As a new year begins, Mehlville’s girls basketball squad is hoping to break a three-game losing streak.

Currently at 3-5 on the season, the Panthers have seen a 3-2 record drop to two games under .500 after losses to Oakville on Dec. 12 (53-24), Hazelwood East on Dec. 20 (40-31) and Rockwood Summit on Jan. 3 (47-20).

The last time Mehlville won a game was on Dec. 10 with a 45-12 win over Rosati-Kain. 

Despite the team’s current drought, Mehlville’s head coach Chris Cook remains optimistic about his squad’s chances this season.

“A positive I see from our team is how hard we work in practice,” Cook said. “We stress the importance of outworking the opponent.”

One of Mehlville’s weak spots is scoring. In all of Mehlville’s losses, the team has failed to score over 35 points. 

“A hurdle we must overcome is our ability to score,” Cook said. “We averaged 30 points per game last year.”

Junior Jessica Castaldi is currently leading the team with 12 points per game, up three points from her average last season. She is currently the only Panthers player averaging in double-digits on the season. Next in points this season for the Panthers is Junior Irelynn Stover, averaging nearly seven points per game. 

To counter an offense that struggles at times, the Panthers defense and work under the rim will be a huge asset for the rest of the season. 

“The strength of our team is our defense and outrebounding the other team,” Cook said. “Again, we stress the importance of working hard and keeping our opponent under 40 points.”

In all three of Mehlville’s victories, the Panthers kept their opponents under 40 points. In fact, in two of the team’s five losses, Mehlville held its opponent under 40 points, but the Panthers offense just couldn’t deliver.

Despite the recent struggles, Cook has told his team to remain positive and keep working to improve.

“We want to build upon what we did at the end of last season,” Cook said. “We stressed the importance of winning our games against Fox and Seckman before heading into districts.”

Mehlville will be on the road for its next few games, with a match against  Seckman on Jan. 10, a match against Notre Dame on Jan. 13 and a match against Pacific on Jan. 15

The Panthers will return home on January 16 to face Parkway North at 6 p.m.