Sports Writer

Tonight will feature a battle between two of the traditional high school basketball powers in 3A

as No.10 Goshen travels to face sixth ranked Elba.

The Eagles are coming off of an emotional 84-68 victory over Clayton, improving to 8-3 on the season and making their first appearance back in the state rankings since the middle of December.

In the Elba Tigers though, Goshen will be facing a team that has had a permanent spot in the top 10 since the preseason and are riding high with an 11-2 record.

"They always have a good team and are well-coached," Eagles head coach Major Lane said. "It’s going to be a tremendous game and it’s going to take a tremendous effort for us to come out of there with a win."

Lane said that he and his team feel that the season is getting to the point where it is time to show their "worth."

"We’re looking forward to the challenge," he said. "And we think that it is getting around that time of the year where teams have to prove themselves."

In Tigers head coach Johnny Dunn, Lane said he will be squaring off against a longtime friend. Dunn is a former Goshen football and baseball coach, who left in 1998 to take an administrative position at Elba. Dunn has coached on the high school level for most of his 29 years, including stops at Pike County, Dixie Academy, Ariton and Goshen. As a basketball coach at both Pike County and Dixie Academy, he compiled 304 wins in 20 years service between the two schools.

"Coach Dunn is a guy I look up to a lot," Lane said. "I got a lot of my coaching philosophy from him. He’s just a great coach and a great friend of mine."

Tipoff for the B-team game is set for 5 p.m. with the girls’ and boys’ games to follow consecutively.