For the nation's No. 22-ranked 6th grade basketball team, the RYTES Warriors - Holt, practice had ended.
It had been a hard competitive practice, and the players - their jerseys soaked through with sweat - fronted their coach, some upbeat but tired, others more tired.
Their coach, Lamar Holt, dressed in black sweatpants and a white top, walked towards the group, gathering his thoughts. When he finally spoke it was not X's and O's that were on his mind, it was making sure these boys knew he noticed the hard work and reminded them that working hard in practice will breed success down the road and as always ended it with a prayer.
''This kids,'' said Holt, pointing towards Shawn Thomas, his son, Eden and Jamal Bieniemy, ''every practice they busts their tail. Eden and Jamal worked hard in the offseason and they have brought that same heat to the practices this year. Shawn is not a starter but he works just as hard as the starters do. They are putting in the work.''
"They know," Holt put it bluntly, ''Their effort is a part of this teams success, and the other players realize it and they match their effort and intensity in practice. Every practice they are gaining more respect and trust in each other. It's the kind of attitude that makes this a special team.''
For Holt, there is nothing like the big effort to get him to grin. At RYTES Basketball Academy, the words ''We Believe'' have become a motto and recur routinely this season in the conversation of Warrior coaches and players alike.
Never mind that Holt's top-ranked team knocked off then No.1 team in the country Team Ramey in the finals of The Best In The Winter Slam tournament last year. Or that it finished No.2 in AAU Nationals (2010) for the first time in the organization's history. Or that it is expected to be the top-seeded team in this years Winter Slam when pools for the event are announced. What mattered to Holt, as he is known, was that this team practices hard and plays hard.
''The effort,'' said Holt, ''it's there.''
Whether the big effort brings the Warriors their first Southwest National title this year remains to be seen. Holt's Warriors plays the game at a fiery pace and, with an accelerated offense and pressuring defense, so far has been able to continue to turn that big effort into wins.
To begin with, Holt's Warriors is not overpowering or lengthy, which in a tournament adds pressure to the artistic rather than the physical team. Then there is the set offense the Warriors go to when not scoring in quick transition. Their offense relies a lot, on perimeter shots. Warriors players and Holt agree, saying that the pressure the team applies on defense is all the "stuff" anybody needs about character of this team. Playing full-court, in-your-chest defense requires a commitment to Holt's obsessive concern, hard work. And for a team traditionally known for its finesse style of court play, the success this year will be a direct result of the pressure defense.
In the coach's scheme of things, hard work is a measuring rod. When teams of his win but do not give it their best effort, Holt takes it personally, so much so that he has no problem running lines for any of his teams he oversees that did not work hard enough to suit the organization.
''We will run all night,'' says Holt. ''The one thing I want is that they work hard and play hard. It's got nothing to do with wins and losses.''
How far Holt and his players go at AAU Nationals only time and hard work will tell. But of one thing they can be sure: There wont be many suicide running because a lack of effort or intensity this year.
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