The thunder of basketballs pounding the gym floor echoes throughout the hallway. That, along with the chatter of junior and senior boys standing outside the gym, signifies the start of girls varsity basketball practice. The boys don’t make up the boys varsity team, or the girls’ fan club, but rather a scout team organized by head coach Peter Kenah.
The day before an upcoming game, the boys, led by seniors Henry Kuhn and Paul Balland, volunteer to act as the next day’s opposing team. They play against the girls, imitating the style of play that the other team will use.
The boys have attended all but two pre-game practices so far. While this is not the first scout team Kenah has used, it’s the first one he’s had in half a decade.
“Five or six years ago guys came, and a girl got her thumb broken before a big playoff game,” he said. “This year, we’ve had a lot of success with [the scout team]. It’s the right group of guys.”
Kenah obtains videos of other teams by swapping tapes with different coaches. He first shows these videos to both the scouts and the girls at the same time, then teaches the boys about the opponent’s style of play while the girls continue to watch video.
Last year, the girls would have some of their own players act as the scout team. Although the boys now volunteer to be the scouts, Kenah first got their attention by tricking them into a friendly pick-up game.
“One day Mr. Kenah came up to me and asked me if I wanted to play basketball, and I said ‘of course,’” Kuhn said, adding that Kenah told him to bring four friends so that the boys and Kenah could play three-on-three. “So we show up and the girls walk in, and he says ‘all right, you’re playing them.’”
Not only do the boys help prepare the girls for the style of the opposing team, but they also challenge them to play a more aggressive and technically sound game.
“They help us with boxing out because they can jump higher, which means we have to be more physical in our box outs,” power forward Kristina Feldesman said. “And since their arms are longer, we have to send better passes because they can intercept them more easily.”
Point guard Rachel Sisco agrees with Feldesman, adding that the competition against the boys prepares the team for the tough competition the next day.
“If we’re comfortable playing against them, then it gives us confidence that we’ll be able to play against the other team,” Sisco said.
Balland says that his friendship with the girls is part of the reason he comes to the practices.
“I’m friends with most of the people on the team, so if I can find a way to help them out and get better that’s always good,” Balland said. “Plus, I get to come out here and play pick-up, which is something I don’t normally get to do.”
The boys spend the majority of the practice with the team, participating in both drills and scrimmages in order to prepare the girls for their game as best as they can.
“If the girls can handle the boys, no matter who they’re playing the next day they should be fine,” Kenah said.
