Though you might not know it watching them now, the Falcon girls basketball team is a driven bunch.

At the moment, about two weeks before their game schedule begins, the team’s varsity, junior varsity and C squads are sharing practice time. They’re working on the fundamentals — dribbling, passing, shooting and not traveling — in mass drills, all under the quiet-toned supervision of their coaches, Howard Collier, Henry Pope and Greg Hein.

But there’s a sparkle coming off these girls. Though 4-16 last season and three seasons removed from their last playoff appearance, the Falcons do have a determination about them. Not heavily depleted by graduation, this is a team that will bring some experience and seasoning to the court — two things they will need if this season is anything like the last one.

Truth be told, the 2002-03 squad was better than its record. The Falcons lost a half dozen games last season by less than 10 points — more than enough, if they had been won, to send the girls into district playoffs. Coach Collier, who is in his second year as the team’s head coach, said this week that he knows the difference between his team winning and losing that sort of game this year has everything to do with the mental aspect of the game of basketball.

“The head’s got to play,” he said while watching his girls practice this week.

The team’s leading “heads” this season will be seniors Bronwyn Russell and Jordan Tobler, juniors Danielle Burton and Mary McCune, and sophomore Caitie Newman. Russell, coming into the season after appearances in state softball and volleyball tournaments in the spring and fall, will lead the offense at point guard.

Playing from the bench this season will be sophomore Sara Hicks, junior Kelsey Smith and senior Brittany Peterson.

Collier said his team is is big enough and experienced enough to compete well this year, though he wouldn’t predict a season outcome other than stating the team’s intention to make it into district playoffs. With the exception of the 5-foot, 4-inch Russell, the team’s entire starting lineup measures 5-7 or taller, peaking out with the 6-foot McCune. That size, coupled with the aggression players such as Russell, Tobler and Newman brought to the court last season will be indispensable in the North Cascades Conference, a league from which two teams — Nooksack Valley and Granite Falls — went to the state tournament in 2003.

With 36 girls out and many coming in with spring and fall playing experience, the Falcons are, in their coach’s estimation, a fit team. Several members of the Falcon varsity played in a 3A off-season league, and the 5-3 record those players compiled may just prove that they are ready to take on the best in the NCC.

Still, the team will likely struggle early to find a scoring leader. Graduate Julie Robinson was the only Falcon consistently in double scoring digits last season though, behind her leadership, several members of the current squad also put in 10 or more in 2002-03 games.

The Falcons get their first chance to prove themselves in a Dec. 1 road jamboree. They start their NCC schedule at Lakewood on Dec. 12.