Here is what I would do. However not being ther and not seeing the actuall lighting I am only guessing. I added a bit of sharpening and vibrance, too.
@Hillera wrote:I purchased the EF 50mm F1.8 and what a difference it makes, thanks for the recommendation. I am still learning but I am already noticing big improvements in my photos. I sat in the first bleacher this week and used my new lense. I still have so much to learn but am excited to keep trying. Here is a picture I took at tip off on Monday.
Great shot! I like the way your shutter speed was fast enough to freeze the action without any motion blur. You do need a WB, White Balance, adjustment in this shot, which is easily corrected with a couple of mouse clicks.
As suggested, learn to save your photos in RAW format, which is a digital negative. You would then “develop” the digital negatives into JPEG files, which are “digital prints” that contain data that describes how they should be printed on paper or a computer monitor.
I know that sounds complicated, but good post processing software automates the process. You can process hundreds of photos with just a few mouse clicks in a few minutes.
"Maybe shoot some at 1/2 a stop or so overexposed ..."
+1 
Noise tends to be worse in underexposed areas. Although in the sample shot, it doesn't bother me.
