Mark Huff Gaffney boys varsity basketball coach Mark Huff said his team learned a valuable lesson, appropriately enough, at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Team Camp at USC-Upstate this past weekend.

"Basketball takes a way back seat when somebody you know is shot and killed," Huff said. "That hopefully allows the message of the FCA team camp to hit home."

Huff said many of the players were classmates of Abby Tyler, who died Saturday after being shot two days earlier by the Gaffney serial killer.

"Our whole team's prayers go out to the Tyler family," Huff said. "The tragedy was always on our minds. We told the players of the shooting on the way back from the camp on Thursday and it was the quietest bus ride we had."

Unfortunately, the Indians still had games to play on Friday, despite the players' fragile mental state.

"I just don't know if we were mentally into playing," he said.

The Indians did avenge an earlier loss to Hillcrest on Friday, but then fell to Class 2A Carolina.

"We just played as flat as we could be," he said.

The FCA camp concludes the team camp portion of the Indians' summer program. The players will, however, continue to participate in individual skill enhancement drills.

"It's been a good summer," Huff said. "We now have an idea who can play on the varsity and who will be on the junior varsity and who can play the point and who is more of a shooting guard," the Gaffney coach said.