photo by: Conner Becker/Journal-World

Lawrence High senior Zaxton King goes up for a basket during a scrimmage against Eudora High on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, at Eudora High School.

No score was kept, but all three schools – Lawrence High, Eudora High and Gardner Edgerton – benefited from a newly allowed preseason scrimmage on Tuesday night in Eudora. Until this season, the Kansas State High School Activities Association prohibited teams from hosting such events before the regular-season schedule.

All three games were limited to just three four-minute periods, but no coach present could deny a chance to play hoops ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday break. It might seem silly just two weeks away from high school hoops season, but from a coach’s perspective, it’s everything.

“It’s very rewarding to be here in a game-like situation,” said LHS head boys basketball coach Nick Wood, who’s entering his first year with the Lions this winter. “We’re 12 players deep and it will be a fun team to watch. We’ve got a lot of guys who can give us positive things and (Tuesday’s scrimmage) just gives us more reason to look forward to it.”

photo by: Conner Becker/Journal-World

Lawrence High head boys basketball coach Nick Wood shares a chat with sophomore Josh Galbreath near the bench Lawrence High senior Zaxton King drives the ball during a scrimmage against Eudora High on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, at Eudora High School.

Longtime Eudora head boys basketball coach Kyle Deterding, a former teammate of Wood’s at Baker University during the late 1990s, said the event almost didn’t happen. KSHSAA requires three schools to sign on for a scrimmage to take place at all.

“We weren’t going to do one,” Deterding said. “(Wood) was talking to me a month ago about possibly doing it and I said, ‘If we can find a third team, we’ll do it.'”

Wood and Deterding crafted the scrimmage out of thin air as soon as the news came along about KSHSAA’s rule change this fall. The two coaches roped in Gardner Edgerton’s program to make the scrimmage complete.

photo by: Conner Becker/Journal-World

Lawrence High senior Gordon Fineday Jr. looks for an open teammate during a scrimmage against Eudora High on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, at Eudora High School.

LHS opens its season at Blue Valley Southwest on Dec. 1 and Eudora tips off its campaign on the same day against Spring Hill at home. Creating an environment for varsity newcomers and returning stars on Tuesday benefited everyone, regardless of level, LHS senior forward Kem Allen said.

“It’s a nice experience to play somebody else before our first game just to get a game-like atmosphere going and seeing what it’s all about,” Allen said.

photo by: Conner Becker/Journal-World

Lawrence High senior Zaxton King drives the ball during a scrimmage against Eudora High on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, at Eudora High School.

Other schools are following LHS and Eudora’s model, too. Free State will meet Spring Hill, Topeka-Seaman and Basehor-Linwood on Monday for a preseason scrimmage. The location is still to be determined among the four schools.