The Amanda Elzy boys and the Greenwood girls will take aim at tournament titles tonight.
Both are playing in the finals of the Region 3-4A Tournament at the Leflore County Civic Center. The Panthers are a prohibitive favorite against Indianola Gentry, while the Lady Bulldogs are a slight underdog against Gentry.
The GHS girls (21-6), the No. 2 seed, square off with the top-seeded Lady Rams (22-2) at 7 p.m. Gentry, No. 4 in the statewide Class 4A rankings, is 2-0 against GHS so far this season, winning 65-57 and 66-64 in the most recent meeting on Dec. 14, 2012.
The Lady Bulldogs punched their ticket to the finals with a 45-41 victory over Yazoo County on Wednesday. That win assures them a home North 4A play-in game Monday night.
Gentry defeated Cleveland 60-30 Wednesday in the semifinals.
The Elzy boys are gunning for their second straight Region 3 championship. The top-seeded Panthers (24-5) haven’t lost to a region foe the last two seasons.
After winning last year’s conference tournament, the Panthers went on to claim their first state title.
They are considered the favorite to win it all in 4A again this season as the Panthers are No. 1 in the statewide 4A rankings and No. 4 overall in Mississippi.
Elzy beat Gentry in the two regular-season meetings between the two schools, 50-40 and 58-46.
Behind a 30-point, 13-rebound performance from senior center Janarius Middleton, Elzy earned a spot in tonight’s finals with a 74-60 victory over Greenwood on Wednesday. That win assures Elzy a home North 4A play-in game on Tuesday.
Middleton was recently named the Region 3 player of the year for the second straight season.
The GHS boys are playing at 5:30 p.m. in the Region 3 consolation game. Win or lose, the Bulldogs will be on the road Tuesday in the first round of the playoffs.
The play-in winners advance to the North 4A Tournament, which starts Thursday with eight teams and ends next Saturday with a champion. The top two teams from the North will advance to the state tournament.
The boys North 4A Tournament is expected to be held in Corinth next week, while the girls tournament will be played in either New Albany or Pontotoc.
