Age is non-discriminate when coaches learn to adapt on the fly.

Four games into a winless season, Williamstown girls basketball coach Fred Sauro heeded the advice of his three assistant coaches. Even at 74 years old, Sauro didn’t rule out any input which would produce results.

After wrapping up their second straight win Saturday at Wheeling Central Catholic, the Yellowjackets improved to 5-7 and secured the No. 10 slot in the Class AA ranking for the second straight week.

“A conscious decision was made by our whole staff with my assistants Howard Rowsey, Lori Nohe and Brian Gray — they were adamant that we needed to be more aggressive,” Sauro said.

From the former 2-3 zone alignment, the change to up-tempo allowed players to use their athleticism and apply full-court pressure.

In turn, scoring benefitted. Williamstown’s offense went from averaging 42 points per game to 58 points per outing over the next six games. With only eight players available Saturday in Wheeling, the Yellowjackets still managed to pour in 80 points.

“At the end of the decision, I was still a little reluctant,” Sauro said. “These girls play better when they are engaged in the full court and fast break, and being the aggressor. And that helped us out.

“We always had faith in them, and they could perform better than what they were.”

Of course, everyone involved had to be on the same page. Enter the players’ feedback. Their reply was unanimous. Williamstown was going forward into a new world.

“Senior Sophie Folwell was the first to raise her hand — it was like a poker table because everybody was all in,” Sauro said.

Even when the team struggled at the outset, Sauro was impressed with the team’s chemistry. No matter the student-athlete’s grade, each girl treated one another like family.

Credit reverts to the volleyball season when Williamstown brought home a Class A state championship.

“Even when there are individual accolades, the girls take great pride with each other’s accomplishments,” Sauro said. “It’s like a collective soul. It’s really neat to see and how it’s growing through the season.

“I had one senior come up to me and say she would play one quarter of junior varsity so a younger girl could play an extra quarter of varsity. That’s how much they care about each other.”

The volleyball trail, however, played out like a Catch-22. The girls transitioning to the basketball season missed a week’s worth of preseason practice. When the team finally became full strength, COVID issues caught up with the Yellowjackets and a select group of individuals missed up to 15 days of practice.

“In the preseason, what we put in as coaches was abbreviated,” Sauro said. “Now we are starting to roll. We are not in midseason form yet, but we are close.”

Prior to wins over Wirt County and Wheeling Central Catholic, the Yellowjackets profited from the learning curve despite losses to Ritchie County and Parkersburg Catholic. Against the top-ranked Crusaderettes, Williamstown scored 59 points — the most allowed by PCHS this season.

“During this turnaround, we needed to start seeing shots drop,” Sauro said. “We have an athletic bunch of kids and we needed them to keep believing they are a very good team.”

In addition to this week’s schedule, Williamstown takes on an extremely challenging series of games during a nine-day stretch beginning Jan. 25.

Starting with a home date against Ravenswood, the Yellowjackets also bump heads with three Class AA Top 10 opponents in PCHS, Ritchie County and St. Marys.

For the time being, Williamstown is enjoying its resurgence and embracing each and every game.

“We are the underdog, and we haven’t had that in a while,” Sauro said. “Who knows how we finish. These girls are starting to believe in themselves even more. That’s cool and exciting.”

As one Yellowjacket player commented, “I’m having so much fun.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com