ADAMS — The Southland girls basketball team is on its third coach in three years, and new Rebels head coach Dean Bendtsen is hoping to make an impact this winter and beyond.

Although his season goal of having Southland win more games than it loses may not sound astounding, Bendtsen and his coaching staff are hoping to build something in Southland that turns the girls basketball program into a positive force.

“It’s about finding ways to bring energy, commitment and some community involvement,” Bendtsen said. “We’ve got a lot of neat ideas and we’ve already tried a few of them. Right from that ground level, we’re hoping to grow the program.”

Southland assistant coach Kevin Mortenson said he had no intention of coaching this year, but when Bendtsen approached him and told him his plan, he had to join him.

“Dean contacted me and shared his vision and I got excited pretty quick,” Mortenson said.

Bendtsen will get plenty of help from his three captains — his daughter Sydney Bendtsen, Olivia Gray and Kaysie Allen — as he looks to get the program on the right rack.

Sydney and Gray, who are both seniors, played under Dean since they were fifth graders on his traveling team and Sydney said it’s gone well so far to have her dad as her head coach at the varsity level.

“I thought we’d be mad at each other all of the time and it’s only going to be basketball,” she said. “But after these first couple of weeks, I’ve loved it. We’ve split it up into family and basketball. When we’re in the gym it’s serious, but when we’re at home we’re father and daughter. We make it easy.”

Dean said he took the coaching job to help out the program and not to coach his daughter, but having her on the team is like the icing on the cake. Sydney said her dad can be straight forward and that can be helpful on the court.

“He doesn’t sugar coat,” she said. “He’s going to tell us what we do wrong because he knows that’s going to make us better. He’s more of an intense coach, which I think works better.”

Besides adjusting to a new coach, the Rebels will also have to get used to playing without McKenzie Kirtz, who graduated last spring after leading Southland in scoring the last few years. Allen, a junior, said the team is ready to try and improve in every game this season.

“We’ve just got to really work together and play to the best of our ability,” she said. “It’s a little bit different, but we’re getting used to playing with each other.”

Southland would like to have a solid season this year, but the team is also focused on the future as well.

“We want the program to sky rocket from here,” Gray said. “We want to set a good example for the underclassmen.”

Southland (1-0 overall) will play at Dover-Eyota 7 p.m. Friday.