By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BAY ST. LOUIS — Entering the Region 8-4A Tournament, the Bay High girls’ basketball team has enjoyed its best regular season since the Lady Tigers went unbeaten and won the state championship 11 years ago.
And now, head coach Kelton Thompson and his squad just hope the postseason goes as well for the current crew as it did for that one in 2013.
Top seed Bay High faces fourth-seed Greene County at Poplarville High Thursday afternoon at 4:00 in semifinal round play of the league tourney. The Lady Tigers have already earned a berth in the upcoming Class 4A South State playoffs thanks to finishing a perfect 8-0 in regular season play in the region.
Bay High is 23-5 overall. The 2013 Class 4A state championship team finished unbeaten overall at 36-0 en route to claiming the state title.

“I’m very proud of this group and what they have accomplished so far this season,” Thompson, who handles double duty as both the girls’ and boys head coach, said. “The reality is though that none of that really matters this week. If you’re gonna be the best team in your district, you have to be the best team this week.”
The Lady Tigers enter the tournament on a roll, having won 14 straight games which is the longest win streak in 11 years as well.
The last time Bay High lost a game was in mid-December, when powerful Wayne County dealt the Lady Tigers a close 42-39 loss in The Tigerdome. Since then, Bay High won its annual Christmas Tournament with a pair of wins including 46-33 over Class 7A foe Petal as well as beating perennial state power Gulfport (Also 7A) and Region 4-6A runner-up Pascagoula plus Fairhope, Ala., which is also a Class 7A school.

“I feel really good about our progress and feel we are still getting better,” Thompson added. “We still feel like we have a lot to prove and this coming week will answer a lot of questions.”
Bay High has had quite a few key contributors to its success this season due to a very balanced offensive and defensive attack. Kayla Fricke, Nakeria Coleman and Kiara Burney are all averaging right around 10 points per game, while Coleman is pulling down six rebounds per contest and Taniyah Lewis dishes out four assists per game. Fricke leads the team in steals as does Coleman in blocked shots.
The Lady Tigers need a win Thursday against the Lady Wildcats to move on to the championship game Friday night at 7 p.m. But, and perhaps more importantly, a third win this season over Greene County this season will secure an opening-round home game at the Tigerdome to tip off the state playoffs.
“This district tournament is always fun and my kids are really looking forward to it, Thompson concluded.