[06/05/03] Donny Fuller, coach of Warren County’s AAU 14 and under girls team, says there’s only one way for his inexperienced squad to learn and improve.

They’ve got to face tough competition.

WC will go through a prime dose of that schooling at this weekend’s state AAU championship at Warren Central.

Fuller said many of the eight teams in the tournament are of a high skill level and have been playing and practicing together since March.

Fuller’s squad has only been practicing for two weeks.

Some of the teams coming to Vicksburg also are not associated with a single school, but rather a collection of top talent from a wide region.

WC’s players are all from the school, which creates a limit on when the team can begin practicing.

“They need experience,” Fuller said of his players.

That experience may not be fun for WC, but it will help them in the long run.

“It’s going to be tough on the kids,” Fuller said, “but it makes them better. It makes them take it to the next level.”

The goal for Fuller is to give every player on his team the chance to play and work on her game.

He said he would play all of his players, regardless of game situations.

The tournament opens at 5:30 p.m. on Friday with three games. Action continues on Saturday with nine games, beginning at 8:30 a.m. The tournament concludes on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. with the championship games.

Admission is $4 per day.

“You’ll see good basketball,” Fuller said.