Isaiah Robinson understands the logic.

His Woodbridge High girls’ basketball team did lose a pair of All-State players after all.

But Robinson, Blue Raiders’ the second-year head coach, didn’t expect his team to take a step back this winter. He’s not sure why everybody else was sure they would.

“Sometimes you almost feel like you don’t have a choice but to have an underdog mentality,” said Robinson. “When you look at the rankings starting the year off, we’re just not even thought about. It’s kind of a slap in the face sometimes.

“We take it and we keep working hard and keep pushing. Hopefully somebody notices.”

After nine straight wins to start the season, Woodbridge will get a chance to earn some attention when it plays at Caravel (10-5) on Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. The Buccaneers have lost to just one in-state squad this season and own a 10-point victory at Cape Henlopen.

A year after reaching the DIAA state tournament semifinals for the first time, Robinson said the Blue Raiders want to challenge themselves. Eight of their nine games so far have been against Henlopen South competition.

“In order for your team to really grow, you’ve got to play the better teams,” said Robinson.

“They’re a well-coached team,” he said about Caravel. “I honestly haven’t seen too many years when they weren’t a pretty good team. It always make it tough.

“We look forward to playing better schools. From our standpoint, the only way to really grow and get the respect you deserve as a basketball program is you’ve got to go and compete with the well-respected basketball programs. Caravel is definitely one of them.”

Woodbridge will get another big test on Feb. 11 when it hosts Ursuline.

The Blue Raiders are clearly the giant of the Henlopen South right now. They’ve won 60 straight South games since 2017.

Woodbridge still has two meetings with Lake Forest left on its schedule, starting with a home game against the Spartans on Feb. 7.

On a roster that doesn’t include any seniors, sophomore Reghan Robinson and junior De’Asya Jones have both stepped up as scorers. Robinson is averaging 22 points per game while Jones averages about 16 ppg.

“As a coach, you set the bar,” said Robinson, who has been in the program for the last four seasons. “You set the bar to the level you want your kids to perform. We had our three seniors — Jeneira Scott, Sierra Scott and Cha’Kya Johnson — they all graduated.

“So a lot of people didn’t think we were going to necessarily come back and be the team we are. Of course, we’re still here, almost looking the same. You’d think they were still on the team.”

Robinson thinks Woodbridge’s younger players learned a lot being around those former stars. The Blue Raiders don’t want to take a step back just because they have some new faces on the roster.

“We work as hard as any other team works hard,” said Robinson. “After a while, hopefully we’ll start getting the respect we deserve.”

Free throws

The Caesar Rodney girls’ squad picked up a rare win over a Catholic Conference team, beating Padua, 45-37, on Thursday. Senior Stacey Deputy scored 17 points in return to the court. It was her first game since Dec. 9. ... Cape Henlopen’s girls’ showdown at Sanford has been rescheduled for Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. The contest was snowed out on Saturday. ... Woodbridge’s boys’ squad is 8-1, with its only loss coming against Caravel. ... After not playing its first game until Jan. 8, Laurel’s boys (5-2) are slated to play 13 games in the next 22 days. ... Dover’s boys are now scheduled to end the regular season on Feb. 21 with a game at St. Paul VI, N.J.

Follow Andy Walter on Twitter @DSNSports.