Junior High School basketball coach Mike Ofer gives tips to players at the Warhawk Basketball Camp. Players broke up into groups of 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 to work on their newly learned techniques.

Shots were thrown at the basket – some went in, many others did not.

But one thing was clear on the first day at the Warhawk Basketball Camp, all of the participants were eager to set themselves apart from the others with a couple of made jumpers in the initial shoot-around. Especially considering that individual contests weren’t scheduled until later in the week.

However, the guys did get to prove themselves at the end of the day with three-on-three drills that lined the ninth-grade boys on one side of the gym while the seventh- and eighth-graders played each other on the other side of the court at West Junior High.

The end-of-the-day competitions gave the coaches an opportunity to see what the boys already know and also what they’ve learned that day in camp, said camp instructor and West ninth-grade coach Stan Frantz.

Frantz said he has hosted the camp since 1997 and it’s mostly for the kids who will attend West, but others were welcome.

Participants in West's basketball camp take a break to listen to coaches Stan Frantz and Mike Ofer talk about improving their game. The camp was held June 5-9 at West Junior High.

“This is going to get them going, playing basketball early in the summer and hopefully they’ll keep doing this,” Frantz said.

Carter Olson’s mother said her son heard about the camp from a church friend. Olson will be a seventh-grader at Eudora Middle School, and unlike middle schools in Lawrence, he will be able to play basketball in the seventh-grade.

“We’ll take him to as many camps as possible this summer, so that he can get lots of practice in, learn more, and have a variety of skill levels,” Olson said.

The camp specialized in the basic skills of shooting, rebounding, and passing, but also focused on post play, individual defense, team defense, moving without the ball, setting screens, and other defensive and offensive techniques.

Ninth grade participants in West's basketball camp take the ball to the hoop during a drill on June 5. The camp gave basketball players from 7th-9th grades the chance to perfect their skills.

Each day several different skill sets were covered within the two and a half hour sessions. At the end of each day, the players were divided up into teams and scrimmaged.

At the end of the day, players sat in a circle and listened to the coaches talk about what they needed to improve on as a group. They followed that with a chant of “1,2,3 Warhawks,” and some much-deserved frozen ice.

Frantz said the camp was also a good opportunity for Frantz and eighth-grade coach Mike Ofer to check out new players for their teams and see the improvement their veteran kids.

“We have a strong group of players coming back,” said Frantz, who said he hoped the boys learned what they needed to in order to get better throughout the summer while still having fun in improving their basketball skills.