After finishing with six wins last season, Forest Park girls basketball coach Jermaine Dunn knew his team would be better this year.
In addition to a solid set of returning players, he picked up a pair of sophomore transfers, Tiffani Rice from Seton Keough and Makelle Randolph from Milford Mill, who would bolster the backcourt and boost the scoring.
As the duo meshed seamlessly with the veterans, the Foresters took off. They now head into the postseason with a 20-0 record, as Baltimore City Division II champions and with the No. 1 seed in the Class 1A South Section II playoffs.
As they get ready to host Douglass in the sectional quarterfinals Tuesday night, they're aiming for an undefeated season and a state championship -- the first in the program's history.
"I knew we were going to have a better team than we had the year before, but I didn't know we would be undefeated and beat teams by 30 points a game," Dunn said. "As we went 4-0, 5-0 and then we beat teams like Mervo and Southwestern that were typically winning the [city Division II] championships every year, I knew we had a chance to do something special."
During the regular season, only one opponent came close to the Foresters as they won by an average of 35 points. Just one game finished within 20 points -- a 49-45 win over Mervo. In the city Division II final, they beat defending champion Southwestern, 52-19.
They've already beaten Douglass, 57-10 and 62-17, and they've beaten every team but one that stands between them and the regional title. Only Edmondson, which could be their opponent in the section final if they get past Douglass again, would be new.
Still, the Foresters aren't taking anyone for granted.
"I just tell everyone to stay humble and don't get carried away," Rice said. "Just because we're 20-0 doesn't mean somebody can't come into our gym and blow us out."
Rice knew Randolph from Amateur Athletic Union basketball, and they decided to switch to their home school, Forest Park, together.
"We thought if we made this move, maybe we could do something great," Randolph said.
Both girls said it wasn't hard to fit in with a group of teammates that had just won Forest Park's first volleyball regional championship with Dunn coaching.
"We realized we had good chemistry the first week of practice," Rice said. "Everybody was getting along even though we hadn't played together. We had to get to know people, but I think we started bonding right away in practice and we've become good friends."
That bond shows on the court, and Randolph said it has a lot to do with their success.
"We're a very, very unselfish team," she said. "We like to pass and get everybody involved. It all comes down to teamwork. If we're all on the same page and everyone knows their position and everyone knows their job, then we should be all right."
Randolph, a 5-foot-9 shooting guard-small forward, leads the team in scoring with 21 points per game and also contributes nine rebounds and five assists. Rice, the 5-1 point guard, averages 17 points and six assists.
In Dunn's four-guard offense, seniors Jasmine Polston and Talia Eubanks also start along with 5-10 center Tyshawna Fisher.
Fisher began her career at Friendship Academy of Science and Technology, but she and Dunn moved from there to Forest Park for the 2013-14 school year because FAST was about to close.
Dunn, who played basketball at Milford Mill and at Virginia State, gave his new team a lot to learn last season, but the players were ready when the more seasoned Rice and Randolph showed up last fall.
"It really was pretty easy because having Tiffani as a point guard and a straight 'A' student and being very humble, she was liked by all the players," Dunn said. "Once they saw their talent, they just meshed right away."
The girls said they like to run all the time, but Dunn tries to mix things up offensively and defensively to throw off his opponents. He also spends a lot of time with the players on film study to show them how to attack their opponents' weaknesses and how to bolster their own.