The Pike Liberal Arts Lady Patriots are off a 2-0 start this season and with a veteran group coach Robert Hawkins sees a lot of potential.

Last season, the Patriots struggled out of the gates.

“I always joke that we always lose our first game,” Hawkins said. “I don’t know if it’s poor coaching or what, but I think it’s kind of funny that we won our first two games.”

The Patriots entered the Lee-Scott tournament feeling a little behind after not having many opportunities to get work done as a team.

“I think we are further behind than we were last year and the year before,” Hawkins said. “I had a lot going on in the spring and summer and I wasn’t able to work the girls.”

The Patriots welcome back four returning starters this year in Lauren Johnson, Susie Stell, Mya Terry and Danielle Brown. Without a lot of depth on the roster, Hawkins knows that the bulk of his teams scoring will come from these four players.

“Those are our scoring threats,” Hawkins said. “Our points are going to come from those players. They are going to have to score. Lauren is going to have to put in 20 points per game, Mya and Susie are going to have to score 10-15 points and hopefully the rest can score 10. You can look at it anyway you want to, but that is just the reality of it.”

The goal this season for the Patriots is to become physical then they were a year ago.

“We don’t have any big girls,” Hawkins said. “We worked a lot on posting up this year. We have worked on pick and rolls. We have mainly been working on posting up. We have to be able to become more physical and be able to run our offense from a half court set.”

Being able to get down the floor and run a suitable half court offense is critical part in Hawkins game plan this season.

“Getting from point A to B is going to be our problem,” Hawkins said. “That is going to sum up our season. If we can’t do that we are going to struggle. That is what our season is going to come down to.”

The Lady Patriots will pick up their season after the Thanksgiving break on Tuesday when they host Autauga.

“The emphasis this season is going to be work hard and enjoy what you are doing,” Hawkins said. “When it comes down to it, if you not having fun then why are you doing it.”