When students return from Christmas break, they often need a few days to get back in the flow of going to school. 

The basketball players in the Selma-Dallas County area won’t have to play catch-up. They’ve been spending the Christmas break making sure they are ahead of their competition when region play starts in 2016.

Various teams around the area have already played or will play in tournaments or classics over Christmas break in order to stay in shape and see what still needs to be improved as they take the next step in the season.

Keith’s girls’ team hasn’t had much to worry about this season, as the Bears have won 17 straight games since losing their opener to Selma. Still, Keith has a second consecutive class 1A state championship on its mind, so taking time off is not an option.

“We played Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and we have a game Saturday that we go to Wilcox,” said Keith head coach Cecil Williams.

While the Bears’ team doesn’t look like it has many flaws when it beats opponents handily, Williams said there are always improvements to be made.

The Morgan boys’ basketball team had plenty of time off from playing over the Christmas break. Head coach Lee Tate said he noticed his players might have enjoyed their Christmas feasts a little too much when they returned to practice Monday.

“Everybody’s been eating good, and I could really tell in the conditioning. Nobody was bent over the trash can, but they were hurting pretty good,” Tate said. “But they’re young, it won’t take them much time to get it back.”

The Senators didn’t have much time to get it back, as they hostedthe Pepsi Classic Saturday.

While teams such as Selma, Dallas County and Southside have been playing tournaments throughout Christmas break, Meadowview Christian head coach John Robert Morton has been making sure he has enough people to play a full-court game during practice.

Although the addition of a player in the offseason has helped the Trojans, Morton said that with various players needing to go out of town during the holidays, he has needed to participate in drills just to have enough people on the court during a practice.

When Morton has had his entire team on the court, he’s been impressed that his players haven’t lost much of a step over Christmas break.

“None of them are really out of shape,” Morton said. “They’re all in basketball shape. Of course, we could always get in better shape, but now we have 7 people which is great.”

Meadowview will also have a chance to test its skills at a tournament after the New Year before region play begins.  While each coach knows the importance the various Christmas break tournaments play in keeping a team focused, coaches don’t put too much stock in the outcome of the games. For a Keith team that hasn’t stopped winning for months, Williams is just focused on keeping his players as focused as possible in region play so they can bring home another state championship trophy in 2016.

“I always say stay humble,” Williams said. “That’s the main thing. That’s the only way we can stay focused. We can’t lose sight of what we’re working for.”