School might be out for the summer, but for many athletes and teams across the parish, it’s a time to prepare for the 2015-16 season.

Teams and athletes are using the extra time to improve from last year. Some of the things they are doing are playing, practicing, working out and going to camps. There are various ways to get ready for a new season.

On Tuesday, the Mandeville Summer Basketball League tipped off at Pelican Park. Two Washington Parish clubs, Franklinton and Varnado, are playing in the league, which features 13 teams.

The league gives teams an opportunity to go against different playing styles and a chance for the younger players to get extra playing time.

A lot can be said for having experience in competition when faced with a tough situation.

In Franklinton’s second game the Demons picked up some experience that they can use next season.

They were playing Mandeville and got off to a rough start. They turned the ball over seven times in the first 3:10 and found themselves down 15-0. Franklinton then made a 7-0 run, which got the team back in the game. Eventually, the Demons went in front 18-17.

Leading, 20-19, the Skippers went on a 10-0 run and had a 29-20 lead.

Franklinton came back again and went back up 30-29 with 16:17 left in the second half. The game stayed close for about the 6:30 until Franklinton began to pull away in a 70-49 victory.

The contest goes down as a 21-point victory, but the thing that can’t be measured in the statistics is the value of the experience gained by coming back from deficits of 15 and nine points.

Being down by that many points is never something you want to have to overcome, but if it happens next season, this is a game the FHS players can look back on and realize they have been there before, came back from two sizable deficits and won.