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EAST JORDAN - Work and other commitments kept some players from making all of the Petoskey Summer League games this summer.

But that's a common problem for every coach.

One night, there were two junior varsity players who showed up to join the varsity team.

Despite all of it, the Red Devils finished a respectable 6-4.

Petoskey was the only team that beat the Red Devils handily.

East Jordan lost the other game to Petoskey at the buzzer.

East Jordan's junior varsity and varsity boys basketball teams attended team camps at Central Michigan University and Gaylord.

The varsity team competed in the Petoskey Summer League and played two games each night for eight nights.

Coach Darrin Weber also ran a youth camp for a week the first of this month, July 7-10.

Jay Wolfe, a shooting expert who has worked with the Detroit Pistons and college teams, put on a one-day shooting clinic for grades 5-7 and 8-12.

Kids came from Grand Rapids and Traverse City for the shooting clinic, with 70 total turning out.

At the CMU camp, East Jordan lost to West Ottawa in the semifinals of the tournament.

Over in Gaylord, the Red Devils ended up going 7-2.

"I always try to keep the kids as busy as I can before they get turned over to football," Weber said.

Weber has each player take 1,500 shots a week during the summer during open gym.

A core group of young kids are playing ball all year round.

East Jordan lost three seniors to graduation who played significant minutes, including Adam Daneff and Scott Hansen.

Hansen and Daneff were the Red Devils' two best shooters.

Five in-coming seniors return. Four of them are post players.

"I had two sophomores up last year," Weber said. "The perimeter game for us will be something that needs to be addressed.

"James Brown, who'll be a third-year player for me, is tall. He's still a little lanky, but he's put on a little bit of weight.

"He was probably our most consistent player inside. We have a very athletic junior class coming in.

"We should be really competitive."

East Jordan was 12-9 last year, including a loss to Traverse City St. Francis in the district tournament.

The Red Devils tied for third in the league with Boyne City at 7-7, despite having a sophomore point guard.

Although the Red Devils won't have a shooting duo like they had in Daneff and Hansen, they'll be more balanced on offense.

Opposing defenses won't be able to key on any individuals.

"I'll probably have five guys who can score 10 points a game," Weber said. "We'll be able to do more things because we'll be a little deeper than what we've been.

"You have to have a few tools in the tool box."