Falls cagers having a busy summer, By JOE KRAUSE, Sports Editor

The opening tipoff of the 2008-2009 high school basketball season may be four months away, but the Falls High Broncos boys’ varsity and junior varsity basketball teams have played over 20 games each this summer.
Both teams have been on the road a lot competing in tournaments in Grand Rapids, Saint Cloud, Fargo and Bemidji. With tournaments in Lakeville and Saint Cloud coming up.
“We’ve been busy since the second week in June when we went to the Fargo Tournament,” Broncos assistant coach Roger Jerome said. “Our goal at the beginning of the summer was to get the kids some playing experience and give the kids a chance to play together. We have a good mix of sophomores through seniors on this year’s team.”
Over 15 players have participated in various tournaments this summer with different rosters at each tournament due to summer conflicts with vacations, work and other activities.
“The nice things about all of these camps that we have been going to is that the kids are getting a lot of court time,” Broncos head coach Josh Koenig said. “We are trying to build team depth.”
The varsity graduated four starters from last season and is looking to a talented pool of young players to build a team around.
Coach Koenig has implemented a three step program throughout the summer to help get his team some playing experience.
Step one is to learn how to play together.
“We are a lot younger and more inexperienced,” Koenig said. “The gym time this summer is allowing these kids a chance to get to know one another on the court.”
Step two is to compete.
“We are now doing that with a variety of schools at a variety of levels,” Koenig said.
The final step is to take control of games and finish games.
“That last step is the biggest step of the whole puzzle,” Koenig said. “I like the progress that we have made in both the junior varsity and the varsity.”
Along with camps and tournaments, the team has also hosted a house league with Fort Frances with the junior varsity and varsity playing a game a week. At the end of the summer, the two teams will have played 35-40 games.
“I think it has been very beneficial for the program,” Jerome said. “The summer games have allowed the kids a chance to learn to play together.”
The weekend of June 12-13 the team attended a varsity only camp in Fargo on the campus of North Dakota State University.
The team played five games at the camp losing its first two and winning the final three.
Both teams attended the Breakdown Basketball Camp in Grand Rapids on Sunday, June 15 with the varsity playing four games,s winning one and losing three. The junior varsity played three games winning two and losing one.
The varsity attended the Bemidji State Team Camp June 27 and 28 in Bemidji. The team went 1-2 in the tournament.
“Of all of the camps that we have been to, I think the team got the most out of the Bemidji camp,” Jerome said. “The camp focused on instruction and competitive drills for one whole day, unlike other camps that have been strictly games.”
The Broncos last trip was this past weekend when both teams were in St. Cloud for the St. Cloud State Team Camp. The varsity went 1-4 while the junior varsity went 1-4 in the tournament.
The teams will be back on the road this weekend when the teams travel to Lakeville for games on Saturday and Sunday and will wrap up the summer season on July 26 and 27 when the Varsity travels to St. Cloud for the MIT Varsity Camp.
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Sports Correspondent Roger Jerome contributed to this article.