everyone who is on the varsity, frosh-more team because (each player on the team) is always able to move up the ladder. If they aren’t on the varsity squad or a starter, I want my players to know if they keep working hard and putting the time that they might move up. You can’t replace competition within the team because it brings people to their best and they are all fighting hard everyday to find their spot. They are making it pretty difficult.”

One thing that Woll, Chiefs’ coach Mitchell Wassum and other coaching staff get to see with these early preseason games against each other is the players that thoroughly understand the system.

“These early preseason games really tell our coaching staff who understands the system and who gets up and down the floor,” Woll said. “We try to get into transition as much as we can and defend the rim in our half court defense. It was fun for us to get all of that on film and try to move forward.”