With Rod Norris becoming Parkville's fifth head coach in five seasons, the team badly needed some stability and consistency.

Norris, who had lengthy coaching stints at Dulaney, Woodlawn and Perry Hall, seems to be the perfect fit for the perennial losing Knights.

The 2004-05 season isn't even half over and the team already has duplicated its win total of a year ago.

The Knights are 6-4 and showed their potential in close losses to defending county champion Woodlawn and area power Randallstown.

That might seem odd, but the scores were telling, given the Knights lost to Woodlawn by two points and Randallstown by five last month.

Parkville even played Randallstown tough again last week, losing 72 -62.

"We really haven't scratched the surface of what we could be," said Norris, who brought a shining 252-96 high school record and four county championships to Parkville.

A significant part of the turnaround centers on the Knights' willingness to believe in Norris' team concept.

"It took a while for them to buy into the system, but they have bought into what Rod wants to do," Parkville Assistant Coach Paul Smith said. "Some kids just want to go out, run and play."

It helped Parkville that junior point guard Mark Dickerson (Calvert Hall) and sophomore shooting guard Ken Perry (Towson Catholic) transferred to the school after spending a year at highly respected programs.

Both players start for the Knights. Perry is averaging 12 points per game, Dickerson 10.

Dickerson scored a season-high 20 points in a 73-68 loss to Randallstown.

They're supporting senior 6-foot-5 small forward Kevin Palmer, who leads the team in scoring at 17 points per game.

Juniors Irvin Johnson (6-5) and Marcus Holmes (6-5) also start for the Knights.

"They are two guys up from the JV that have given us balance inside," Norris said. "A lot of the kids have not known their roles in the past. I want to establish that if you work hard, you can be rewarded."

Since an 0-2 start, Parkville has won five of six. The Knights beat Dulaney, Lansdowne, Kenwood and won the Stephen Decatur Holiday Tournament by topping the host team and 2004 state semifinalist J.M. Bennett in Worcester County near Ocean City.

The Knights this week travel to Patapsco and host Randallstown.

"You have a legendary coach in Rod," Loch Raven Coach Dave Kreller said. "You know they will do good things."

Parkville senior forward Devyn Epps added: "We had five coaches in five years. We finally have some structure with Coach Norris."