With the 2015-2016 basketball regular season winding down, the Charles Henderson Trojans finds themselves at the crossroads of potential and reality.

With just three games remaining until the start of the area tournament, the Trojans sit 8-10 and head coach Carl Hollis is ready to see his team play with more intensity and effort.

“We are not where we need to be mentally,” Hollis said. “It’s kind of scary because this is it. We are right at the end of the season.”

Tuesday night’s 62-56 loss to Hillcrest-Evergreen is a testament to how the season has gone for the Trojans. Charles Henderson owned a double-digit lead heading into the fourth quarter and let it slip way in the game’s final minutes.

Last Friday against Eufaula, the Trojans held a double-digit lead as late as midway through the fourth quarter before letting it slip away at the buzzer. A week prior, Bullock County missed a shot at the buzzer, corralled the rebound and put it up at the buzzer to win the game.

“We play good basketball,” Hollis said. “We played good basketball against Enterprise, Eufaula and Bullock County. We don’t come out with wins. We were in position to come out and for some reason we start standing around and give up two or three shots.”

That leaves Hollis wondering “what if.”

“We ought to be 15-3,” Hollis said. “We should not have lost some of the games that we lost. We play 32 minutes. You are telling me that we play 28 minutes and then give it up in the end? It’s a dogfight. I don’t give it up in the end.”

With the first of the final three games tonight against county rival Pike County, the Trojans hope to shake off the trend.

“We are going to have set the tone going into area,” Hollis said. “If we don’t set that tone, it is going to seem like I failed.”

It’s all about practice for Holland, who preaches you will play the way you practice.

“We have Pike County tomorrow (Thursday),” Hollis said. “We are practicing and I don’t see any fire from them. No matter how many times I get them to understand that you play like you practice, they don’t receive it.”

There are some positives for the Trojans. They have the ability to score and their height allows them to alter shots at the rim.

“We are blessed with our offense,” Hollis said. “We have the ability to score the basketball offensively when we do what we are supposed to do. Josh (Roberts) alters shots all the time. Josh can jump and he can alter shots for us.”

The Trojans tip off against Pike County at 7:30 p.m. today.