As the close losses mounted in January, New Hope High School boys basketball coach Drew McBrayer never lost confidence in his team.

One of the preseason favorites to compete for a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 5A championship, the Trojans had to fight through a series of tough losses in a difficult schedule.

McBrayer feels like his team learned from those opportunities and can put that knowledge to use tonight when New Hope plays host to the Class 5A, Region 2 tournament.

Today’s opening round includes four games. The West Point girls will play Saltillo at 4 p.m., while the New Hope girls will play Oxford at 7 p.m. The West Point boys will face Oxford at 5:30 p.m., while the New Hope boys will play Saltillo at 8:30 p.m.

Elsewhere in the area tonight, Columbus will play host to the Class 6A, Region 2 tournament, while Starkville plays at Jackson Callaway in the Class 6A, Region 3 tournament.

“Adversity can make a team tougher,” McBrayer said. “The season is such a long one. Every team is going to face some adversity. The main thing is to stay confident and continue to work hard. We enjoyed the wins, but we also tried to learn from the losses.”

Tuesday’s winners will play in the championship round Friday. The third-place games will be Thursday. The top three teams make the playoffs, meaning each team has two chances to win one game to make postseason play.

“We are fortunate to be at home,” McBrayer said. “In the playoffs, it just means more to be playing at home. You have a higher comfort level at what you are trying to do. We are glad to be hosting the tournament. We know we will have to play very well twice to win because all four (boys) teams have some really talented players.”

New Hope (18-9) enjoyed a 10-game winning streak from November to December. In January, a more grueling schedule included two heart-breaking defeats to Columbus and Oxford.

Oxford earned the top seed in the region tournament by virtue of sweeping New Hope (71-67 at New Hope and 73-69 at Oxford). New Hope split with Saltillo (losing 70-60 at home before winning 67-49 on the road).

Saltillo (18-10) had an 11-game winning streak snapped with the home loss to New Hope. The Tigers lost seven in a row in their pre-Christmas play.

“The road win (at Saltillo) was one of our most complete games of the season,” McBrayer said. “It should give us some confidence entering this contest.”

The New Hope girls are the No. 3 seed. Coach Chad Brown has led the Lady Trojans to a 15-10 record (3-3 in region play). Oxford is 10-17 and 4-2.

In the regular season, Oxford beat New Hope 59-54 in Columbus and 51-48 in Oxford.

“We have had two good games (with Oxford),” Brown said. “The challenge will be to play for four quarters. Our effort has been good, but we have had a stretch of two where we didn’t play our best. We have to compete hard for four quarters to have a chance.”

The West Point girls enter region tournament play as the top seed. The Lady Wave (16-5) finished 5-1 in region play. They swept Oxford and split with New Hope. West Point also swept Saltillo (49-31 and 54-34).

The West Point boys are the No. 4 seed. They went winless in six regular-season region games. West Point (6-20) lost to top-seeded Oxford 88-67 and 69-65.

Third-place teams in each region tournament will travel for first-round state playoff games. Second-place teams in each region tournament will play host to first-round playoff games. Region tournament championships will receive a first-round bye in the playoffs and will play at home in the second round. They would need one win to advance to Jackson and four victories to win a state championship.

Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott

Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.