When Courtneé Hollins took over the Iowa High girls basketball team, she knew the Yellow Jackets had a lot of potential and needed a lot of work to get there.

But the one thing she didn’t expect was how quickly the Yellow Jackets would experience success.

“I was not expecting a whole lot,” Hollins said. “I didn’t take the job for a better basketball year. Obviously, I just won state at (Nonselect Division V) Hathaway, and we were returning everybody but one.

“Last year, Iowa won seven games, so it wasn’t like I was going over there for basketball this year.

“I always felt like Iowa could be good and could be a dynasty, just because they are good at every other sport, the location, and the type of kids you get. I knew that it could be good, but I had no expectations for this year.”

Iowa is 10-0, rated No. 7 in Nonselect Division II and won the Bell City Bruin Classic on Saturday.

Before the season, Iowa hadn’t won more than 11 games in its last six seasons. The last winning season was 2016-2017 when the Yellow Jackets went 17-16 and reached the state quarterfinals.

“Matter of fact, I told the principal, ‘Are you OK with the fact that there is a good chance we won’t have a lot of players this year?’ I really didn’t think that they would be able to buy into my coaching style. He agreed and said that ‘We want to change and we are all in; we want you to be able to do what you need and want to do and we are supporting you 100 percent.’ When I heard that, I said, ‘I am going to do this.’”

Hollins was worried about how the Yellow Jackets would handle her break-neck pace of play that won her a state championship as a coach at Hathaway last season and as a state MVP player at Fairview in 2005.

But the Yellow Jackets have thrived under the new regime, averaging 60.8 points a game.

“I am so proud and so excited of where we are so soon,” Hollins said. “I tell them often that we are just not going to be happy with some wins. That is fine and good, but the expectations are way higher than just winning eight games.”

Iowa returns three starters from last season, then added some underclassmen to create a potent starting five.

“We are very athletic,” Hollins said. “We are very quick.

“My five starters can score, and that is pretty rare. You will usually have two or three, maybe, that can score, then two that are strictly role players.”

Senior Jaya Gradney, the Yellow Jackets’ point guard, leads the group at 20 points a game. In two games at the Bell City tournament, Gradney scored 49 points in two games.

“She runs the show,” Hollins said of Gradney. “No matter who we play the rest of the year, she will be the fastest kid on the court.

“She is super, super fast, very skilled and a very good basketball player. She has had to adjust to a different style of play and a different coach, but she did. She is not perfect at it, but she really is trying.”

Sophomore Kimoria Celestine (7 ppg) and freshman Kamyelle Jones (18 ppg) return at guard and shooting guard. Eighth graders Aubrey Young (guard, 17 ppg) and Jo’nylah Walker (8 ppg, 8 rpg) are the newcomers in the starting lineup.

“(Celestine) is super talented,” Hollins said. “She is a naturally talented basketball player. (Jones) is going to face-guard the best player.

“Wherever a loose ball is, that is where Kimoria is. She is going to get a hand on it in the press, she is going to get a hand on the rebound. You never see her get tired. She is just that player.”

One thing Hollins said the Yellow Jackets are still working on is being able to keep up the frenetic pace of play for an entire (32-minute) game.

“There is in shape, and there is now I am just so mentally tough that even when I feel tired I still push through it,” Hollins said. “And we are in shape, but that mental mind-set isn’t all the way there.

“That takes a while. Once that catches on, it is going to be pretty nice. I think we can do some really good things.”

In Saturday championship game at Bell City, the Yellow Jackets fell behind 10-0 to the host Bruins in the first quarter but battled back to take their first lead, 41-40, with 5 minutes left in the game to keep its perfect season going.