Summer hoops tip off this week

Fallon won’t have to wait until November to meet new Churchill County High School boys basketball coach Brad Barton and his program.

Those introductions begin this week with the tip-off of a six-team summer development league season that will extend through early August with Tuesday and Thursday night games at Elmo Dericco Gym.

Two games will be scheduled each Tuesday and Thursday, at 8 and 9 p.m., during a season that will culminate with a “Final Four” playoff on Saturday, Aug. 10.

The league will include two CCHS teams — “A” and “B” — comprised of varsity and JV hopefuls for the 2013-14 season, in addition to a Silver Stage High School team. The league will be rounded out by three teams of Greenwave alumni and other community players.

“The caliber of basketball will be high,” Barton said. “But mainly, we want to create a little community awareness of our new program. We want to try and involve the community the best we can.”

The summer league will provide an opportunity for fans to watch past, present and future Greenwave players and also provide an opportunity for the program to do some fundraising since admission will be charged at the door for games — $2 per person or $5 per family.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to raise some money for new uniforms,” said Barton, adding he would like to recruit volunteer officials to help save in expenses.

Barton replaces Chip Rutledge, who guided the Greenwave to a 17-9 overall record and qualified for the Division I-A playoffs. Barton is no stranger to fans in Fallon, however, since he served as head coach for the Greenwave’s baseball program three seasons until he stepped down in 2007. He has coached the freshman boys team the last two seasons.

Even though the first official day of practice is still better than four months away, Barton is excited to be on the job already.

“I’m real excited about this season coming up,” he said. “We have a lot of good young players coming into the program and we already have all the pieces here to put together a successful (2013-14) season … the key is going to be if we stay healthy and buy into the program.”

Anyone who is interested in helping the league as an official is encouraged to call Barton at 775-342-9403.