A team of Bermuda school basketball players returned from their adventure at the Las Vegas School High School Christmas Classic on Wednesday with a record of one win and three losses – but with what their coach believes was invaluable experience.

The team, who left on Boxing Day, came back holding their heads high after what coach Chris Crumpler called an awesome trip.

Crumpler, who took a select team to Las Vegas last year, accompanied the 15-man all-star squad to the City of Lights event as part of his 'ministry' to help youngsters fulfill their life goals within the sport.

On the court they lined up against Legacy and Narbonne High Schools in their first two matches, with the latter being the number one team in their region.

And although they lost both games by some 40 points, two of Crumpler's main goals – giving the young players international experience and getting some of them looked at by college scouts – were achieved.

"It went very well, I am really proud of the boys, we definitely did a lot better than last year," said Crumpler.

"Jonathon Lowe drew the attention of a few colleges and I definitely see us having some underclassmen coming up that can make the grade as well.

"We placed 27th out of 32 teams based on points scored and against and so forth, but I felt we were closer to the 20-24 range.

"It was a little step in the right direction for them and they enjoyed themselves. I was nervous, actually down after the first two games because of the way we played . . . we just didn't have that fire.

"We came out with the deer in the headlights look, always reacting and not dictating, letting the game take its course and going with the flow.

"We ended up losing our first two games by 40 points or so . . . granted we played two good teams but we could have competed a little bit better.

"I didn't really know what to do.

"Just the experience of playing with intensity the whole game and closing out close games is what we lacked but we will learn from these games.

"In Bermuda, players go hard for five minutes and then slow it down but out there they came hard for the whole game and that was the difference.

"All these schools have 3,000 plus students so it was a big difference in the class of some schools to others."

Not to be disheartened by the first two losses, Crumpler put his boys through their paces in preparation for their final two games, trying to right the wrongs. And whatever he said seemed to inspire the side as they made a marked improvement.

Yet experience would again prove decisive in their third match with the side ahead for the majority of the game before surrendering their slim lead in the final moments.

They lost that game 64-58 to Bell Gardens High School before putting in a complete all-round performance against Valley High School, winning the match 68-64.

"We went in at 7 a.m. on the Monday after second match to get a good practice in," said Crumpler. "We were there before anyone could get in. The janitors were mopping the floor and we were in there preparing for our match later that morning.

"The boys competed real hard, we played hard and got in their faces.

"We were up at half-time by six points and the guys were so excited I had to remind them that the game wasn't over just yet. Games are decided in the second half and we went back out and bought it in the second half. We were up by six with five minutes and mentally broke down.

"Three of our six best players fouled out, we made crucial turnovers and ended up losing by six to a team we definitely could and should have beaten.

"We just didn't close out the game and allowed them to inch back into it.

"Once they knew they could compete, they came out in the next game and really attacked in all aspects of the game. Bodies were flying all over the court and the boys pounded the glass.

"We were up by 20 points and I put in the second unit, the guys who will be with me next year to get them in and the lead slipped a bit and the game was closed. In the end we won by four points.

"The gym that we were playing in was the same gym that the (US Olympic) Dream Team had been training at in preparations for their tournaments, so it was really cool for the guys to see this and know what it is all about.

"We got invited to another tournament on the other side of the city, which is sponsored by Amari Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns, and he might actually be speaking at that one. So we will get there.

"Training will pick up in April with track workouts and weight training after that in preparation for the schedule we will put together."