By AARON MANAGHAN

Sports editor

When Rick Peters took the girls basketball job at Olympic, he knew the chances of going undefeated through the Olympic League were slim.

After all, the team graduated one standout in Shannon White, and lost another when Kelsey Anchors opted not to play this season.

But even with those players gone, and with Peters in replacing Al Gleich, the Trojans are starting to hit some strides.

“I think we are progressing nicely,” Peters, a coach for many years at numerous levels, said. “We are very competitive. I think we’re still feeling each other out.”

Peters, a former coach at Olympic College and a long-time coach in levels varying from the Tracyton Youth Athletic Association to leagues within the Navy, said even with all that experience, high school coaching is still unique.

“I think high school provides it’s own challenges,” he said. “For me, the big challenge is I don’t work in the school, so my time with the kids is kind of limited. But all the girls have been pretty dedicated. They’re coming out and working hard.”

But with assistant coach Laurie Shaw in the building, Peters said that’s not too big an issue.

The Trojans have had strong outings this season despite the team’s 1-3 overall record, including a very close loss to crosstown rivals Central Kitsap.

“I think we’ve played some tough teams and we’ve been in every game pretty much,” Peters said. “It was nice to get that win at home (Tuesday) night. Now we can get on track and start playing our style of ball.”

That means focusing on the basics first.

“We’ll try to focus on the fundamentals,” Peters said.

Back are big-time rebounders Nicole Buhl, Shawntell Bradford and Pepper Fanua. Peters said that group has been trying to up the leadership role this season, especially with a sophomore starting in Samantha Viray.

“We’re carrying two 10th-graders on our squad,” Peters said. “But we’ve got Nicole Buhl, Shawntell and Pepper doing a good job of taking some players under their wings.”

Viray has been playing solidly at point guard, while players like Serah Peterson, Alyson Chandler and Samantha Thorton are also seeing an increased role this season.

Rebounding is starting to come around again for Oly, as evidence in the Trojans’ 41-board output against Port Angeles Tuesday. Peters said the team will have to continue to play bigger than they are.

“That’s what’s kind of been surprising is how small we really are,” Peters said. “We were kind of weak on the boards in those first couple games. But these girls are very tough. They’re undersized, but they’re physical.”

Olympic takes on Port Towns-end on the road Tuesday before returning home Wednesday against Klahowya in a rescheduled game.