Luverne poses next challenge for ‘Dogs

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Andalusia’s Lakelyus “Fathead” Adams shoots the ball during an earlier game this season. Andrew Garner/Star-News

To the left of most tournament brackets, there is a space for teams who will not finish the tournament on top.

For Andalusia coach Richard Robertson, it’s what takes place on the right of the bracket that he’s most concerned about.

“All we work for is winning,” he said.

Robertson said this on the cusp of the Ozark Holiday Shootout, which begins on Wednesday, and will go through Friday at the Ozark Civic Center.

The Bulldogs will play Luverne, a Class 3A basketball team laden with young talent. At the helm of the Tigers’ talent is Wesley Person Jr., whose mid-range jump and perimeter shooting are threats for any team.

The last time AHS played Luverne was in its annual invitational tournament. The Bulldogs came back after suffering a bitter loss to Brantley to beat the Tigers 64-58 to finish in third place of their own tournament.

“My only concern is Luverne,” Robertson said. “I hadn’t looked at the rest of it.”

Andalusia has a 1-1 record against LHS this season.

The other teams playing in the shootout are Carroll-Ozark, Pike County, Loveless Academic Magnetic Program (L.A.M.P.), Daleville, Charles Henderson and Brantley.

Andalusia is sitting at a 9-6 record going into the tournament this week.

The Bulldogs will face a Luverne team that has three losses so far this season.

“The way I look at is that it’s just a chance to play three ball games,” Robertson said. “We’re going to have a tough opponent (Luverne). The thing about that is that they start two to three sophomores and they’ll be good for the next two to three years.”

If Andalusia wins Wednesday night’s game, then the Bulldogs will face the winner of the Charles Henderson-Brantley game at 7 p.m. Thursday.

If the Bulldogs lose to Luverne, then they will face the loser of the CHHS-BHS game at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Tip off on Wednesday night for the Bulldogs is at 8:30 p.m.