Lady Bulldogs

continued from page 2 didn't start out that way Our first six or seven ballgames, what we were doing wasn't working " said Lands "I just decided to do it another way and that's what we've been doing is running five and five and five "

Lands says the team is better defensively with the five-and-five rotation and says that there's not a drop off from one group to the other in scoring or defense

"I just thought if they play with the same people all the time, I think the continuity would pay off and it worked " said Lands "And they like it because everyone gets to play"

Rhoten says that the five-and-five helps keep them fresh and attributes a lot of their recent success to not being as tired

"The last time we played Whitesboro, we weren't doing the five and-five and I think we were gassed " said Rhoten "We had two freshmen that had never played with us before "

The five-and-five really helped give a lot of playing time to the freshmen Honore and Harvey Lands says he was impressed with the way the two young ninth graders have adjusted to the speed of the game and improved defensively So much so that he believes Honore was the best defender in the district

Rhoten acknowledged the improvement of the freshmen, but admits that it took some time

"At first, we didn't know how they played and they didn't know how we played, but now we all mesh well together" said Rhoten

The team is led in scoring by junior Peyton Streetman, who averages 10 7 points per game thanks in part to driving to the bucket and shooting 139 free throw attempts. Rhoten leads the team with 190 total rebounds, but freshman Harvey has pulled down an astonishing 108 offensive boards

Competing for a fifth consecutive bi-district championship speaks volumes of the girls basketball program in Howe and Lands ability to maximize the talents he's been gifted

"It all starts with Coach Lands " said Hargrove. "He's just a wonderful coach "