Gaining experience was the focus for the Morgan Academy varsity girls basketball team, as they hosted a play date on Friday.

The Lady Senators hosted other Alabama Independent School Association squads for a number of scrimmage games, as Southern Academy, Clarke Prep School, Edgewood School, Escambia Academy, and Pike Liberal Arts School were also in attendance.

Jennifer Moore, head girls basketball coach at Morgan Academy, said the play date served as a way for the Lady Senators to get used to being back on the court during the summer break.

“It helps their game experience, it helps by letting them play with each other and figure out how they’re going to play together as a team during the season,” Moore said. “These games don’t mean anything in terms of wins of losses, it’s just to get them some experience.”

Moore said play dates are also an asset to the basketball program because they get the team off to an early start months before the season.

“I think it helps build the program,” Moore said. “We had a few of the JV (junior varsity) girls come in today and play some pick-up games with the other teams. It just helps build up the program.”

The Lady Senators played four game against each team over the course of the day, and Moore said they worked on the basics, adding there are still areas to improve on.

“We’ve just been working on basic offensive plays and setting up defenses,” Moore said. “We’ve done okay. We need to work on rebounding, definitely, and we need to work on moving the ball around and passing, and looking for open shots.”