When the NBA Finals ended, much of America collectively realized the dead period of summer was upon them.

More formally known as the “dog days of summer,” it’s the tedious time between the end of basketball season and the beginning of football, where nothing but baseball, free-agency talk, and speculation analysis become the narrative due to scarce material.

While the biggest tennis major of the season, Wimbledon, is played in this stretch, its popularity doesn’t satisfy the needs of football fans drooling and counting down to the beginning of preseason.

Even a juicy, sports-filled Olympic Games don’t begin until Aug. 5. But to help pass the time, Warren County’s high school teams kept busy during June.

Scrimmages and camps were held to prepare for the upcoming seasons, even those more than half a year away.

Vicksburg and Warren Central basketball kept themselves loose through Tuesday night games as a way to usher in newer players and shake off any summer rust. Vicksburg lost two seniors in Trey Warren and Kenneth Murphy, but that opens up the court for players like Joe Thomas and Kamari English to have bigger roles. June allowed the Gators to practice their jump-shooting, a clear weakness for them last season.

On the soccer field, Vicksburg boys’ coach Kristen Williams developed a plan to turn the program around, starting with summer scrimmages. A big problem for the Gators was their lack of conditioning, which led to fatigue.

Williams was insistent on her players being durable enough to withstand the constant motion of the game while getting more experience before the fall. She got an early start with a scrimmage against Warren Central and can now mold the program how she wants.

June has also been kind to the area’s softball programs.

Porters Chapel’s softball team has played in a five-team league before its season kicks off in early August and is building pitching depth. Warren Central and Vicksburg used June to finalize players’ positions in the field.

Those were simply a handful of ways Warren County’s teams have passed through the dog days of summer until their respective seasons resume.

The real struggle begins in July, when rules limit practice time. But a solid month of Cardinals’ baseball should hold everything together until the Olympics and NFL preseason begin.