The Pike County Bulldogs are one win away from accomplishing their preseason goal of advancing to the AHSAA South Regional Tournament in Dothan. The only thing standing between the Bulldogs and their goal is a tough Daleville Warhawks basketball team.

Ninth-ranked Daleville (20-8) advanced to the sub-regional round of the playoffs by winning the Class 3A Area 3 championship by beating Geneva 79-45.

Coming off a 66-25 loss to Barbour County in the Class 3A Area 4 title game, Pike County head coach Doug Holland said his team has focused primarily on defense over the last few days of practice. “We’ve been working our defense hard,” Holland said. “We’re working on getting our zone rotation down and practicing our ball movement on offense.”

In order to beat Daleville, Holland said his team would need to play its most complete game of the season. “We’re going down to Daleville not just to play, but to compete,” Holland said. “We’ll have a high intensity level. We’re going to play as a team and not just rely on one or two players to score all our points.”

To have any chance of beating the Warhawks, the Bulldogs will have to slow down Robert McGirt who scored 37 in Daleville’s win over Geneva. “We’re definitely going to press,” Holland said. “We’re going to pick our spots and attack. He’s one of the best players in this area, so all we can hope to do is minimize him. We’ve got some different defensive combinations that we’ll throw at him.”

Pike County and Daleville will tip today at 7 p.m. in Daleville. The winner advances to the regional tournament in Dothan.