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Story By: Darrell Ardison

Via: DefenderNetwork.com

Bellaire head girls basketball coach Michael Kramer has his team on a path that he’s seen before.

The Lady Cardinals are improving with each game and in the midst of playing four playoff-caliber schools in succession.

With victories over Madison (51-39) and Chavez (61-40) last week, Bellaire remains unbeaten in District 20-5A (9-0) and improves to 15-5 on the season.

The Lady Cardinals will face Westside (one district loss) and Lamar (currently in the fourth playoff slot) this week with a chance to create some separation in the standings.

“What makes this so much fun and something that I don’t think many people realize is that these kids are so young,” Kramer said. “We’re talking about four freshmen, three sophomores and two seniors. We start a freshman, three sophomores and one senior.

“They’re fun to watch because now we see them starting to jell and come together,” Kramer said. “Especially in the Madison game because they have a big girl and we have no height. For them to box out and take care of business on the defensive end after we’d been preaching that to them was good to see.”

Kramer began the season with 10 players and right away lost one to academics and one to a torn ACL injury. “We’ve been playing with eight players all season,” he said.

That puts Bellaire’s head coach right back in familiar territory. Last season he guided an eight-player rotation all the way to the regional final before succumbing to Brittany Griner (now starring at Baylor) and Aldine Nimitz.

Bianca Winslow and Raven Burns are two returning starters from the regional finalist squad. Freshman point guard A.J. Alex has made quite a splash in her first year on the team. The trio accounts for the bulk of the Lady Cardinals’ scoring and tenacity.

“Sometimes when you look out on the court, it’s like what in the world is going on. It looks like a fire drill at times,” Kramer said. “That’s because we had very little experience coming back and they were both freshmen last year.

“From the outset we had to stress patience because we told the girls that we’re not going to get where we want to be in one day or one week,” Kramer said. “And then you throw in that we’re so small and we just thought it was going to take some time.

“Yet we knew we had shooters and we had a good point guard (Alex) to come in and she’s really made a difference,” Kramer said. “The leading scorers for us are the freshman and the two sophomores.”

Kramer admits playing a tough non-district schedule may have accelerated the Lady Cardinals’ learning and maturation process.

“We played in that Pearland Tournament at the beginning of the season and we caught some salty teams in Cypress Falls, Cy-Fair and Westbury Christian,” he said. “Then we went to Dallas and we were tested again. So I told the girls to keep their heads up and we’d be all right down the road.”

The early turbulence has given way to smooth sailing in recent weeks for the Lady Cardinals.

In the 12-point victory over Madison, early shooting woes got Bellaire off to a sluggish start and Bellaire had to rely upon its defense and the stellar play of its point guard.

A.J. Alex scored eight of her game-high 20 points in the opening eight minutes and followed that up with eight additional points in the second stanza. Winslow and Burns took over in the second half scoring 11 points apiece.

Winslow drained back-to-back three-pointers in the third quarter and Burns added a 3-pointer of her own as the Lady Cardinals took a 38-30 advantage into the final eight minutes.

Burns shot a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line, while Alex converted 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.

“We’ve kind of been up-and-down with our free throws but lately we’ve been good in the second half of games,” Kramer said.

With Chavez clinging to fading playoff hopes, Burns put a dagger in the hearts of the Lobos with a 31-point explosion at Butler Fieldhouse. Alex chipped in with 14.

Kramer says that if his team can clinch first place in District 20-5A, he wouldn’t rule out the prospects of another long playoff run.

With No. 1-ranked Cy-Fair going north (Region II-5A) in the postseason, Region III-5A appears to be wide open.

“Hightower was probably the early favorite and then two girls went down to injury and now they’re as vulnerable as the rest of us,” Kramer said. “Marshall and North Shore have a shot at it. Dulles is not as strong as they have been in the past.

“We’re going to make a run and have some fun, but you never know what’s going to happen in the playoffs,” Kramer said. “Last year we made it to the regional final with eight players.

“A couple of years ago, we were 33-1 and I thought we were on our way and we got beat. Sometimes you have to be lucky,” Kramer said. “If we get first in our district, we could have a good little run.