Area middle school teams had a peak at the upcoming basketball season when they competed Saturday in the Selma CHAT Academy Preseason Tournament.

The Selma CHAT Lady Bulldogs and coach Ivery Williams had to be pleased with what they saw. The Selma CHAT girls rolled on to victories over Uniontown Junior High and the Tipton Middle School Lady Blue Devils. However, the Lady Bulldogs were beaten by the Camden School of Arts and Technology.

Meanwhile, the Selma CHAT boys’ team came away with a 40-27 win over Tipton Middle School.

In their first game of the day, the Lady Bulldogs beat Uniontown, 37-21. Selma CHAT was led by Ashley Grimes with 10 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals.

Kamesha Strong added eight points, nine rebounds, six steals and four assists in the win.

Mildrea Harris contributed three points and six rebounds, and seventh-grader Liddy Ngirailab chipped in eight points, three rebounds and two assists.

Despite his team having a winning record in the tournament, Williams was bothered by his team’s loss to the Camden School of Arts and Technology. The Lady Bulldogs led for much of the game, but faltered in the second half en route to a one-point loss.

“That was a very hard loss,” he said. “This was only a preseason game, but I think we’re a better team than this. We had about 19 turnovers and we didn’t really get back on defense.

“It’s only a one-point loss,” Williams added, “but it’s still a loss.”

The Lady Bulldogs will have a young squad this season, Williams said, with 10 players who have never played organized basketball joining the team this season.

In their 40-27 victory over Tipton, the Selma CHAT boys were led by Trent Callers with seven points, including five in the third period as the Bulldogs overcame a halftime deficit to post the win.

“I thought the guys did well for the first time,” Selma CHAT coach Richard Gosa said. “I liked the way the kids played together and adjusted to each other. They did what I asked them to do and I liked how well they responded to my coaching.”

The Selma CHAT boys and girls open the regular season at home Tuesday against Camden. The girls will tip off at 5:30 p.m., with the boys to follow.

Following up in girls action, Tipton Middle beat Keith, 28-25 and Camden Middle beat CHAT, 29-28.

In boys action, Camden toppled Uniontown, 38-35 and Keith beat CHAT 42-38.