Both the Charles Henderson boys and girls basketball teams claimed top overall seeds in the area after defeating Greenville on Saturday.

Both squads, by virtue of clinching the top seed, will host the area tournament beginning with the Lady Trojans on February 5 followed by the boys on February 6.

The Trojan boys knocked off the Greenville Tigers to claim the title and coach Shelby Tuck couldn’t be happier for his team.

“It’s very exciting,” Tuck said. “I am extremely proud of the guys. They have been working hard all year. They have been improving all year. I appreciate the effort and hard work.”

Tuck couldn’t remember exactly how long it’s been since the Trojans were in this position, but believes it was around 10 years ago that the Trojans lasted hosted the area tournament.

“We are very excited,” Tuck said. “It’s still kind of surreal. I was telling them that this was just one of the goals that we set out to achieve this year. Thank God we were able to achieve that. We are looking to fulfill the other two or three goals that we have and have a good season.”

The fan support has been growing with each passing game and the Trojan faithful made the hour trip to Greenville Saturday to cheer on their team.

“Troy City Schools is a great school system,” Tuck said. “I am very grateful to be a coach here at my alma mater. Our fans have been phenomenal. The student body and the community have rallied behind us. They were down in Greenville. It is almost like having a six or seventh man at home. We look up in Greenville and we still have a host of fans that traveled down there. It means the world to my guys.”
The Trojans hope to use that momentum in the postseason in front of their fans.

“We put ourselves in a great position,” Tuck said. “We are at home. Everybody always wants to be at home. We still have to play the game and the guys still have to get out there and play harder than they did in the regular season.”

The Lady Trojans finished off their area schedule undefeated with a 66-39 win over Greenville on Saturday to claim the regular season title.

“It feels great,” said head coach Dyneshia Jones. “Once again, it’s a stepping stone to what we want our goal to be this year. It’s a great feeling to host (the tournament).”

The Lady Trojans made it all the way to the championship game last year before falling to Wenonah for the second consecutive season.  Even though they have high aspirations of getting back to Birmingham, Jones expressed the importance of taking things one game at a time.

“We can’t just place ourselves in the postseason,” Jones said. “We have to take things one day at a time and one game at a time. If you start thinking that way and your head starts getting too big, anything can happen. We are looking forward to accomplishing a goal with each step. You can’t get a big head. You have to stay humble throughout this whole process.”

Hosting the tournament was one of the goals the Trojans set out to accomplish.

“It’s just like a normal game,” Jones said. “You get dressed in your own locker room. You come out to more fans there so more support. That makes a big difference.”

Both teams have two games left before closing out the regular season and both still want to see improvement.

“(I) Just want to see them improve,” Jones said. “I talk to them after every game and I tell them what we can improve on. They are not perfect. I want them to continue to improve and remain smart.”

“I just want to see us continue to gel together as a team,” Tuck said. “Everybody is buying in and I want that growth to continue because our best basketball is still ahead of us.”