DANVILLE — Shooting, shooting and more shooting.

That’s what the Danville boys basketball team did this summer.

According to junior forward Joey Robinson, the Vikings took any where from 25,000 to 50,000 shots this summer.

“We knew after last year that if we were going to be a better team this year, we had to improve our shooting,’’ said Robinson, one of six key returning players for Danville.

The other key junior for the Vikings is guard D’Lando Carter, the most valuable player in the Junior Dustbowl this summer.

“Last year, we couldn’t shoot and teams would play zone on us,’’ Carter said. “If they pressured us and play man-to-man, we got to the bucket and scored. Teams would then go zone and we couldn’t score.’’

Danville gets the ultimate first test tonight in the opening game of the Lincoln Thanksgiving Tournament when the Vikings host the defending Class 3A state champions, the Champaign Centennial Chargers.

Tip off at Danville High School is 6 p.m. for the junior varsity and the varsity will follow around 7:30.

“This Lincoln tournament is a good barometer of where you need to be,’’ said Danville coach Gary Tidwell, whose team finished 9-18, winning four of their final six games.

But what about opening with the defending state champions?

“I wouldn’t want it any other way. The tougher competition you play, the better you will get,’’ Tidwell said. “They will be on our court and they have a couple of Division I signees.’’

Rayvonte Rice and Jeff Johnson have already signed National Letters of Intent. Rice with Drake and Johnson with Eastern Kentucky.

“That’s a big-time measuring stick to see where we are at,’’ Robinson said.

In addition to the Chargers, the Vikings will also face state-ranked teams in the Lincoln Railers and the Belleville Athloff Crusaders along with contests against the Rochester Rockets and the Cahokia Comanches.

Tidwell said Danville will play without the services of Keaton Britt, Eddie Clark Jaron Cunningham and Dennis Hightower this week as all four were part of the Vikings state semifinalist football team.

“Obviously, we would like to have those guys with us, but we’re happy for our football program,’’ Carter said. “It’s going to be an opportunity for the guys that are here to show what they can do.’’

Tidwell admitted that his team probably won’t be at full strength until the Pontiac Holiday Tournament.

“We want to compete for a conference championship,’’ Tidwell said. “We might come out of the gates pretty slow, but we will hit our stride around Christmas.

“I think we will be a tough team to beat. We are going to be a team that a lot of schools will fear playing.’’

That’s because Tidwell says Danville is going to play to its strengths, which are quickness and depth.

“We want to get up-and-down the floor,’’ Carter said. “We’re going to be a team that creates most of its offense off of our pressure defense.’’

After tonight’s game against Centennial, the next home game for Danville will be Dec. 4 against Normal West.