The season might not have started off the way Andalusia wanted, but the Bulldogs know they can be great if they continue to improve in the second half of the season.

“We have had a couple of disappointing losses,” Andalusia head coach Brad Goldman said. “We told the guys that we have built a tough schedule on the front end to prepare for a tough area. We didn’t want to be shocked when we go into area play. Only time will tell if that is going to be a benefit for us.”

The area consisting of Andalusia, Hillcrest-Evergeen, Monroe County and Clarke County is one of the toughest in the state, Goldman said.

“I’m not going to say we are in the best area because the Mobile area is very good, but our area is one of the best for sure,” Goldman said. “I haven’t seen Hillcrest, but I saw them last year when they were really good and they didn’t lose many players. (Hillcrest is currently ranked No. 1 in Class 4A.) Monroe County and Clarke County are also going to be very good basketball teams. There aren’t going to be any nights off when we get into area play. I feel like any team in our area is going to be able beat any other team in our area on any given night. It’s going to be tough, but it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Goldman said that he has been impressed with the way his team has played defense.

“Our defense has been very good,” Goldman said. “We want that to be our calling card. We lost a lot of our scorers from last year and we knew we would have to have a different identity this year. I feel like every game, with the exception of one or two games, we have played harder than our opponent. We want to play with an edge.”

On offense, Goldman said the Bulldogs have to do a better job of taking care of the basketball.

“This year, we have to tried to play fast in order to generate some offense,” Goldman said. “In doing that, we have been loose with the ball at times. Our guards haven’t done a good job of holding onto the ball. We have started doing a better job with that as of late, but we have to continue to improve and keep trending upwards.”

Goldman said that the Bulldogs have a chance to do something special this year.

“We have shown flashes of being a really good team,” Goldman said. “It’s kind of the same thing that happened in football. We started off rough, but finished strong. We have to figure out if we are going to continue to trend upwards or are we going to plateau at some point. If we keep trending up, we are are going to be OK.”

Andalusia returns to action tonight with a home game against Northview.