Senior Derek Guiher and juniors Rylan Benton and Austin Hanson led a group of 28 players primarily from the Youngsville and Eisenhower attendance areas along with a few from Warren and Sheffield.

“It was grades 1-3 for 90 minutes in the morning and then grades 4-7 for 2.5 hours in the afternoon,” Eisenhower boys basketball coach Ryan Mangini stated. “It was mainly run by the players with the focus on having fun and working on the fundamentals of the game, it got competitive at the end of each session. I’m proud of all three of them, they worked really hard and seemed to enjoy leading.”

All three Eisenhower players earned all-region honors following last season — Benton with Youngsville, Guiher and Hanson with Eisenhower. The players set simple goals for the camp and hoped to get kids excited about their future in the sport.

“The goal was to make the kids better on the last day than they were on the first day of camp,” Benton said.

Eisenhower’s Derek Guiher helps campers through a drill. Times Observer Photo

“We wanted to inspire the next generation of players,” Guiher added.

With the merger of Youngsville and Eisenhower, all three players are looking forward to next season together on the court.

“I am really excited for this season,” Guiher said. “It will provide new opportunities for our program and there is a lot of potential to be successful.”

“This camp helped us bond as teammates,” Benton said about the future.

With the trio of Benton, Guiher and Hanson, the Eisenhower basketball program is in good hands for the future.

“This camp is helping to ease the school transformation.” Guiher added, “I believe this will help smooth the merging of our schools just because the kids are getting to know each other on the court before school starts.”