Many high school athletes consider the end of the prep basketball season a finish line – the end of a grueling schedule that saw them compete in perhaps 30 games over nearly four months.

But for a few players, the end of the high school season in March marks the beginning of a summer slate that could see their game count double.

That’s exactly the case for the members of the Kentucky Blast, a 16-and-under girls’ Amateur Athletic Union basketball squad comprised of several local players who compete nationally throughout the summer.

So why the extra work? Why the battles with extreme heat and lengthy bus rides all summer?

The answer is simple – college recruiting.

“One of the big benefits is that you play against great competition all over,” said Blast coach Bobby Cook, whose team is currently 26-8 this summer. “And it gives them a great chance at college scholarships – at the national tournament next week there will be over 300 scouts in attendance.

“Of the seven girls we lost from last year, five signed Division I scholarships. And in the last few days I’ve got a high number of calls from coaches asking about our girls, so we’ve got some on here that have a chance.”

The Blast – which includes Warren East’s Ashley Rainey, Allen County-Scottsville’s Shelby Harper, Franklin-Simpson’s Dominique Cook and Greenwood’s Lauren Lamb and Whitney Killebrew – is preparing for this week’s AAU National Tournament, which begins Wednesday at Walt Disney World’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.

The chance to compete on a national stage is something all the players look forward to.

“It helps get my name out there more to a lot of colleges that really can’t see me in high school,” Harper said. “This is the first year that they’re able to really contact me, so we’ll see how it goes.”

For certain players, like the University of Louisville-bound Rainey, competing in these tournaments played a big role in obtaining a college scholarship earlier than other players.

“This is really how I first got noticed,” said Rainey, who committed to the Cardinals prior to her upcoming senior season at Warren East. “Playing in tournaments during my freshman year and … college scouts would come see us play and I got noticed.

“You really never know who’s watching.”

One thing Bobby Cook makes clear up front is the level of commitment required to play for the Blast. The team plays at a much higher level than a simple summer-camp atmosphere.

“It’s a big commitment on their part,” Bobby Cook said. “We start when school’s still going on, we’ll leave on a Friday, sometimes play Friday night and then two or three times on Saturday and just as many on Sunday.

“So it’s something that they have to understand right away.”

But perhaps the real reason these girls spend their summers with the Blast is simply for their love of the game, and for the relationships they’ve built throughout their time doing it.

“You always want to keep improving and get better, and to be able to play with a group of girls like this is just great,” Rainey said. “I’ve made a whole lot (of friends) doing this, you see them all over and they’re all great to get along with and fun to play with.”

Bobby Cook agreed, saying that having players on the team from all around the state makes it worth their while.

“It’s a great experience for these girls because all of them are from around the state,” he said. “We’ve got Ashley Rainey here from Warren East, Alyse Poindexter from Henderson County, Tiara Hopper’s here from Louisville Butler. So they’re pretty scattered around, but they always bond pretty well.”

Last year’s squad finished with a record of 51-4 and placed fifth overall at the national tournament. While Bobby Cook said this season has had its fair share of rough spots – the group only returned three players from a year ago – they still hope to have a good showing next week in Orlando.

“We want to do well, we expect to play and play well,” he said. “We’ve got good talent. We don’t have as many post players as we’d like, but we still have talent.”