Many of the coaches and the players that have taken the court against the Central-Hayneville Lions have been left scratching their heads and saying that they are the best team in 3A basketball.

Saturday afternoon, the Lions will face Abbeville in the Southeast Regional Championships in Troy following a 75-50 win over LaFayette Thursday.

Though the Lions got off to a slow start Thursday, they owned the second half. Traymayne Moore was the only scorer for the first period with 12 points.

LaFayette maych the Lions and even led until halfway though the second period. But then the Lions came alive.

In the third quarter, Jessie Harris hit nine with Moore seven,

Latravis Bazil who had been scoreless hit four as did Travis McReynolds.

Moore finished the night with 26 and Harris finished with 25.

The Lions were able to cakewalk through their area with a marginal, nearly 20-point victory over their cross-county rivals, Calhoun in the tournament final.

The team then sent Headland back home in the sub-regional nursing a 20-point spanking last Thursday.

"Headland didn't come to play," said Todd Reynolds, coach of the Lions. "They looked lethargic and we were able to jump out to a 20-point lead at the half. We held their leading scorer to six points."

The Lions defeated the Rams 68-48 and won the opportunity to advance into the regional tournament.

This is where the road gets tough for the Lions.

"We're ready to play the games," said Reynolds. "We just wish that they were closer to us."

In the regional tournaments the field of 32 teams is whittled down to four teams. There are four regions, Central will compete in the Southeast Regional held at Troy University. They will have the opportunity to see if they can run with teams early in the tournament.

The 3A Lions will take the floor at 2:30 against Abbeville.