TULALIP — With Adiyah Jones graduated, the Tulalip Heritage High School girls basketball team has been “forced” to stretch its talent.

“I force them to do more than we normally do,” coach Cyrus Fryberg said. “They’re capable of doing it.”

Jones was a force to be reckoned with at the post position, averaging 25 points a game. But the Hawks have been finding new ways to win.

“How do you replace Adiyah Jones? You really don’t,” Fryberg said. “You get to the point where you get new girls in, and we adjust the game plan to do different things.”

Different things have included, more passing, working jump shots and setting screens, Fryberg said.

So far, utilizing the depth and modifying the game plan has been working.

Jones’s younger sister, Aliyah a senior, led the Hawks with 14 points in their 46-25 win over Grace Academy Jan. 3. Heritage broke out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter, and comfortably held on to win the game.

“[Aliyah]’s going to do really well,” Fryberg said. “She’s one of my leaders, and we’ll look to her to do a lot of different things this year.”

Other players contributing are junior Deandra Grant, who added 12 points, and junior Keryn Parks, who scored eight.

“In general, we have been playing a lot better than we had been,” Fryberg said. In the previous games, “We’ve been stagnant offensively, but we’ve been looking to our defense to help our offense.”

The Hawks improved their record to 6-2 and are currently ranked second in the Northwest 1B league.

“We’ve been playing other teams we wouldn’t normally play in a non-league games, and we really struggled, but in the long run we’re playing really well right now,” Fryberg said. ” And we’re going into the last few leagues games, and I like our chances.”

TULALIP — The Tulalip Heritage boys basketball team edged Grace Academy 55-53 Jan. 3. Junior point guard Josh Iukes led the Hawks with 16 points. Heritage’s record improved to 2-6.