February Madness will begin for Grenada High School basketball teams early next week as they travel to Tupelo for the Class 6A, Region 1 Tournament. To keep their seasons alive, both the Chargers and Lady Chargers need to win just one of two games played.
Joey Cooley and Kendrick Conley’s teams will have tough opening-round challenges on Feb. 8, as they face Starkville in hopes of securing home playoff games the following week. The only problem is that both teams were swept by Starkville during the regular season.
The Chargers lost 90-80 at home to the Yellowjackets and was on the short end of a 69-58 verdict later in the season. The losses were competitive, giving Cooley hope that the Chargers have an opportunity to upend the Jackets.
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“I think the biggest thing for us is to not allow them to have many offensive runs,” Cooley explained. “We need to contest any shot and do the little things to win.”
The last time the Lady Chargers and Lady Jackets hooked up it took a last-second, three-pointer from Starkville to come away with a 60-58 victory. In the first game at Grenada, Starkville won a 61-51 decision.
“One of the biggest things we are going to have to do is stop their second chance points,” Conley said. “We need to make our free throw opportunities when we get a chance. Defensively, we need to put more pressure on the basketball and take care of the basketball on offense.”
The Lady Chargers tip off with Starkville at 4 p.m. followed by the boys game at 5:30 p.m. The winners and losers meet Friday to determine the Top 3 teams that advance to the state playoffs beginning Feb. 14.
