Going 4-5 at this week’s Mid-America Summer Hoops Classic in Murray might not seem all that impressive on the surface, but for a Tiger basketball program that went just 2-17 last season, it’s definitely an indication that things are headed in the right direction.

First-year Caldwell County head coach Steve Smiley said his squad has shown positive signs, but notes that it still has a lot of work in front of it.

“It’s been a mixed basket so far. I’ve been pleased, but I’ve also been frustrated,” he noted.

The Tigers began their summer schedule the previous week with four games at Christian County on June 9 and June 11. Caldwell failed to win any of those contests, but were competitive against everyone except Muhlenberg County.

“We started against McLean County and lost that game by five points,” said Smiley. “We’re just not fundamental yet defensively, but I really felt like that was a game we should have won.”

Caldwell was then outclassed by the new Muhlenberg school, which was created by the consolidation of Muhlenberg North and Muhlenberg South.

“They’re going to be really tough,” said Smiley. “They’ve got size, they can shoot, they’ve got a nice point guard. They handled us pretty easily.”

The Tigers returned two days later to put forth solid efforts in narrow losses to University Heights Academy and Heath.

“UHA just beat us by six, and they’ve got just about everybody back from last year,” said Smiley. “And I was pretty pleased with the Heath game. They’re pretty big inside — they go 6-5, 6-6, 6-7 — and we played them to a three-point game, 64-61.”

Smiley noted that his team included six seniors at Christian County, but only three seniors were among those able to make the trip to Murray this past week.

Still, the shorthanded Tigers were able to break into the win column on Tuesday, then picked up another victory on Wednesday before winning twice on Thursday.

“We opened Tuesday against a Union City, Tenn., team that was really athletic and played a real up-and-down game,” said Smiley. “We lost to them by five.

“Then we came back against Obion Central (Tenn.) and they beat us by about 25 points. Then we faced Cave City (Ark.) and we beat them — that was our first win of the summer.”

Caldwell opened play Wednesday by losing to an always-solid Marshall County squad, then played Murphysboro (Ill.) to a five-point game. The Tigers finished the day by beating Reidland “by nine or 10 points.

“We really talked a lot after those games about playing hard,” said Smiley. “You can’t really work on things or improve any until you play at game speed. I think the guys are starting to see that.”

Caldwell opened the day Thursday by beating Bradford (Tenn.) by four points. That concluded the Tigers’ seven preliminary round contests and matched them up against Murray in the single-elimination tourney that concludes the event.

“Murray’s got a nice team. They’ve got a couple of nice big kids, about 6-5, 6-6, 6-7 inside, some nice wing players and a nice point guard,” said Smiley. “But we beat them in sudden death.” (The shortened summer games played 30-second overtimes. If the game was still tied after that, it came down to the next team to score.)

The Tigers advanced to face Hopkinsville, where they were eliminated.

“We just didn’t have the manpower to play with them,” said Smiley. “They play 15 players and press the whole time.

“I was proud the guys started to play hard,” he added. “Defensively we just still have a lot of work to do.

“We know Tron (Gray) can put the ball in the basket. Cody Hooks can score and Dwight Wisdom did all right, but we’re just so fundamentally unsound on defense and that’s something we have to get fixed.

“Overall I’m pleased with the effort level,” he added. “And the guys are really listening to how we want to play defense. It’s still frustrating because we’re inconsistent, but there’s some positive things there too. The guys just have to keep their heads up and keep working hard.”

Caldwell will finish its summer basketball schedule next week in the Jackson Purchase Shootout at Graves County. The Tigers will play two varsity and two JV games both Tuesday and Wednesday.