It’s been over a week since Washington boys’ basketball coach Steve Flowers resigned. Girls’ coach Ralph Biggs has since assumed the role of interim coach. He will lead the Pam Pack as it finishes up the season, and the players have showed no signs of throwing the towel in.

There was and still is a lot for the team to fight for. Its first .500 season in almost a decade is out of reach, but the Pam Pack knew a strong — almost miraculous — finish in the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference could yield a playoff bid.

Despite noticeable differences in the style of play and a scrappier attitude, Washington lost its first game under Biggs’ leadership. The Pam Pack got in foul trouble in the third quarter of a 66-52 loss at Beddingfield on Friday. There were plenty of positive takeaways, and many of the costly mistakes are fixable, but the shortcoming made the ultimate goal of making the postseason that much more difficult.

Competing for a conference title and a chance to contend for a state championship should be the team’s top goal. However, the first thing Washington should aim for is simply improving game-to-game and building toward the future.

There’s no quick fix, as evidenced by the loss on Friday. It’s very rare at any level that a coaching change leads to instant success. That’s going to be the case for Pam Pack basketball, which has struggled for much of the last decade.

Biggs and the players had little practice time together to build the sort of coach-player chemistry that is essential to success. Even though Washington has a week off before it travels to a struggling North Johnston, exams are going to impact the amount of practice time. It’ll take time to get new plays hammered down to the point where they work seamlessly during live action.

Biggs may not be the bench boss next season, and the seniors won’t be around to see the fruits of their labor, but the objective should remain the same. There are a lot of leaps they can all make when it comes to building a winning culture.

It’s a difficult thing, especially for the soon-to-be graduates, to aim simply for being better. Establishing the foundation for future success, even if there were no physical trophy to represent it, would be a lasting impact. Biggs has proven himself during just a year and a half with the girls. There are talented athletes on the boys’ team. Their work this season could be a step in the right direction for Washington basketball.