The squeaky sound of shoes could be heard outside the Southside High School gymnasium on Tuesday afternoon. Above the squeaks was a single voice.

“There are two things you need to be successful in basketball,” yelled Southside coach Cedric Brown. “Lungs and legs. Lungs and legs.”

Basketball season has officially started in Dallas County and around the state of Alabama,  and Southside was working hard during its second practice of the year. Monday marked the first day of basketball practice for Alabama High School Athletic Association teams and schools around the county got right to work.

Keith players waited until after the school’s volleyball team wrapped up their regional championship game and then hit the floor Monday night to get the year started.

“[Monday] was like Christmas for most of us  to finally get on the court, get up and down and see the guys we have getting back in the flow of getting back in shape,” said Keith coach Tommy Tisdale.

Southside was in the school’s old gym Monday while the school’s floor got refinished, but on Tuesday the Panthers got to work in their normal gymnasium.

“I’m just like any other basketball coach on this side of Alabama,” Brown said. “I’ve been super excited about Oct. 17 to just get in the gym and work with the kids with a basketball.”

Southside’s entire starting lineup graduated last season, so the Panthers will have a lot of new faces on the floor this year.

“I think this is where I can do my best coaching job because these guys, they are not familiar with what’s going on right now,” Brown said. “They have no other option than to hear what I am saying.”

Inexperience is a familiar theme for teams around the county. In boys basketball, Keith lost starting point guard John Pettway, who is now at South Alabama. In girls’ basketball, the Bears lost Harriet Winchester, who has now moved on to Troy. Other schools lost top talent as well.

Every year, it seems as if another Division I prospect emerges somewhere in Dallas County.

William Lee, Jeffery Mack, Charles Eaton, Jerrod Moorer — the list of local students that played college basketball grows every year. Tisdale doesn’t expect the level of play to drop any this season.

“As a community, I think we’ve been spoiled to see stellar play, but I don’t see any reason we’d have a letdown this upcoming season,” Tisdale said.

Part of the excitement of a new season is finding out which players are going to step into leading roles. Brown was quick to remind his players that it all starts with fundamentals.

The Panthers started Tuesday’s practice with a footwork drill, one of the basic skills of the game.

From there, the focus stayed the same — fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals.

The Panthers worked on closing out defensively on a shooter and then went through a full speed layup drill.

The first day any AHSAA games can be played is Nov. 7. Until then, Tisdale and Brown will keep working their teams to get ready for another year of basketball in Dallas County.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do and a long way to go,” Tisdale said.