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Rebecca Kidd entered her second season this year as head coach of the Pike County High School Lady bulldogs. Through eight games this season, Kidd and the Bulldogs have had an up and down start.

The Bulldogs find themselves 4-4 on the season with the start of area play looming.

“We are definitely missing our seniors from last year, but they’re coming along great,” Kidd said. “We are learning to work as a team. “

Sophomore Kyah Rouse leads the Bulldogs in scoring in the first eight games this season.

“Kyah is playing well,” Kidd said. “She is who we expected to step up this season.”

Between Rouse and newcomer TaNiyah Green, Kidd has had a couple of young playmakers on the roster.

Rouse has been playing at the varsity level since eighth grade. Although she loves to score, Kidd believes her greatest attribute is her court vision and being able to find her open teammates.

“She has shown a lot of growth over the summer,” Kidd said. “She is becoming a great leader and she is starting to see the court well. She is becoming a dominant point guard. I would say that Kyah prides herself on her assists. She is our leading scorer at this point too.”

Since arriving on campus prior to the start of last season, Kidd has tried to create a strong defensive team. So far this season, she believes the team’s defense is their number one quality.

“That’s our goal this year,” Kidd said. “Our goal is to play defense. We have been working hard on our defense. We have started every game with our defensive group. We are working hard to improve our defensive game.”

Despite all the hard work on defense, the way her team has responded has been a pleasant surprise.

“I have had a lot of players step up,” Kidd said. “We are fairly young. We don’t have any seniors; the majority of my team is sophomores. My sophomores did not play a whole lot last year with the exception of Kyah. They have stepped up and are playing great for me this year.”

The Bulldogs’ non-area schedule has been a tough one thus far, playing teams including Charles Henderson, Headland and Eufaula.

“We definitely have a tough early schedule playing Eufaula, Headland and Charles Henderson, all very good teams, but we are hoping it prepares us for area play,” Kidd said.

Pike County competes in Class 3A Area with Houston Academy, Providence Christian and Wicksburg.

“We are going to focus on one game at a time and we are not looking into area until we get there,” Kidd said. “We are focusing on what we need to do as a team and working on what we know we do best. When we get there we’ll play our game and see what happens.”

The Bulldogs will be back in action next Tuesday when they host Bullock County beginning at 6 p.m.