C.J. Copeland plays against Monroe

TIFTON — Tift County Blue Devils basketball ended team activities Wednesday after playing three scrimmages at Summer Slam.

The Devils played Randolph-Clay, Monroe and Coffee as part of an all-day event. Head coach Chris Wade said Tift won one game at the buzzer and rallied from a nine-point deficit in another.

“It went well,” said Wade. “We were pleased.”

Being summer scrimmages, the the defending Class AAAAAAA state champions tinkered a good bit with lineups, trying many different combinations.

Wade was able to play nearly everyone on his roster.

Head football coach Ashley Anders allowed shared players off Wednesday for the games, he said. One man was missing from the lineup, though. Wade said Deshonn Chaney was unable to play because of a sprained knee.

Tift was even able to give younger players some experience.

Unsurprisingly, Wade was again impressed with the older members of the roster.

“I think our senior players have been good all summer,” he said.

Seniors were at the center of Tift’s success last season. Five players graduated from the 2017 roster, two signing Division I basketball scholarships and another inking to play Division I football.

Wade’s upcoming seniors have less experience on the floor, but seem to be picking up where their predecessors left off.

Summer Slam also saw Coffee match up with Monroe and Randolph-Clay, as did Monroe with Randolph-Clay. Wade said a good crowd attended.

The scrimmages wrapped up the Blue Devils’ summer as a team, as football players return to their pads after the Georgia High School Association-mandated “dead week,” which starts today and lasts through next Saturday.

“We’ll still have individual workouts,” he said. Tift is also looking to participate in exposure camps.

Wade also has players involved with AAU teams, though he not sure how many will be participating with those clubs. Some of the players who do play AAU will be on local rosters.

Basketball practice for the 2017-18 season will officially get underway Oct. 30, according to the GHSA. Games can be started two weeks later.