With the start of the regular season still 11 days away, Friday night's Jamboree at Helias came at the perfect time for the Blair Oaks Falcons.
The Falcons came out of the two scrimmages with one win, one loss, and plenty to work on in practice.
The biggest lesson may have come in the first of the scrimmages, a 47-28 loss to Helias. The scrimmages were made up of three six-minute periods, and less than two minutes into the first period, the Falcons trailed the Crusaders 19-6.
"At the first timeout of the first scrimmage, we talked about where we've got to get our level of play," Blair Oaks coach Ryan Fick said. "Not only in that particular scrimmage, but in practice to prepare for that type of game."
The Falcons played much better after that, eventually working the lead down to 23-21 in the second period when Joey Bernskoetter drilled a pair of free throws.
But that was as close as they would get, as Helias outscored Blair Oaks 19-5 in the final period.
"Helias is one of the better teams in the area, and for us to come in and have the opportunity to scrimmage against them is a great thing for us," Fick said. Chandler Haxton paced the Falcons with eight points.
Blair Oaks looked much better in their next scrimmage, as they handled Jefferson City 41-29. Seth Eskens dropped in 17 points to pace the Falcons, hitting 6-of-13 shots, including 3-of-8 from 3-point range.
"It's good to put guys in different situations, different combinations on the floor, and see how they respond," Fick said. "I think overall (the Jamboree) is a positive thing. I think it's something hopefully we'll continue to do.
"It's a good situation beacuse all of us are right here and we don't have to travel very far, and Helias has great facilities to accomodate it all with the girls going on at the same time. It was a good deal."
The Falcons open Dec. 3 in the Eugene Tournament.