Twenty years ago, Pleasant Home girls coach Kelley Garner sat right where her girls were on the court — as a Lady Eagle.

This Friday night, Garner, along with her 1991 graduating class, will be recognized at homecoming, where the current Lady Eagles will take on the Kinston Lady Bulldogs in area action.

“I’m looking forward to seeing some old classmates,” Garner said. “It doesn’t seem like it’s been 20 years, but I guess it has.”

Garner’s senior year was a good one, she said. Her team finished 23-2, winning 20 straight. They missed an appearance at the state tournament, losing by two points.

“Back then, that’s when they had eight teams that made up the state tournament,” she said. “They didn’t have a sub-region. We were ranked No. 2 in the state most of the season. We had a devastating loss in our point guard. She tore her (anterior cruciate ligament), and we got out of sorts.”

The last time Pleasant Home played Kinston was Jan. 11. The Lady Eagles beat the Lady Bulldogs 39-11.

Despite last week’s win, Garner said her team will still have to play “hard.”

“We beat them a couple weeks ago, but we can’t take anything for granted,” she said. “We’ll have to come out, and have our game face on and be ready to play basketball.”

PHS is currently sitting at a 6-10 record overall, and is 2-2 in Class 1A, Area 2. The Lady Eagles are coming off a close 36-35 Tuesday night loss to county rival and area opponent Florala.

“With all of the distractions, I’ve got one on the homecoming court,” Garner said, “so, hopefully we can concentrate on our game, and what our jobs are and the responsibility as far as the game goes — and not let all of the extra stuff interfere.”

During Tuesday night’s contest against the Lady Wildcats, Pleasant Home sophomore and starter Emily Byrd tore her medial collateral ligament, Garner said.

She said she’ll be out for the rest of the week, and hopefully will be able to walk around on it at the start of next week.

“I’ll have to come up with a different one to put in her place,” Garner said. “I’m not sure who that will be. We’ll have to fill that gap. We’ll have to have everybody step up and give a little more.

“I’m looking for that one person to be that go-to girl,” she said. “Everybody has to step up and contribute. I think we got far more shot selections more than Florala did (on Tuesday night). Looking back at it, we got plenty of shot opportunities. We’ve just got to be able to finish.”

Tip off tonight will be at approximately 5:45 p.m.