CRESTVIEW — Expectations are high this year for Crestview High School's girls basketball team.
The Bulldogs reached the Elite Eight last year, which is their deepest run into the playoffs since 1991, when they were the Class 3A state runner up.
But Crestview Coach Kathy Combest said the Bulldogs won’t surprise anybody this year like they did last season.
“When they (opposing teams) are not thinking about you, it helps you a little bit,” she said. “We are not going to sneak up on anybody. They are going to be ready for us because they see we have some girls that can play when they want to play.”
Jasmine Middleton and Arianna Simms were the only seniors on last year’s team, but they were key pieces to the team’s success. Middleton was a force inside and Simms was a threat to score from anywhere on the floor.
That’s not to say the cupboard is empty for Combest as she enters her third season with the team.
Senior point guard Jensis Coleman returns as the leader of a team with numerous sophomores and juniors. Crestview will field a younger team, but the Bulldogs should be plenty quick.
“We are young,” Combest said. “We have to get more aggressive on the boards, even when we take the ball to the hole.”
“I want to use the speed every day. If they don’t put out (run full speed) they are gone (on the bench).”
Sophomore K.K. McTear might very well be the fastest of the Bulldog players. McTear will play shooting guard and point guard this year.
Choctawhatchee transfer Malaysia Moore will be a shooting guard, as will Lakayla Robinson and Deijah Spates.
Christa Johnson, Nataya Winston, Tiara Payne and Dionjenae Hendrix will give the Bulldogs a presence on the inside.
The team is quickly developing a chemistry that should help them in the tough District 1-7A, Combest said.
Still, the veteran coach said wins won’t come easy.
“If you look at the schedule, everyone we are playing is good,” Combest said. “I’m worried about (district opponents) Navarre, Tate, Niceville and Fort Walton Beach. They work just like we do.
“I’ve never been a coach that doesn’t take everybody seriously.”
The one thing Combest has always done best is to get her teams ready, no matter who the foe.
“You have to do everything better than them (the opposition) all the time,” she said. “You have to think better, play defense better, take care of the ball better.
“You have to do what you are supposed to do. You have to be disciplined.”
Email News Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Combest: We are not going to sneak up on anybody