Hoops season is finally upon us, and the defending GISA Region 3-AAA champion Baldwin Bravette basketball team is about to benefit from 18 holes of golf at Little Fishing Creek.

Little Fishing Creek and Baldwin High will host the First Annual “Baldwin High Bravettes” Golf Tournament to raise funds for the team Saturday, Nov. 14.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever had a golf tournament. We’re going to try to purchase items that will take a burden off of the parents. We’re going to try to purchase different items for the girls like the shoes, maybe some sweats — different things that they will need throughout the season,” said Baldwin High basketball coach Jenean Cooper-Bolston.

The event will offer a large variety of extra bonuses like contests, lunch and drinks, and prizes will be awarded to first, second and third place teams. Sponsorship is also available.

The Bravettes were hustling through a live and active practice session Wednesday afternoon and were working on an array of floor exercises and sprints. Coach Cooper-Bolston was briefly on hand and said her group was slowly growing but was encouraged by some of the younger players, as well as the veterans.

“I’ve been talking to them these last few practices, and we’re moving along slower than we were last year. But I always tell them they can’t compare what we did last year to what we’re about to endure this year,” said Cooper-Bolston. “I need to look at what we have here and make some suggestions and move forward from there.”

The Bravettes appear to be quick and are poised and ready to take on any challenge this season — and could really surprise some folks in the end. If they stick together and continue to grow as a unit, anything could happen.

“They are excited, they are hungry and we’ve got a lot of them out here working really hard. I actually think they are ready — they are ready. We are going to be faster than we were last year. We’re going to be able to move that ball up the floor a little bit faster,” said Cooper-Bolston.

And being a little bit faster can be the difference in some really big games — which are just around the corner in a few weeks.

The Bravettes will tip off with Northeast, Macon away Friday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m.

For more information on the golf tournament, call Tony Waller at (478) 453-7694. Please mail your registration no later than Nov. 7 to: Baldwin High School, Attn: Jenean Cooper-Bolston, 155 West Highway 49, Milledgeville, GA 31061.