Houston girls basketball coach Dana Buchanan's biggest responsibility, perhaps, has not been with the handling of the X's and O's as a coach, but working as a counselor to soothe uneasy nerves.

"I have a group of kids that every game they are nervous," Buchanan said. "For the most part, kids just have to work themselves through it. You can tell them what you know they need to hear and they are still going to be nervous.

"I have a senior graduating and she would almost be sick before every game we played. Just shaking."

Unfortunately for Buchanan, the nerves were still there for her team at the end of the 2009 season. Houston made it to the MHSAA Class 3A state tournament semifinals before losing to Southeast Lauderdale, and Buchanan said nerves may have kept the Lady Hilltoppers from advancing.

Despite the nerves, the 34-year-old Buchanan, who is the 2009 Daily Journal Girls Coach of the Year, led her team to a 26-3 record, a North state tournament championship and to within four points of the state title game.

Buchanan said her team was not happy at all after its North state tournament loss last year against North Panola.

The effort wasn't there as a team, said Buchanan.

So three days after the season-ending loss, the Houston girls basketball team held a practice session; similar to what University of Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt did after this year's loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Nerves may have played a role in last year's loss in the playoffs, but there was a bigger problem with finishing games.

"That was one problem we had last year: We had to learn how to win," Buchanan said. "In most of the games we got beat before Christmas last season, we had the lead at halftime. We didn't know what to do with it."

Fast forward to this year and the Lady Hilltoppers now know how to win. Not to mention, they know how to play solid man-to-man defense.

Together, those two ingredients should equal success for years to come.

"I have a lot of experience coming back," Buchanan said. "We're just not going to be as deep. But core-wise I think we're still going to be very good next year."