Andalusia head girls basketball coach Bennie Shellhouse had nothing but respect for who the Lady Bulldogs will face tomorrow night in the Opp Lady Bobcats.

“(OHS head girls basketball) Coach (Allison) Gregory does a great job with them,” Shellhouse said. “She’s a really good coach — probably one of the finest coaches in our area.

“They’re always well-prepared,” he said. “She does a really good job of teaching them to break pressure.”

Gregory said her girls are “excited” to play Andalusia, as always.

“Of course, it’s a big rivalry and we’re excited,” she said. “It’s always fun to play Andalusia.

“They’ve got a great team and a great group of seniors.”

AHS is coming off a 55-16 rout over Monroe County on Tuesday night, but before the Lady Bulldogs take on Opp, they must go through Pleasant Home.

Shellhouse said he’s familiar with what PHS will bring to the court tonight.

“With Pleasant Home, we’ve played them a number of times,” he said. “We know what they have. We just want to make sure to take care of ‘us’ and do the right things.

“We want to take care of the ball, and take our time looking for stuff on the inside — not just depending on our guard play,” he said.

Against Opp, the Lady Bulldogs had a 1-1 series record against the Lady Bobcats last season.

It was one year ago Friday that the Lady Bobcats beat Andalusia 52-50 at OHS in a tight ball game.

“We’re just going to line up and do what we do,” Shellhouse said about the game against Opp. “I’ve watched them, and I’ve scouted them. They look really good.

“They’re probably one of the best teams we’ve played so far,” he said. “They are very well-disciplined and the girls really buy into her (Gregory’s) system. They really have bought into her as a basketball coach at Opp.”

Gregory said for her team to be successfuly, the Lady Bobcats will have to limit two Andalusia players’ productivity.

“I feel like we need to come out this year and play our best game and limit Alexis (Horton) and Shi’Amber’s touches,” she said. “If we do that, then I think we’ll put ourselves in a position to be successful.

In order for his team to disrupt Opp’s strong attack, Shellhouse said he hopes the girls stay “strong” during the game.

“We’re hoping that we can get some steals and run outs in the transition game,” he said. “There are going to be a couple real good post players going at each other with (AHS senior) Shi’Amber (Townsend) and them. I just think it’s a pretty good match up. It will let us both know where we’re at with both of our teams.”

Tip off in Andalusia for both games is at 4:30 p.m., starting with the B-team.