Great Lakes? For now, Hinkle focused on basics

She has no intentions of being a savior for a program that might need one. And even if she proves great, there's only one "Great One."

She knows that because she hails from the same town as him.

New Lakes girls basketball coach Elizabeth Hinkle was born and raised in Canada, just south of Toronto in Brantford, Ontario.

"The home of Wayne Gretzky," she said proudly.

Hey, Canadian athletes do more than skate on frozen ponds and dream of playing professional hockey. Hinkle aimed at nets -- but inside, in warm arenas, wearing shorts.

The former Elizabeth Hart, she played basketball for the University of Toronto and even the Canadian National Team. She shot hoops professionally in Germany for a couple of years, too.

"I'm old school," she said. "I played for 17 years."

Hinkle says she doesn't look her age of 33, but a cruel person might suggest her new job has the potential to age her quickly.

Lakes began the season 0 for its history. The Eagles lost all 28 of their games in their inaugural campaign two seasons ago and repeated that dubious record in Season 2.

So far, Season 3 looks a lot like the first two.

Lakes has opened its 2007-08 campaign with 3 straight losses in Mundelein's Turkey Shootout, stretching its losing streak to 59 games.

The state record for consecutive losses is 68.

After the Eagles' season-opening defeat to Rolling Meadows on Monday, a reporter jokingly asked Hinkle if she had heard that the Eagles have never won a game.

"I heard that somewhere," she said without a glare, instantly proving she has a sense of humor and won't be afraid to show that side of herself to reporters, even if we're all total strangers to her right now.

She then added, "I don't necessarily believe the press all the time."

The smart lady smiled.

The Eagles need smiles.

"I didn't look a whole lot at what happened previously," said Hinkle, who replaced nice-guy Eric Vichnick. "I wanted to come in and do the things that I think are important and things that I think are valuable -- the fundamentals of character, the fundamentals of basketball.

"You work hard, you play as a team, you listen to your coach hopefully, you play smart basketball, and you have fun."

Hinkle has been in the United States since August of 2005.

"I'm still a (Canadian) citizen," she said. "I have a green card because I married American."

She taught and coached in Canada and then Christian Life School in Kenosha, Wis., as a JV coach/varsity assistant, before being hired by Lakes last May.

What is great about Hinkle is that she's has realistic expectations. She knows she's not going to turn around the program overnight. And while she sees no reason why the Eagles can't win games, she's not guaranteeing they'll win any again this season.

And that's OK, girls.

"These are a great group of girls," she said. "They want to learn, they want to improve, and they want to work hard. We work as hard as we can, but we're going to enjoy what we're doing. This is high school. It should be fun."

There's some talent, athleticism and grit on Hinkle's team -- Keshia Cunningham, Mandy Schellinger, Nora Kenny, Simone Hobbs, Nickie Folinazzo. There's new blood -- sophomores Katie LaTour and 6-2 Alyssa Mol.

The new coach will focus on building a winning culture. It just might take time.

More time.

"I just said (to the team) I don't really care what happened before, this is a new season, new team, we're going to do new things," Hinkle said. "I have goals that are set for each game that aren't necessarily about the score. That's where you start. You have to give them some hope, be very realistic and set realistic expectations and goals that are still challenging but that the girls can make and feel good about themselves and how they play."

If that's old school, it's class, too.