LANGLEY — At first, Falcon girls basketball coach Henry Pope was a little hesitant about how his young team would fare this season, especially after the loss to graduation of Lindsey Newman, who led the entire state in points scored last year and was a one-woman wrecking team under the basket.

“My two main goals are better execution on the court and developing more cohesion as a team,” he said on the first day of practice.

He needn’t have worried.

“The girls have been responding well, and executing plays with some degree of precision,” he said this week. “They are acting and thinking as a team, and I fully expect us to be competitive in every game.”

The girls were 7-7 in league play last season, 9-10 overall, and a game short of making district playoffs.

Pope, a network design engineer at Boeing, has been putting some corporate policies to good use.

“The girls are working on their action plans, just as we do at work; not only what their personal and team goals are, but how to reach them,” he explained.

Pope said the response has been positive, as each girl details in writing what skill, or combinations of skills, are needed to be better shooters, rebounders, defenders and dribblers.

He’s cut back the number of rote drills, instead concentrating on game scenarios.

“My goal is to put them in the best position to win,” he said. “The idea is to recreate parts of the game so everyone knows exactly where they should be and what they should be doing.”

He added that the girls need to be prepared should the opponent switch tactics in the middle of a game.

“Spacing, ball movement, rebounding and good communication are paramount factors in taking advantage of every situation. No surprises.

“And when some players ask me, ‘I don’t know what to do when I don’t have the ball,’ I know they’re doing some serious self-examination,” he added.

As has the coach. He’s been attending coaching clinics and talking to other coaches in the off-season as a way to improve the quality of his instruction.

“I’ve played ball for a long time, but you’re never too old to learn new tricks,” he said.

Falcon All Conference defensive star Reilly O’Sullivan said she, too, was a little nervous about the offense.

“Of course, everyone knows it’s the defense that really wins games,” she said with a laugh. “But the girls, all of us, have been working hard on our shooting to try and spread out the threat level for other teams. We’re taking more shots in practice than previous years, and I’m personally trying to get more height on each shot.”

Forging that always-elusive team chemistry is key, because not many of the girls play basketball in the off-season.

“But I’m excited at the level of hard work and dedication — everyone came for practice on Black Friday when I know they’d rather have been shopping,” Pope said.

His varsity team will consist of Ashlinn Prosch, Alexis Brown, Cayla Calderwood, Alannah Alber, Marina Kovic, Jessica Manca, Courtney Linehan, Lacy Williams and O’Sullivan. Hannah Calderwood and Ellie Greene will serve as “floaters” between varsity and JV.

Nathan Miller returns as JV coach, and Karen Jaeger will be Pope’s varsity assistant.

“I couldn’t do this without them at my side,” Pope said.

Conference champion Archbishop Murphy will lead the way this year, Pope said.

“But Sultan is moving up, King’s has some good shooters and I’m very impressed with new coach Mark Newman at Granite Falls,” Pope noted.

As a way to overcome the expected tough competition, Pope is hoping to foster a sense of real self-esteem among his athletes.

“I want players to look at the Falcon emblem and think teamwork, hustle and pride in themselves, their team and the community,” he said. “If you have pride, you’ve got what it takes to be successful on the court.”