For all intents and purposes, the Lehman Lobo girls basketball program is in a state of upheaval this year.
There’s a new coach, a new system in place and a new outlook for the 2016-2017 season. This follows a period where the Lobos have lost 50 of its last 62 regular season games.
Lehman is trusting the process.
“We just talked about staying within our system and staying within what we do,” said Lehman coach James Halatin. “Basically, trust in the process. It’s been our rally cry all year.”
Halatin’s process was put to the test in the first game of the Dripping Springs Classic Tournament, which the Lobos exited with a 1-3 mark last weekend.
State-ranked Cibolo Steele trounced the Lobos 91-17 Nov. 10 in the first game of the tournament. Lehman lost 52-35 to A&M Consolidated three hours later.
The first day of the tournament left Lehman searching for answers.
“We took some bad losses on the chin against some really tough competition,” Halatin said. “That was good for our kids to see that kind of caliber. That’s what the top teams in the district will look like. It’s better to see that early in the season instead of being wide-eyed for the first time in district.”
Halatin said he wanted to see his team build on the new system. Last year’s Lehman squad, coached by Jamie Coy, played a slower style of offense.
This season, without the luxury of size in the frontcourt, Halatin wants his team to be more active on defense and rely on its backcourt duo of Meghan Zuniga and Crystal Montoya.
“If we sit back and let teams come to us, it’s not going to do us any favors,” Halatin said. “We need to push up on other teams’ guards. We have some guards that can create a little havoc in the backcourt.”
But Lehman was on the wrong side of a blowout in the second day of the tournament, losing 48-16 to Texas City.
The first three games resulted in three losses by a total margin of 123 points. But Halatin said the Lobos also began to grasp the system.
“We finally trusted the system and played a little bit better the second day,” Halatin said. “We just said ‘look this is our system. We are going to go out and work it.’”
The Lobos’ comeback began in earnest against a Laredo Martin team that played a similar style of basketball.
Halatin changed his starting lineup before the game, opting for two returning starters.
With three consecutive losses in the rearview mirror, Lehman got to work and trusted Halatin’s process.
A 57-37 victory over Martin Friday afternoon concluded the Dripping Springs Classic on a high note.
“We are hoping to get better every game,” Halatin said. “We have to get ourselves get better before we start worrying about the wins and losses. But I know, and the coaches know, that it’s a long season and there’s gonna be some highs and definitely some lows. We just want to compete for four quarters.”
Three weeks remain before the district season begins. Halatin’s challenge in taking over a rebuilding program is streamlining his process and allowing his team to improve incrementally.
Other teams have the benefit of continuity. Lehman doesn’t.
“Most of the teams that we are playing are in year six or seven in the same system,” Halatin said. “We knew that was going to be a struggle to put our system against more established teams.”
But Halatin also had a glass half-full take on the same premise.
“And I’ll remind you that our process is just two months old,” Halatin said.
