Before the boys hit the court, Holmes has his girls running suicide drills. Each player runs to a point on the court, then returns. They then run to halfcourt, and return. The process continues with no end in sight.

Winded players grab their shorts after each suicide. The rest is short, though, and the running continues.

Holmes is like Riggs in that the team has little size and it is imperative to run opponents out of the building. The Lady Dragons were 22-0 at the time, and disposed of Vidalia on Friday for their 23rd straight win.

“When you’re undefeated, everyone wants to take a shot at you,” senior Donna Fair said. “When you lose some games, people don’t come at you the same way. But when you are undefeated, you know they are coming.”

McCall’s girls a decade ago were the cream of the Louisiana crop. The team won back-to-back-to-back championships in 1994, ’95 and ’96. But since then, the team has not been able to secure another championship.

The confidence resonates with all five Lady Dragon starters. A championship is going to return to Wyche Street soon.

“We’re going all the way,” said senior Alexis Bowman, who scored 14 points and was one of eight McCall players in double figures in the win over Vidalia. “I know we can do it.”

It would be the first for the school since the boys won in 2001, and would also mark the first for Holmes. He has yet to lose a game as the head coach.

Holmes, who played for Riggs, has no problem with the double-duty.

“We do whatever it takes to win,” said Holmes when asked about the lack of assistant coaches. “I played for coach Riggs and we teach the same things. It has worked out great so far.”

On game night at McCall’s gym, the best advice coaches give out is to arrive early.

The gym is small and seats are at a premium. When the seats would run out, fans used to congregate on the floor surrounding the court.

An incident last year involving the gym being too crowded landed the Dragons on probation by the Louisiana High School Activities Association. Every district game they played was a road game and because of ecomonics, the Lady Dragons traveled to every game as well.

The gym still fills to capacity each time the team plays, but no longer is overcrowded, Riggs said.

“The people get into it,” said Gultrey of the home crowds. “I think we feed off of each other.”

Talk of championships is premature seeing as the teams still have a month to play.

Riggs, who rarely holds back his thoughts, is optimistic as well. It would be his third championship as boys coach since coming back to McCall in 1984.

His 1993 and 2001 teams won the Class 2A title. Last season’s team lost in the state quarterfinals to University.

“It’s all hard work, that’s it,” Riggs said. “Our kids work as hard as any.”

Riggs’ family has been urging him into retirement, but each year he returns to the school he attended. He acts as coach, counselor and sometimes father for his group of nearly 20 players.

The team’s win over Vidalia on Friday solidified their spot atop the polls for another week.

With a team that can run opponents dry, shoot with deadly accuracy from the outside and lean on a freshman post player, Cody Atkins, with potential as high as the sky, the Dragons will make a run.

Barring injuries, the team will be intact. Every player except one carries a 2.0 grade point average or higher; four are at least 3.0 or higher.

“We stress academics all the time,” Holmes said. “You have to work in the classroom if you want to play ball.”

Two miles down the road, three young boys with aspirations of playing for the Dragons one day have classwork behind them.

School is over.

It’s basketball time on Wyche Stree