With area, region and conference tournament time coming up quickly there are several teams in the area who may be playing past their respective tournaments. Each of the four high schools have at least one varsity team with a winning record and the Troy men’s and women’s squads are right around .500 in the Sun Belt conference.

This time is always the best time of the basketball season because everyone is wondering if they are going to win the area, or where they are going to be seeded for the tournament.

The Charles Henderson girls’ squad suffered their first area loss Tuesday night, but they are still in line to get a share of the Class 5A, Area 3 regular season title. There may be a coin flip involved, but Dyneshia Jones has her girls ready for whatever comes their way.

The CHHS boys stand at 3-2 and they don’t have a shot at the title, but they could snag the No. 2 seed with a win tomorrow against Eufaula.

A team firing on all cylinders right now is the Pike County Bulldog squad who throttled Abbeville Tuesday to throw confusion into the Class 3A, Area 4 race. The win tied Pike with Abbeville for the regular season crown. They can force a coin flip with a win tomorrow at Dale County.

Watching this team play is a fun thing to do since they can control the tempo with anyone in 3A. They should make a deep run into the postseason and I look forward to covering them in Trojan Arena in the South Regionals.

Goshen’s girls have sprinted out to a 5-0 area record and can clinch the regular season Class 2A, Area 5 title Friday with a win in Reeltown. This team has been a surprise this year and first-year head coach Lindsey Hornbuckle has those girls out there believing in what she is teaching them.

The Pike Liberal girls’ record is solid in the area at 6-3 and they have won four straight area games to put themselves back in contention for the No. 2 seed in the AISA Class AAA, Region 1 tournament.

Needless to say, this has been an exciting basketball year so far for this area and I am looking forward to covering a bunch of our area teams in the South Regionals on Troy Unversity’s campus.

And it should also be interesting to see how the Troy men’s and women’s teams fare the rest of the season. If all goes right for them, they will be hosting a conference tourney game in the first round.

Good luck to all.

Matt Nascone is the sports editor for The Messenger. He can be reached at 670-6315 or online at matt.nascone@troymessenger.com.