Coach Bill Green gets members of the Granny Bearcats pumped up before a recent practice game.

Grandma’s got game. Or rather, nine grandmas got game.

They’re the Granny Bearcats, and a second-place finish in basketball at the recent North Carolina Senior Games has earned these silver ladies a shot at national gold.

In July, they’ll compete in the 2001 National Senior Games in Baton Rouge, La., representing the 60-plus age category. But that shot at geriatric glory is over two months away, and on a recent warm May evening, they were more concerned with the opponent at hand — a bunch of 50-something whippersnappers who would no doubt try and run these grannies into the grain of the hardwood.

“We might be in trouble tonight,” Laverne Davis, 68, says as she double-checks the laces on her sneakers during warm-ups. “Most of these gals we’re playing tonight are 10 years younger than us.”

Davis, like most of her teammates, is from the Robbins area. And also like most of her teammates, she’s a hoops veteran, having played high school ball as a youngster at Elise.

But it’s probably an ironclad bet that as a schoolgirl hoopster, Davis didn’t dream she’d still be playing at an age when most of her peers are more concerned about cross-stitches than crossover dribbles.

Davis has been playing senior basketball for six years now and admits that basketball has rejuvenated and revitalized her golden years.

“I’m not breathless going back and forth to my mailbox anymore,” she says. “I feel good. I think we all feel good after playing basketball. Our bodies may hurt, but our minds are so enlightened by the basketball play that we don’t feel the aches.”

But as the game against the younger Netters gets started, you have to believe the aches will have an extra edge to them come tthe next day, as the bigger, faster Netters pay no respect to their elders, throwing wild elbows and slinging Bearcats willy-nilly to the court in tussles for every loose ball.

However, the Bearcats use guile and superior depth against the Netters, overcoming an early 8-0 run by the Netters to pull within 11-13 at intermission.

In the aftermath of a first half much more physical than one would deem safe for seniors, you realize that this definitely isn’t the same brand of basketball as their grandsons and granddaughters play.

It’s three-on-three half-court ball with 10-minute halves. The clock doesn’t stop — except for injuries and timeouts — and unlike modern-day ball, this version of Naismith’s game features lots of good old-fashioned passing and ball movement, just like the doctor probably diagrammed when he hung up that first peach basket.

Still, one doubts that the good doctor envisioned his mother setting picks or attempting fade-away jumpers.

“What we do in practice against each other isn’t working quite the same against these gals,” Charity Comer, 65, says as she attempts to catch her breath before the start of the second half. “We don’t have anyone as quick as them to practice against.”

But the Bearcats should be used to playing against younger teams, as they are the only team in their age group in this area.

“All our opponents are younger,” Peggy Green, 61, says. “It will be nice to go to the national games in July and get to play people our own age for a change.”

Despite the Bearcats’ ardor, the age difference tells the tale in the second half, as the youthful Netters race out to a big lead and hold on for a 24-19 victory.

“I’m tired, but I feel good about the game,” Green says afterwards, dripping sweat and smiling widely. “I was real proud of the way we played against those youngsters.”

And Green’s other half, Bearcat coach Bill Green — himself a state shuffleboard champion in his age group — is also all smiles over his team’s effort.

“They did great,” Bill Green says. “They really moved the ball and played the way they’re supposed to. I’m glad you weren’t here for last night’s game — we looked pretty bad.”

Green supervises two practices a week and oversees two to three games in that same time period.

And even though he says his ladies always give a great effort he also says — like any coach — that his charges don’t always see eye-to-eye with what he asks of them.

“I get as excited as they do when they win,” he says. “But the toughest thing about coaching them is to get them to do what I want. I guess they’ve all reached an age where they think they know best. But I wouldn’t trade coaching these ladies for anything.”

He only wishes there were more teams to coach against.

As does Caldwell, who says anybody can do what she and her teammates do, if they just put their mind to it.

“They think it’s rough, and it is, but it really helps you,” Caldwell says. “It was a shock getting back into basketball, because when I played it was ‘timid.’ You dribbled once, and the defense wasn’t allowed to touch the ball or the opponent. Times have changed. I’m just now learning how to dribble.”

The Bearcats are going to carpool to Baton Rouge for the start of the basketball tournament July 20.

They’ve even got new uniforms, even though their enthusiasm is definitely old school.

“We can’t wait,” Davis says. “Baton Rouge is the farthest away from Robbins many of us have ever been. And we sure don’t want to drive that far to lose.”

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