BY BILL SPINKS

HERALD DEMOCRAT

Help is on the way in 2010-11 for both the Sherman Lady Cats and the Denison Lady Jackets, with not only a break in next year's district schedule but also some rising talent on the way.

In a District 9-4A with two teams ranked in the top eight and three who've been ranked at some point, the going was as tough as expected for both local teams. But realignment changed the landscape for both, sending them east and south to face new district foes that, while involving some travel, don't appear nearly as murderous on the floor.

"I definitely think we'll compete in the (new) district," said first-year Lady Jackets coach Katie Holley. "It'll be a lot of miles, but I think it'll be good for us."

First, however, the Lady Jackets (9-23, 2-11) and Lady Cats (6-22, 1-12) must bring down the curtain on the current season, and they'll do that tonight at Bearcat Gymnasium in the 2009-10 finale.

The game will start a little later than usual, with the girls tipping off at 6:30 p.m.

Even though it's been a rough first year for Holley in terms of wins and losses, a 47-36 win over Frisco Centennial on Friday night showed her that her team was at least on the upswing.

"I knew it was going to be challenging coming in," Holley said. "But I feel like the kids adapted well to the change, and they're hard-working kids. I hate that it's ending, because I feel like we've turned the corner. I wanted to see how we could do."

Meanwhile, a win at home by the Lady Cats would allow Sherman to tie for sixth place with Denison and Centennial and avoid finishing all alone in the 9-4A cellar.

"We'd like to finish on a high note, especially with Denison at home," said Sherman coach Allan Pope. "Some things were done right, and other things were not done right this year, and we want to finish the right way."

In the rivals' last meeting on Jan. 15, Denison's Clarissa Moore had 18 points and nine rebounds as the Lady Jackets snapped an eight-game losing streak in the series with Sherman, 42-34.

With lots of pride on the line, Pope doesn't expect any letup in tonight's game.

"It'll be two teams playing hard for the win," he said. "They got after us at their place, and we started out slow. It'll be a pretty evenly-matched game, and it'll be pretty intense."

The Lady Cats' season, which had gotten off to a slow start, became a struggle for wins after senior Victoria James suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament during the Allen Tournament before Thanksgiving. The team also battled numerous other injuries all year.

"I can't define how much we missed Victoria," Pope said. "Losing her was really big."

Both teams are losing a large group of seniors, but each have players on the way who are expected to step in and help in 2010-11.

Seven Denison players out of 10 on the varsity -- Moore, Sarah Ebneter, Kendra Robbins, Carly Bader, Lexus Steward, Britney Kostiuk and Symonne Galloway -- will play their final high school games, while Sherman's departing seniors are ShaQuoia Mask, Anna Sciortino, Rachel Stephens and Jordan Vandeventer. James and team manager Jessica Bruce will also be recognized tonight.

Holley, who played for Pope at Van Alstyne High School a little more than a decade ago, must replace those seven seniors, but is already excited about next season.

"Our younger kids helped a lot with the varsity this season, and they'll have experience and be counted on as leaders," she said. "We had two underclassmen who started and played a lot of minutes, and their experience is going to be big for us. We also have some defensive-minded kids on JV, and it's fun to coach kids who get after it. We've got JV kids with some size and some guards who can play defense."

The Lady Cats will bring back a pair of starters next season in sophomore Jada Bennett, who leads the team with 12.1 points per game, and junior Anna Jones, who averages about seven per outing.

"Realignment was exciting for us," Pope said. "It got us out of a powerhouse district. This is the toughest 4A district in the state, without a doubt. It's hard to find positives when you're getting beaten like that."