ON FIRE: Young Florida School for the Deaf and Blind girls basketball off to fast start

ST. AUGUSTINE — The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind return for the second half of the season next week, looking to build on what’s been a strong start to the season.

The Lady Dragons are 8-3 and have a chance to make some more noise in January — a big month for them. They have the annual Clerc Classic — a tournament in which Deaf schools gather to compete for the Deaf Championship — the Mason Dixon Tournament and a rematch against tough regional opponent Oak Hall, who downed them earlier in the season.

Considering they are a young team, head coach Joy Fraychineaud is pleased with her group’s start. She expected some challenges from their rebuild and there have been some, but her girls have responded well.

“They’ve played as a team, progressed and taken what the coaches have given them,” Fraychineaud said. “They’ve practiced and know they haven’t gotten to their best. There are more areas to work on. We’re never satisfied.”

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Fraychineaud pinpointed the Lady Dragons’ in-game decision making as the top priority. They need to get used to making the smart play more quickly, deciding whether to shoot or make a bounce pass versus an overhead pass, she said.

The team's offense is not quite where Fraychineaud wants it to be, either. The goal this season is to score 40 points per game. The Lady Dragons have reached that mark in just five of their 11 games. They've eclipsed 50 points twice.

Defense, though, is this team’s strong suit.

“We’re more aggressive,” freshman Hannah Alford said. “We’ve fouled a lot, I’ll admit. We’ve learned how to keep our hands up and not grab.”

The Lady Dragons have held an opponent to as low as six points and held St. Joseph Academy (10-3), a team that averages 40.2 points per game with a season-best 72 points, to an average of 33 points in both of their meetings.

They are a good full-court press team, great at deflections and have a dominant force down low in Kayla Debrow, who averages 2.4 blocks per game.

Their defensive efficiency, though, hasn’t been the only reason for their good start.

“It’s important to have a positive attitude, good sportsmanship,” sophomore Annabelle Abenchuchan said. “We have to support each other. A good attitude helps us so much with having good chemistry as a team. That’s how we typically win.”

After reaching the regional quarterfinals of the 3A state playoffs last year, the Lady Dragons are determined to win more and go further than the first round. They can get closer to that goal if they take down Oak Hall, which will likely be the team they have to overcome to advance in regionals.

Emma Hancock, the lone senior on the team, sees what the team can be and is determined to help the Lady Dragons get closer to their dreams — this year and beyond.

“It’s a great opportunity to teach the younger players,” Hancock said of being a veteran on the team. “I can teach them and they can grow so when I leave, they can become a better team — the best team.”

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: High school basketball: Florida School for the Deaf and Blind girls' are 8-3