Makenna Maier can hear every dribble of the basketball, every screech of a shoe pivoting on the court — even every basketball ripping through the nets.

It's the new normal these days amid the coronavirus pandemic, even in AAU tournaments across the region.

There's the other things, too. The temperature checks. The masks. The waiting outside for the game before to conclude and the gym to empty before entering.

“It's a strange dynamic,” said Maier, an incoming junior at Butler High School who plays for the Slaam Basketball U16 team. “If that what makes it work, it's all good.”

Maier, like everyone else on her Slaam team, which includes her teammate at Butler, Aubree Tack, and Mars' Kaitlyn Pelaia, just playing at all is a triumph.

“I honestly didn't think we were going to be able to play at all,” Pelaia said. “It feels really good, especially with my team. I love playing with them. We've played about 15 games, so we're fortunate.”

Those 15 games have come in places like Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and, just last weekend, in Cleveland.

The competition has been fierce — partly because of the realization among all the players that any game could be their last should a COVID-19 spike shut it down.

“Thinking I wouldn't have this year playing with a team I like so much, and also thinking about possibly not having a high school season has definitely been on my mind,” Pelaia said. “We are all playing extremely aggressive and enjoying it while we can.”

Maier added: “We're lucky to have this opportunity. The fact we get to play, you want to make the most of it. We want to play hard and we want to win, obviously. We're glad we didn't have to miss our whole AAU season.”

The Slaam U16 team has fared well this summer against some pretty formidable foes.

The team went 3-2 in Indianapolis and won a couple of games in Cleveland last weekend.

Slaam 16U went up against one team from Arkansas that had six players 6-foot-1 or taller who had all received Division I offers.

For Maier, it's been an invaluable litmus test.

“Playing against better competition does put your own game into reality,” Maier said. “You realize, 'OK, I need to get better at this.' It also shows when you play decent against better competition that, yeah, you're not bad, either.”

Games are played with a running clock until the final two minutes of each half. Depending on the tournament, halves are 18, 20 or 22 minutes.

Most games wrap up in under an hour and most teams play multiple games per day.

Coronavirus restrictions have complicated the process.

Players are temperature checked before each game.

“It was weird at first,” Pelaia said. “Now, it's kind of like normal and we're used to it.”

They're also getting used to the quiet.

“We try to hype each other up and cheer each other on, even if there isn't a lot of noise in the stands,” Pelaia said.

Mark Maier, Makenna's father, Butler's head girls basketball coach and an assistant coach for the Slaam 16U team, said things have gone rather smoothly since they restarted in June.

The team hopes to get in a few more tournaments this summer.

“Regardless of what happens, there's a lot of girls who would love to be in their position,” Coach Maier said. “They got 15 (games) in and hopefully a few more in August.”

For Tack, who began playing basketball later than many of her AAU teammates, playing as much as she can has helped her hone her skills.

When Tack started playing in the fifth grade, she could barely dribble. Now, she's a steady ballhandler and smothering defender.

“I started late in basketball, so (defense) was something I could always do,” she said. “I've come a long way.”

Tack gets her kicks from dogging her opponents.

“I love defense,” she said. “You have to want the ball. I love havoc.”

And she creates a lot of it.

This summer, Tack is using AAU to try to improve her offense for the high school season (she hopes) in the winter.

“I wanted to work on my shooting and foul shots — I'm not the best foul shooter,” Tack said. “I felt like that is coming along.”

So does Coach Maier.

“For Aubree, man, her shooting has improved immensely,” he said. “In fact, we had two games (Sunday) and in the second game, she hit two 3-pointers. She hit one 3-pointer all of our varsity season this year.

“The thing with her is she almost gets every loose ball,” the coach added. “One of the other dads on this AAU team called her an ankle-biter. That's the biggest compliment. She never gives up.”

The hope now is all these strides will be able to be showcased this winter.

“I definitely have seen a lot of improvement because we've been going up against teams with other girls with amazing skills,” Pelaia said. “It's really helped us and it's helped me.”