The Pike County Bulldogs continue their run at a state championship this morning when they take on Madison Academy in the Alabama Class 3A Final Four in the BJCC Arena in Birmingham.

After defeating Hillcrest Evergreen 60-55 in the region finals last Wednesday The Bulldogs (20-9) are ready for the game.

“We are definitely excited,” said Bulldogs head coach Doug Holland. “We got our last practice in today (Monday). We got up here to watch a couple games. The guys feel excited and ready for the tip.”

The Madison Academy Indians enter the Final Four with a 20-12 record and a Northwest Regional title under their belts.

The overall size of the Indians will play a key role on Monday

“We have to try and control them on the boards,” Holland said. “They are going to be bigger and taller than us, but we are hoping that we will be stronger than them.”

The Indians have defeated the likes of Hanceville, Winfield and Sheffield in the last three games while averaging 71 points per game during that stretch.

Since winning the area championship the Bulldogs have rattled off wins against T.R. Miller, Slocomb and Hillcrest Evergreen while averaging 57 points per game. With such a wide point margin, the Bulldogs will rely on playing as a team to lead the way to a berth in the state championship game.

“We are going to have to play our best team ball,” Holland said. “I think we need to rotate on defense. I think we will have to play better on defense than we have the entire year for us to have a chance to win the game.”

Tip off between the Indians and the Bulldogs is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. You can follow along at home or at work can follow the action by listening the games on AHSAA.com