Andalusia coach Angie Grimes said Monday that her team got “much needed rest” last week in preparation for today’s Class 4A, Area 3 tournament in Andalusia.

The Lady Bulldogs are the No. 1 seed going into today’s tournament and will play the winner of the Clarke County-Thomasville match, which is at 4 p.m.

The tournament will be played in a single elimination and best 3-out-of-5 games format.

Grimes said in order to prepare her team for the area tournament, she reminded them of two team themes.

“We started out with two themes this year and I brought it back to them last week,” she said. “We focused on discipline and we focused on unity. Those were two of our important things.

“It’s going to take discipline to stay focused during homecoming and it’s going to take discipline to make the right decisions in not engaging in the normal homecoming activities,” she said.

Grimes said her players have “come together as a team.”

“From where we started at the beginning of the season, they have just grown and matured in so many different ways,” Grimes said. “Of course we work on it all the time, but those are the two things that I really just talked to them about last Friday.”

On Monday, Grimes said she saw a completely new team at practice.

“They came in here (Monday) ready to practice,” she said. “They’re hitting hard. Since we played Monday and Tuesday of last week and then the rest of the week didn’t have games — they look rested.

“I can see a big difference because they are rested,” she said. “Today has been one of our better practices, so that’s a good sign. I think we’re ready.”