Despite falling to 5-9 overall and 0-2 in Class 3A, Area 3, last Friday night against Central-Hayneville at home, Straughn boys coach Todd Reynolds said the Tigers are improving.

“Practices are upbeat,” he said. “Our goal is to slowly iron out the small mistakes we make at the end of the ball games. We’ve lost by three to four possessions on average these last few ball games.

“If you don’t bring your ‘A’ game, you don’t win these types of games,” he said.

Tonight, the Tigers will be on the road in Luverne to vie for their first area win of the season.

“They’re going to be very physical inside,” Reynolds said. “They’re going to try and control the tempo and pressure you on the boards.”

Reynolds said there are some good things happening on the team right now.

“I’m seeing improvement,” he said. “You’ve only got to have your best game and you want to save that for the area tournament. That’s what we’re striving for.”

Tip off tonight for the B-team is at 4:30.

“Each season is a story unto itself,” Reynolds said. “We try to get better each day. We’ve got to battle to get our wins. So, we’re going to continue to battle.”