Sports Editor

Basketball fans get ready for five furious days of fabulous hoops.

Today and through Saturday, Troy State will play host to the Alabama High School Boy’s and Girl’s Basketball Southeast Regional in Trojan Arena. Over 48 total teams from six different classifications will compete this week, each one with the idea of winning two games in order to make it to the Final Four in Birmingham, which starts on Feb. 27.

The first game tips off at 9 a.m. today in Class 2A with the Geneva County girl’s team taking on the Lineville girls.

The Charles Henderson Lady Trojans, who advance to the Southeast Regional for the third straight year, will not play until Friday at 10:30 a.m. against Benjamin Russell High School.

But people of Troy, don’t let that stop you from coming to take in some of the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday match-ups.

Some games to watch?

The Samson Tigers: Immediately following the Geneva County-Lineville girl’s game, the Samson boy’s will take the floor against Vincent. Samson has spent much of the season in the Class 2A Top Ten and is experiencing a "Cinderella" season this year.

Lakeith Persons’ swan-song: At 1:30 p.m. today Barbour County and its phenom shooting guard Lakeith Persons will go up against Horseshoe Bend. Persons, who seems to have averaged 30+ points per game against every team he’s faced in his career, will try and get the Jaguars to the Final Four in his last season as a senior. A Jaguars’ win over Horseshoe Bend and a Samson victory could set up a fourth meeting between the two schools. Samson won an earlier game at home by a slim margin over BCH and then allowed the Jaguars to dominate the last two, including a 74-57 beating at Clayton in the Area Tournament Championship.

Carver-Jeff Davis: The Lady Vols have been treating opposing teams to whipping after whipping and have held claim to the No. 1 spot for the past few weeks. Now along comes inter-city rival Carver in an attempt to halt Jeff Davis’s run for the title in an early morning match-up on Thursday at 9 a.m.

An opposing coaches worst nightmare: The Calhoun Tigers seem to be even better this season then last. Athletic, quick and deep the Tigers from Lowndes County could very easily advance to Birmingham. But first they have to deal with B.B. Comer on Wednesday at 8 p.m., then could follow a possible contest with Lafayette, a team that’s made the Class 3A Southeast Regional and Troy their home in the past few seasons.

Class 6A, A-Okay: No, Jeff Davis is not around, but Carver, Sidney Lanier, Northview and Auburn are. The Wolverines vs. the Poets, both out of Montgomery, should be one of the most heated games in the tournament which is on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Northview has the size on the inside and will face of with Auburn, who defeated Selma last season in the Class 6A Regional, at 1:30 p.m. on the same day.

Valley-Sylacauga: In last year’s first Class 5A match-up, the Valley Rams used an 8-0 run to defeat Sylacauga 71-64. This year both teams take the court at 3 p.m. Thursday.

And finally…

Charles Henderson Birmingham Bound? Maybe. First the Lady Trojans have to get past Benjamin Russell, no small task, then could come a possible rematch with Booker T. Washington, the team who eliminated CHHS from the Southeast Regionals last season.