Basketball season may be seven months away, but the Grace Christian Academy Lady Cougars basketball team is enduring the summer heat to put in as many hours of extra practice as possible.

This week, newly named Lady Cougars varsity coach Erwin Harrell held a camp at the GCA gym to keep his players in shape for the upcoming season.

“We’re doing this camp on site, trying to get some more individual work,” Harrell said. “In the past we’ve gone to an FSU camp or a GISA camp.”

Joining Harrell this week was coach Jay Price of Slocomb, Alabama, and coach Chad McKnight of Sampson, Alabama. Both have more than 10 years of varsity coaching experience and volunteered to help per Harrell’s request.

“I’ve got these two coaches to come in to give us some individual work and find the weakness to work on those,” Harrell said.

The entire team was present at camp with the exception of Perra Harrell, who has helped bring her team at Westwood Academy two state championships in recent seasons.

Though they didn’t graduate any seniors last season, there will be two seniors on the 2015 team, Shelby Woodrum and Hannah Wynn.

Harrell noted that the team won’t have much height for next season, but he plans to make up for that with sheer athleticism.

“We’re going to try to play fast and put pressure on the offense, running some full court pressure,” Harrell said.