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By Ray Hamill — The South Fork Cubs are building for the future.

With a young roster in girls basketball this season, the Cubs are going through some growing pains together.

But head coach Jessika Mulder believes if this group sticks together, they’ll be a force in the Little 4 in a year or two.

“We have a really young team,” the coach said. “We are basically a JV team competing at the varsity level.”

This year’s roster features just two seniors, along with five freshmen and three sophomores.

However, the girls are showing plenty of progress, including a big 39-18 win at San Francisco Waldorf last weekend.

“I see a lot of good things for our future,” Mulder said. “I feel this is a building year for us.”

That future was on full display in the team’s conference opener at home to Hoopa on Thursday night.

Despite losing 71-29 to a team that expects to contend for the conference title, there were some bright spots for the Cubs, including the play of two of their younger players.

Freshmen Kendall Kercher scored a team-high 14 points in the loss, while freshman Halo Wilson added 10 points.

“It will come with time,” the head coach added. “They have a lot of heart. They were getting blown out but still fighting till the very end. They showed a lot of grit.”

Kendall Kercher and Mackenzie Coleman in action for the Cubs on Thursday night.

The win at San Francisco showed just how much the players have grown since the start of the season.

“They’re finally starting to click,” Mulder said. “I look forward to what they’re going to be. I think in their junior and senior years South Fork is going to be a really good team again.”

The biggest improvements have come in the players’ understanding of the game, particularly at the defensive end of the floor.

“Our defense down (at San Francisco) was phenomenal,” the coach added. “They were moving their feet and hustling. I feel the level of play has picked up a lot.

“We were moving the ball a lot better than in the past and setting the pace for our own game.”

Several players have stood out over the first half of the season, including talented multi-sport sophomore Mackenzie Coleman, who is playing basketball this year for the time and quickly adapting to the challenge.

“She’s been putting in a lot of hard work in practice, and putting up points and moving the ball down the court for us,” Mulder said.

Raevyn Reveles and Arianna Trigonis are the team’s two lone seniors and both players have played key leadership roles through the first half of the season.

On Thursday night, Trignios had another big game defensively for the team.

Described by Mulder as the team’s “best defender,” Trigonis held Hoopa standout Ivy Lamebear to just two points in the third quarter.

The Cubs will play a pair of home games next week, hosting Hayfork in a non-conference game on Tuesday before a Little 4 matchup against St. Bernard’s on Thursday.