By By Lindsey Sherrill
Staff Writer
Escambia Academy will be hosting the area tournament for the AISA division 2A East this Thursday and Friday. The Cougars are the number one seed in both boys and girls and have records of 20-4 and 21-3, respectively. The Cougars wrapped up the season with a 5-1 area record, and the Lady Cougars finished with an area record of 6-0.
Head Coach Chad Prewett dubs this area tournament a "final tune up before state." Both teams are eligible for the Final Eight to be played next Feb. 14 and 15 at Faulkner University in Montgomery, but their performances this weekend will determine their seeding for state.
"We lost the area tournament last year in the boys and our seeding really hurt us at state," said Prewett. "We'd much rather go into the state tournament ranked number one."
Also playing in the area tournament will be Lowndes Academy, Evangel Academy, and Calvary Christian Academy. Lowndes is seeded number two in girls play with a 4-2 record and number three in boys play with a 2-4 record. Evangel is number three with a 2-4 girls record and number 2 with a 4-2 boys record. Calvary is seeded fourth in both girls and boys play with a 1-5 boys record and 0-6 girls record.
Both Cougar teams have been preparing this week for the tournament. "The boys need to play a little more consistently," said Prewett. "The girls haven't really had a close game yet and that makes me nervous. I hope to get in a good week of practice to get the teams focused."
The tournament will begin at 3:00 Thursday as the girls of Lowndes and Evangel play. The Lady Cougars and Cougars are set to begin action at 6:00 and 7:30.