First COVID Postponement Allows Panthers to Rest, Prepare for Charleston Southern this Weekend

 The High Point Panthers will resume play Friday against Charleston Southern after a season-long 13 day layoff.

A break of this length usually tends to hinder hot teams and the Panthers are scorching hot right now, sitting at 10-2 in Big South play and winners of nine of their last ten. But rather than sit and sulk about not playing for nearly two weeks, the Panthers are looking to return to their winning ways. How are they doing that? Simple: they are embracing their time off. 

“We have these next couple of weeks to rest our bodies and work on ourselves and get better where we need to get better individually and as a group,” said junior Skyler Curran.

Curran, like most athletes, likes routine. And with the first COVID pause of the season, it was out with the old routine for a time being and in with a temporary new one. “I have been using the break for rest but also to get extra shots up or extra workouts in with a coach,” said Curran. “We do like to stay in a rhythm. We shoot a ton of practice but I want to make sure I stay on top of my shot and things like that.”

That rhythm was thrown off last weekend, as their series vs. the Hampton Pirates was postponed, marking the first time High Point had games postponed this season due to COVID. The Panthers had been cruising through their schedule, recently playing six games in the 14 days prior to the break. 

“I thought of it(the break) as a way to rest our bodies because we’ve been at it for so long,” said junior Jordan Edwards. “We have a really good team with a great mindset.”

Edwards is in her first season at High Point after transferring from Niagara. And while the weirdness of the season has made things different from what had been expected, she was easily able to adjust to the new-look schedule.

“It(the schedule) reminds me of AAU,” she said. “Most people are used to it. You just have to push through it mentally.”

This season is a season like no other as teams navigate the challenges caused by the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic. There are a lot of new adjustments that had to be made in order to get a proper season in. Back-to-back games, no fans, and unpredictable changes in schedules.  And second year head coach Chelsea Banbury is still learning how to coach through the pandemic.

“You're having to coach players through their social lives not only on the court trying to get them to make the right decisions so that we play,” said Banbury. “A lot of learning as we go.”

Though the postponement of games and long layoff in between games is something new for Banbury and company, she made sure she was prepared right from the get go of the season.

“This year we emphasized that there was going to be a lot of unknown and at some point we knew something was going to change,” said Banbury. “We’ve had that approach to every practice and every game.”

The Panthers have done well with avoiding COVID-19. While many teams have had to temporarily shut down due to the virus, the Panthers had not had a game cancelled or postponed until last weekend. The postponement did not have to do with their being an outbreak within their team as the team is taking many precautions. The players are aware that one case within their group changes everything.

“They(the players) take it seriously, they understand that this season is in their hands,” said Banbury. “We are asking a lot of them to put their social lives on hold and not see a lot of the people outside of the team. They are doing a great job of that.”

With this being their first break in their schedule, Banbury changed the routine. The first week, Banbury stressed that her team would focus on themselves while using the latter week to prepare to face a struggling Charleston Southern team who are losers of five straight and seven of their last eight. 

“Charleston Southern has some good wins, good players that shoot high percentages,” said Banbury. “This week we’re definitely just focused on us and what we can get better at.”

The Panthers are using their first long, COVID related layoff to their advantage as they look to improve themselves on an already stellar season. It could very well be a scary sight for Charleston Southern to see as a well rested High Point team looks to continue their dominance of the Big South as they tip-off for the first time in 13 days.