The Pike County Lady Bulldogs are 16 games into the Rebecca Kidd era. After a 5-11 start to the season, Kidd and the Bulldogs are eager to find out what the future will bring.

The Bulldogs are coming off a close loss to Houston Academy on Monday evening, bringing their area record on the season 3-1.

In her first year with the Bulldogs, Kidd is trying to make her mark on her new program.

“As it always is being a new coach, we are taking some time trying to get to know each other,” Kidd said. “We changed a lot of what they have done in the past. It’s taking some time to get used to. It’s a work in progress. I have seen a lot of improvement.”

Along with welcoming in a new coach, the Bulldogs are also welcoming in new players this season. In all, the Bulldogs have five players that are in ninth grade or below and seven players that are sophomores or younger.

“It’s an awesome opportunity for me,” Kidd said. “I am getting to develop them how I want to and have years to go with them.”

In their first 16 games, Kidd has had time to formulate her first impression of the squad. She feels like her team has the ability to compete in the area for years to come.

“I have all the athletes in the world,” Kidd said. “It’s a great athletic bunch. I feel like we can still make a pretty good impression this year. Years to come, as young as we are, we have the ability to really stand out in this area.”

Defense and more player involvement have been two of the many positives that Kidd has noticed through the season’s first 16 games.

“We are having five to six players a game score points instead of it being just one or two,” Kidd said. “That has been a good thing. Precious (Vaznaian) is a huge part of the team and it’s really going to hurt us when she leaves. I’m trying to get those other players to step up so when she is gone there is not a huge drop off.”

The Bulldogs have two area games remaining on their schedule before they begin the area tournament. They play Wicksburg on Saturday before hosting Providence Christian on January 25.

“The main things we want to see is them continuing to hustle,” Kidd said. “Continue to work hard. Going into the area tournament, I feel like if we continue to hustle, then we can definitely go further.”