PORT ORANGE — David Howard has never had this.

Not in all his years of coaching, more than three decades of them, has he piloted a team without a senior. He could probably count on his 10 fingers the amount of times his roster featured only two seniors. It’s rare for him.

This year, he has only two juniors. The rest of his Spruce Creek Hawks? Freshmen and sophomores, which has made this winter difficult for the longtime coach.

“I have not had a losing season but once in my career,” said Howard, the owner of more than 300 career victories. Right now, the Hawks are 6-12. “... We’re in a rebuilding stage — and I hate to say ‘rebuilding’ because we’re seasoned enough at this point where we should be a little bit better than what we’re playing.”

Then, he added a caveat.

“But we’re playing pretty solid now.”

Yes, Spruce Creek has won its last two games. It knocked off New Smyrna Beach — a rival it fell to in December — to snap a five-game losing streak Saturday and survived Bridge to Independence 65-61 Monday. Both contests were part of the Hawks’ Execute to Impact MLK Showcase.

Maybe, just maybe, Spruce Creek weathered the early-season storm and emerged battle-tested.

“I’m kind of hoping we’ve turned the corner,” Howard said. “We have an opportunity. If we continue to play hard and play together like we’ve played the last couple games, we can probably go on a little winning streak.”

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Howard hasn’t dumbed down the way he coaches despite his club’s youth. He assembled a schedule that looked like any other year’s. Some of the Hawks’ toughest matchups came early.

They dropped their first three games and suffered that five-game slide to begin 2024. Five of their 12 losses occurred against squads ranked inside the state’s top 82, including their most recent setback to Mainland last Friday.

Many of them can be chalked up to growing pains. Howard felt like his team endured offensive dry spells and struggled to close games at times due to inexperience.

But when it’s clicking?

“We have a bunch of energy,” Tyler McKnight said. “We get to play up and have fun and play fast.”

McKnight serves as an elder statesman for Spruce Creek. He’s a sophomore, but he’s one of only two guys, along with sophomore Cameron Oxendine, who suited up for Howard’s varsity program last year.

Those two and the rest of the youngsters flash glimpses of their potential often. McKnight put up a team-high 23 points against Bridge to Independence. Oxendine had 11. Freshman Jonathan Fieser finished with nine points, and freshman John Sanders scored eight.

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They simply need minutes.

And Howard plans to supply them.

He’s already scheming for the offseason, and his ideas don’t involve much relaxation. The Hawks are going to compete in some summer league exhibitions. They’re going to attend some camps. They’re going to play some AAU ball. And they’re taking a college tour to North Carolina.

Howard has a vision.

“If I can keep this group together for the next couple years till they all graduate,” he said, “it’s going to be tough to beat Spruce Creek High School in the future.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: High school basketball: Youthful Spruce Creek finding its stride