Oak Hill Academy girls basketball coach Stan Hughey believes Class AA academy basketball is the deepest it has ever been.
Fortunately, Hughey also feels his club can compete with any of those teams.
Oak Hill Academy will begin its second season at 4 p.m. today when it takes on Prairie View (La.) Academy in the quarterfinals of the North AA tournament at North Delta School in Batesville.
“There are six or seven teams who have a chance to win the championship,” Hughey said. “That will make it a challenge to win three games in three days. At the same time, if we play to our potential and do what we are capable of doing, we can be there at the end.”
Today’s contest is important. Since the top four teams advance to the overall Class AA tournament, the Lady Raiders can clinch a berth in next week’s event with a win.
“This is the win-or-go-home game, so it is the one that matters most,” Hughey said. “The key to winning three games in three days is how hard you have to play each day. With such a loaded field, you would expect a difficult game each time out. However, the first one matters because it extends your season.
“Will we have legs left after the first couple of games? Those are the things you worry about as a coach. The focus is on beating Prairie View. After that, you hope other things fall in place.”
Prairie View are the No. 2 seed from District 3. It opened its tournament play with a 62-50 win against Marshall Academy on Tuesday night.
“They have height and a very good point guard,” Hughey said. “We will have to do some things to offset their height advantage. They will play at a slower pace than we want to play. We like to run and play at a faster tempo.
“The key to the game will be who can control the tempo. We will try early to get them to play our style of game. If we are able to do that, we should be in good shape. Prairie View won’t want to play as fast as we do, so we have to force the issue early in the game.”
Oak Hill Academy (25-8) earned the No. 2 seed from District 2. Senior Tori Ellis leads team with 16 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
“Tori is our leader,” Hughey said. “She has played in so many big games throughout her career. She sets the tone for us on both ends of the floor. We just have to get in a rhythm early. That will be the key to having success.”
Hughey likes how his squad finished the regular season. He feels it is battle-tested and has the potential to make a long postseason run.
“Playing three games in three days will be quite a challenge,” Hughey said. “I think one key for us will be overcoming the rust. The last couple of weeks we only played a couple of games per week. Then, with the bye in the tournament, we are not playing until the Thursday round.
“All of that presents a unique challenge. How quickly can we get a flow and get some consistency going? All coaches always have something they want to work on. The same holds true for us.
“Overall, though, I am real pleased. We played hard and competed throughout the year. We have been in so many close games against really good opponents. I think that will give us the confidence we need when we face some challenges in tournament play.”
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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