Restart: North ready to move past tough two-week stretch

After a strong 4-0 start to the season, the McKinney North basketball team has endured a subpar 4-5 two-week stretch, one head coach Darryll Craft is eager to put behind them.

"We're more inconsistent than I thought we would be at this point," he said. "We're up and down. I'm disappointed to have five losses. We have to get better defensively and we have to take pride on that side of the court."

The Bulldogs (8-5) have played nearly nonstop over the last two weeks, participating in several tournaments to go along with their usual mid-week games.

"Part of the reason why we haven't been as good defensively is because we haven't had a lot of practice time in the last couple of weeks," Craft said. "Playing the style that we want to play, which is up and down, full-court press the entire game, you have to be more physically enduring and have fresh legs, yet we've played eight games in 11 days."

The inconsistent schedule has gradually worn on the Bulldogs.

"That takes a little bit out of you," Craft said. "We've probably played two or three times more games than we've had practices over the last few weeks."

The Bulldogs return to action Friday on the road against Frisco. It marks their first game since last weekend, giving North several consecutive days off for the first time since last month.

"We're using this time to get back to the fundamentals, to correct things that we need to do defensively," Craft said. "I've been happy with the practices we've had this week. We're practicing hard and have a little more pep in our step."

While they may have struggled during the last two weeks, Craft is hopeful his players have learned from their adversities.

"Hopefully we're getting mentally tougher," he said. "Hopefully we've gotten some kids some playing time to better help us in the district grind that's coming up. I'm happy with those things."

The Bulldogs began the year with wins against Frisco Liberty, The Colony, Denton and Rockwall-Heath before dropping five of their last nine.

"Early on we played really well, we've just gone through some tough spots," Craft said. "We're getting better, we just need more time in the gym to fine-tune some things. We got a great group of kids that will do what we need them to do, we just haven't had that practice time as coaches to implement that."

With his team back in the gym, Craft said he's seen everything he hoped to see in their first several days of practice this week as they prepare for Friday's game.

"I like where we are and I like where we're going heading into the Frisco game," he said. "Frisco's a very good team and they're going to do things the right way and they're very well-coached, but I like where we are."

Craft knows the Bulldogs have plenty of scoring options in guards Jola Otubu, Julion Pearre, Colin Curran, Steele Douglas, Bryson Brown and Kody Wilson.

"We'll rely on the same usual suspects," he said. "With Jola, Julion, Colin, Steele, Bryson and Kody, we have so many people on offense who can score for us."

Frisco represents North's final game before district action. The Bulldogs play Lovejoy and Wylie next week in their season's first foray amongst their District 13-4A rivals.

"We play two really good teams in that first week," Craft said. "I'm pleased with where we are and how hard our kids have played, we just have to fine-tune some things and we'll be okay heading into district. We understand those games really matter."

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