Red Level will be making the two-hour drive to Mobile tonight to take on Mobile Christian after winning its first area game Tuesday night against Excel, 80-70.

The Tigers (13-6, 1-0 in Class 2A, Area 1) are counting on the “boost” they got earlier this week to carry them through the game tonight.

“We got a big one coming up (tonight),” Red Level coach Fred Kelley said. “It gave us a big boost on Tuesday to win that one on the road. We’re working hard on some things to perfect what we do and are trying to build on some of the positive things.”

Kelley said specifically that Red Level is in an area where anything can happen on a given night.

“Mobile Christian has got a good ball team,” he said. “They lost to Flomaton in overtime earlier this week and we’re in an area where teams are capable of beating one another each night.

“It’s going to be a challenge for us because we haven’t been down there before,” he said. “They are a well-disciplined, well-coached basketball team. We need to play a complete ball game in order to come out with a win.”

Kelley said that he has made some changes on his team to get ready for continuing area play.

“We made some changes specifically on our defense to try to put our personnel in better positions to help us,” he said. “We focused a lot on defense and our assistant coach spent a lot of time to help make us a better team down the stretch. We saw some of that pay off Tuesday night.”

Kelley added that his team is focused, given their success on the road in area play.

“It would give us two wins on the road in area if we can somehow pull this off (tonight),” Kelley said. “We’ve got a tall order and that’ll be a challenge. Our focus seems to be here and we’re excited to get a chance to play (Friday night).”

Kelley said Red Level will need to use pressure and dictate the game’s tempo to have a chance at winning.

“We know that Mobile Christian are very deliberate in what they do on the court,” he said. “We need to get the transition to go a bit faster. We need to play a more up tempo game and put a lot pressure on ball and get better percentage shots, rather than relying on the perimeter.”

Tip off tonight in Mobile is at 4:30 p.m. with the B-team.