The Mustangs opened the season with just a single victory in their first eight games. In fact, many of those losses were by double-digit points, including a 35-point loss to Takoma Academy.

With two victories in three games last week, Barrie has more than reversed that course, going 8-5 in its last 13 games to improve to 9-12 with three games remaining.

The reversal of fortune can be attributed to the maturation of the team's young players - there are 10 freshmen and sophomores on the 13-member squad - and the continued strong play of senior point guard Brandon Johnson, who poured in a combined 75 points last week in the three games.

"It's been an experiment," said Mitchell of playing essentially a junior-varsity-aged squad at the varsity level. "This experiment is starting to pay off for us."

Barrie opened last week with a 49-31 victory against Sandy Spring Friends on Tuesday. It was a reunion of former coaching partners. First-year Wildebeest coach Joe Limarzi was Mitchell's junior-varsity coach when the Barrie headman was the varsity coach at Ireton (Va.).

Johnson and Jeff Cannon, the team's two seniors, appropriately led the way on Senior Night. Johnson scored a team-high 22 points with seven assists and Cannon produced 10 points and 10 rebounds. Eli Sachs and Jeff Whitaker chipped in seven points apiece.

"We kind of controlled the game," Mitchell said. "They're young and inexperienced and we're clicking a little better. We were up 16 at halftime and we played tough in the second half. It was a good opportunity to play our young kids."

The Mustangs followed with a 58-54 victory over Friendship Edison, a charter school in Washington, D.C., last Thursday. They overcame a one-point halftime deficit, 25-24, and a late five-point disadvantage to pull out one of its biggest wins of the season.

"They looked like Takoma Academy and Pallotti," Mitchell said of the team's size and athletic ability. "We were really very active. We challenged the passing lanes and we tried to get them out of their offense. I think that was the difference, the different level of aggressiveness. They were much bigger but we boxed out well. We did not allow them 2-3 shots [a possession]."

Offensively, Johnson exploded for 35 points, which included numerous steals and baskets through tenacious defensive effort.

"We really refused to lose," Mitchell said. "It's another sign of maturity. We stuck it out, got some stops on defense and went down and scored [at the end of the game]."

The streak ended with a 57-54 loss to Sidwell Friends (D.C.) Friday night. Barrie led for most of the contest but the Quakers used their size advantage in the final 2 1/2 minutes to pull out the narrow victory

"We went up 12-4 in the first quarter and maintained the lead at halftime," Mitchell said. "They were shooting long 3-pointers [at the end]. When you shoot 3-pointers there are long rebounds. If we could have grabbed one or two rebounds at the end, they would have had to foul. That's really what killed us.

"We didn't run our offense as well. They did a lot of running and jumping, trapping, and we didn't adjust very well."

Barrie looks to finish strong in this weekend's Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) Tournament. The Mustangs will open with the host school Friday.