A young squad is going through the grind this season in Wheaton, learning as much as they an on the floor with the hope of a significant numbers boost next year.

Jessica Dermott, Wheaton girls basketball coach, said the team is in a transitional period between a large senior lass last year and large eighth-grade class this year, leaving the Lady Bulldogs (2-8) with only 7 on the roster.

“We’re really young and lost a bunch of seniors, and our record doesn’t show it, but we are getting better, playing hard, and defensively, we are working well together and starting to figure one another out.”

Dermott said with such low numbers, scrimmages in practice are a challenge, forcing the three freshmen, one sophomore, two juniors and one senior to learn from one another at games as much as possible.

“We don’t have a leader on the floor necessarily, but we are all learning from one another,” she said. “The younger ones have played a lot, but high school is a different level, and they’ve had to learn that on the go.”

Most of that learning has not been in the skill area, but in the mental part of the game.

“Accountability is something we are learning,” Dermott said. “We have to play both ends of the floor. You can’t be a scorer and not play defense, and you can’t focus on defense but not be an option on offense. Everyone has to to the work on both ends.”

Dermott said defense is where Wheaton has shined so far, especially with the press.

“We switch our defenses a lot and are picking that up better and putting more pressure on the basketball,” she said. “We’re starting to make teams nervous with that pressure. We get plenty of chances to score, and we’re working on taking advantage of those opportunities.”

The Lady Bulldogs are playing in the Southwest Holiday Tournament this week, opening against Cassville Monday and playing again Tuesday. Their final game will be today, and they start the new year on Jan. 5 at Pierce City.

“What I told them the other night is if we are figuring out our defense and working hard, and we’ve got to work on figuring out our offense because to win big games, we have to be a threat on offense, as well,” Dermott said.

While low numbers have struck Wheaton before, it has been nearly a decade since the Lady Bulldogs had so few players.

“The first year I was here 9 years ago, we only had five on the team, and there were some games I’d finish with four on the floor,” Dermott said. “These girls are young and will all be coming back except the one, and we have seven freshmen coming in next year. We’ll double our size and are building toward that.”