The Bainbridge High School Bearcats and Lady Cats basketball teams turned in strong efforts Monday in the opening round of the two-day Georgia Florida Shootout at the BHS gymnasium.

If you will bear with me, I would like to share with you some very positive things I saw in the efforts of our two teams Monday night.

While several positive things are obvious, like the consistent double figure scoring efforts of the Bearcats’ Devon Baulkman and Rodney Glenn and the Lady Cats’ April Thomas and Bria Harris, there were also some subtle things that caught my eye.

I’m talking about things like the ability of Trea Kelly to set up teammates with his pinpoint inside passing, the strong leaping and rebounding ability of Shawn Samuels and the ball handling and passing ability of D.J. Stubbs.

Coach McCullough has been looking for a guard to step up and run his offense from the point guard position.

After Monday’s 78-43 victory over the Graceville (Fla.) High School Tigers, Coach McCullough was talking about how well he thought senior Rohan Gaines was coming along at point guard.

Gaines, who has just recently been cleared to play after recovering from a serious football injury, is an excellent ball handler. The Lady Cats are getting some balance in their scoring with Briana Wade and Diamond Bouie complementing Harris and Thomas.

Thomas’ strongest asset is her tremendous speed. When she takes an outlet pass from Harris or one of the other players down low, she can beat the defense down the court and, more times than not, blow by the defense for an easy layup.

Both the Bearcats and Lady Cats have a lot of weapons that are condusive to winning basketball.

In addition to speed and quickness, those weapons include strong rebounding, solid defensive play and good positioning.

If you play good defense at any level of any sport, you are going to be successful.

While they might have a good offense, no team in any sport has ever won a championship without an outstanding defense.

It all comes back to that old saying that rings true in sports arenas each year. It simply states that offense makes headlines but defense wins games.

The 2010-2011 Bearcats and Lady Cats teams appear to have all the tools for a successful season; they just have to take it one game at a time.

Come on out and watch the Bearcats and Lady Cats after the holidays. I guarantee you will get caught up in the excitement and be entertained.

I wish all of my readers a very merry and blessed Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year.