The Tonganoxie High girls basketball team knows coach Randy Kraft values practice time as much as the next coach, but the Chieftains have found that time away from practice can be just as important to the team’s success.

This past week, the players and coaches got together for some team-building exercises at the home of assistant coach Lindsey Graf. It was a chance for them to get together away from the hardwood and have some fun, hang out, play games and watch a movie.

Kraft is a proponent of team-building get-togethers and said the exercise is just as important as practice.

“I think it’s as much or more so to get kids to work as a team and have a lot of respect for each other,” Kraft said. “It makes them play harder, it makes them understand quicker.”

After all, the things the coaching staff tries to install in practice don’t work if players aren’t functioning as a team.

“Anything that they can do that gets them closer together is important,” Kraft said.

A lot of the activities, the coach added, are structured to get all the players on the same page.

“We do a lot of talking about what we want as a team, what we expect from each other, kind of get to know each other a little bit better,” Kraft said.

Senior point guard Chrissie Jeannin said team activities were as essential as X’s and O’s.

“You get more comfortable with everyone around you so you know more about them and what they like to do and their comfort level,” Jeannin said.

Senior forward Roni Grizzle said the team had hit some minor bumps in practice with players not bonding well and the team-building exercises helped alleviate those problems.

“It’s really important because some of us aren’t friends as much off the court as on the court,” Grizzle said.

At Graf’s, the Chieftains filled out note cards about their fears and what basketball means to them. Graf then read the responses aloud without revealing who specifically answered in what way.

“To some people basketball means everything, and to some people it’s just a way to keep busy,” Grizzle said. “It just opens everyone’s eyes to see why everyone plays.”

While serious lessons were learned, the back-and-forth wasn’t without some fun moments. One THS player listed the “fear of Roni” among her worries, which wasn’t surprising considering Grizzle is stronger than most, if not all, of her teammates.

Grizzle laughed about that revelation and said maybe that particular Chieftain was just fearful of her physical style of play.

“In practice, I just go hard,” Grizzle said. “I don’t think that they’re scared of me.”

Back to action

Before last night’s home opener against Perry-Lecompton after The Mirror’s deadline, Tonganoxie hadn’t played since Dec. 11. Kraft said that nearly four-week break would make it more difficult than usual for his team to be game-ready and start January off on the right foot.

“Generally, the first couple of games (back) are a little tough because of conditioning and just the ability to play together and think together out there — you haven’t played in so long,” Kraft said.

For more on the game with PLHS, visit www.tonganoxiemirror.com.

The Chieftains travel Friday to Kansas City, Kan., to take on Bishop Ward.