The Charles Henderson Trojans lost their Class 5A Area 3 championship match to Eufaula 79-60, and now are turning their sites to the sub-regional tournament.

The Trojans defeated Rehobeth to start the tournament and lock up a spot in the sub-regional tournament before falling to Eufaula.

“We went in there and I thought we were ready,” said Trojan head coach Carl Hollis. “We went in there, and didn’t play very well.”

The Trojans fell behind the Tigers 10-2 early in the first quarter. The Trojans battled back to 10-9 before a three-pointer by the Tigers made it 13-9. The Trojans turned the ball over three times in a row and found themselves down by double digits.

The Trojans entered the locker room at half time trailing by 10 points.

“We came out in the second and dragged,” Hollis said. “We let the run the score up by about 15 points. That’s not how the game is supposed to be played. We played an undisciplined basketball game.”

Hollis spent the majority of the last week preparing for the area tournaments by watching countless hours of tape on both Rehobeth and Eufaula, and he admits the loss to the Tigers took a lot out of him.

“I haven’t been able to bring them together to play team basketball,” Hollis said. “I think we can be as good as anybody. The game at home when we lost took a whole lot out of me. The game last night did it too. We worked hard all week watching film and instilling plays, and then they get on the floor and they do the same things.”

The Trojans turn their attention to the sub-regional tournament where they will take on Faith Academy (23-7).

“They have some good basketball players,” Hollis said. “We matchup with them pretty good in certain areas. They have a kid in the paint in Josh Hill who is six feet five and he is strong.”

Another player to keep an eye on will be Division 1 prospect guard Roderick Williams.”

The Trojans and the Rams will tip off on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

“We have to get it in our heads that this is it,” Hollis said. “We have to go play now. You have to let it all come out.”