“Please don’t pick us to win the district tournament.”

That plea was offered by a local basketball coach whose teamwould be considered a heavy favorite to win the division tournamentthis week.

Nobody wants the kiss of death placed upon them. Forget aboutsuch and such a team being seeded No. 1. This is the second seasonand records don’t mean a thing. In fact they aren’t worth the paperthey’re printed on.

Obviously, the No. 1-seeded team should be the favorite. Theycompiled the best regular-season records against divisionopponents. They also face the most pressure entering the divisionplayoffs. Folks expect them to win.

Certainly, basketball is more unpredictable than football. It’sa matter of putting the round ball through the iron hoop. It’s amatter of a few inches, not yards and first downs like on thefootball field.

Turnovers, in basketball and football, are critical. Let a hometeam employ a full-court press and see what happens. Suddenly, theoutcome of a game hinges on how close the referees call personalfouls.

That’s also known as good defense.

“Man, our players should of had saddles, as close as they wereguarding us.”

Sound familiar?

“They stuck to us like glue.”

Coaches like to use descriptive adjectives and phrases whendiscussing the other team’s defense. “They were guarding us sotight, they could look down our throats and see what we had forlunch.”

In most of the division tournaments, the semifinals are tonight.It’s crunch time. The losers hang up their uniforms and the winnersadvance to the Friday night finals, where, win or lose, they willlive to play again in next week’s regionals; a.k.a. South/NorthMississippi Tournaments.

At Bogue Chitto’s R.L. “Bob” Calhoun Gymnasium tonight, theDivision 7-1A semifinals are on tap. The gym should be packed withdevoted Lincoln County fans as girls and boys teams from WestLincoln, Bogue Chitto and Enterprise battle for survival.

If you look ahead for a moment, the Division 7 winners andrunners-up will catch Division 8 in the opening round of the Southplayoffs next week. Division winners host and runners-up travel inthe opening round. Dexter’s boys and girls are seeded No. 1 inDivision 8 and opponents dread having to play in the crampedconfines of Dexter’s 50-year-old gym.

That old facility didn’t keep the Dexter boys from winning theirfirst-ever state championship last year at the Mississippi Coliseumin Jackson. The Bulldogs were athletic, tough on defense andoffense.

Ready or not, the high school baseball season is upon us.Starting Friday, several tournaments are on tap. Wesson, coached byJerry Brewer, hosts the Copiah County ClassicFriday and Saturday. Joining the Cobras in the tournament areCrystal Springs, Lawrence County and St. Martin. Action starts at4:30 p.m. tomorrow and 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Enterprise is hosting the EHS Classic Saturday, featuring Salem,Bogue Chitto and the host Yellow Jackets who are under thedirection of new head coach Scott Leggett. Action begins at10 a.m.

The Brookhaven Panthers, coached by Randy Spring, makethe long drive to Cleveland Saturday. They’ll tackle Cleveland andWarren Central in early classic.

The Copiah-Lincoln Community College Wolves, coached byKeith Case, start their long-awaited season Fridayafternoon, hosting the Mississippi Delta Trojans. The doubleheaderstarts at 3 p.m., on Sullivan Field. On Saturday, the Wolves hostEast Mississippi, starting at 1 p.m.

Co-Lin was ranked fourth in the NJCAA Division II preseasonnational poll. The Wolves have won three of the last four Region 23Tournaments, advancing to the World Series in 2000 and finishingfourth.

Delta is the defending state champion and the Trojans areloaded.

Case’s list of former players competing on the senior collegelevel continues to grow. At William Carey College in Hattiesburg,second baseman Chris Dunn, first baseman Josh McNulty andinfielder Britt Hederman are helping make the Crusaderssuccessful.

At Belhaven, pitchers Josh Garrett andJesse Fuller are making an impact with theBlazers.

At Mississippi State, pitcher Jacob Blakeny hadenjoyed a successful fall practice. However, an off-the-fieldinjury to his pitching hand set Blakeny back several weeks.

Out of state, catcher Lance Newman and pitcherDoug Atkins are starting for the Trojans.

At Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, outfielder BrandonAtkins is playing for the Lions.

In other baseball news, Brookhaven High product JayGarner was the winning pitcher in Delta State’srain-delayed season debut. Garner pitched three innings in DSU’swin over Jackson State.

Garner, a redshirt junior, is expected to be one of the anchorson DSU’s mound staff this season. His father, JohnGarner, serves as superintendent of education inLouisville.