The Tem-Cats will host six other squads from around the state in the two-day, eight-team tournament: Abilene, Fort Bend Kempner, The Woodlands, Fort Bend Dulles, Leander, and Friendswood Clear Brook — a combination of teams that Temple coach Kevin Korompai believes will pose a formidable challenge.
“This should be a fairly competitive tournament,” Korompai said. “Most of these teams are perennial playoff contenders.”
The Tem-Cats have started their season with a 0-1-1 record against Hewitt Midway and Pflugerville, but they played both games on the road and are relatively inexperienced.
The experience Temple gains in the tournament should benefit the team substantially.
“It’s still early, and we’re a relatively young team,” said Korompai, whose 2003 team went 11-8-4 and reached the Class 5A playoffs. “The inexperience is taking some adjustment, but we’re seeing some improvement.”
Though the results of the Tem-Cats’ first two games could be attributed to inexperience, losing nine players from last year’s team didn’t help much, either.
However, despite the loss of those players, nearly all of whom were voted to the All-District 13-5A team, Korompai believes that Temple just needs to iron out some wrinkles in its play.
“We’re trying to do some things a little differently than we’ve done in the past, and there’s a little resistance to it, but there always is,” Korompai said.
