The Opp boys varsity basketball team will be relying on its senior experience this season in the hopes of getting past the area tournament.

At the helm of the Bobcats’ experience is three seniors in Tyler Harrison, Quadir Kincaid and Steadman Gerber. Each has been a starter since the 10th grade.

“We’ll be on their experience and leadership to carry us,” Opp head coach Ronnie Sansom said Wednesday.

As of right now, the players have been competing for starting positions on the team, but Harrison, Kincaid, Gerber and juniors Dane Buckelew and Tyler Mauer are slated to start against Red Level, Sansom said.

In addition, Sansom said Myeke Boyd and Cam White will also contribute to the team this season.

Since their change in classification, the Bobcats will be going from a five-team area to a four-team area in Class 3A, Area 2. Opp will compete against Geneva, Luverne and Pike County.

“We are in a different area, and hopefully it’ll be an extremely competitive area. I think Luverne will be the team to beat,” Sansom said. “The way things look right now, we’ll all be fighting and scratching all season long. I’m looking forward to it, though.”

Before area play starts in January, Opp will participate in the Andalusia Christmas Invitational and the Daleville Christmas tournament next month.

The Bobcats’ first area match is on Jan. 7 in a road game against Pike County.

As far as the offensive and defensive schemes he will choose to run, Sansom said he’ll go to a more of a man-to-man defense and a to be more “patient” on offense.

“We’re going to try and match up with people,” he said. “We want to match up and play man-on-man; try to press the trap and try to control the tempo of the game. It’s to our advantage to slow the tempo down and keep the scoring to a minimum.

“If we do a good job of controlling the boards and being patient on offense, then I’ll feel pretty good about us,” he said. “We have to manage the game from beginning to end.”

When asked what his team’s goals for the season are, Sansom said the goal at the top of the list is to “win the area.”

“We want to host the area tournament,” he said. “There’s a lot of people — even here in Opp — that fluff at that, but I think that’s an attainable goal. It’s not going to be an easy goal, but it’s attainable.”

Sansom again emphasized how anxious his players are to start this season.

“We’re just ready to get started,” Sansom said. “It’s one of those coaching things where you’re ready to start playing, but you don’t feel like — you still need to work on stuff.

“It all comes down to your guys playing somebody else,” he said. “All seniors have played since the 10th grade — been there and done it. It’s going to be very helpful for the juniors coming in. They’re a year older, and it’s giong to be a different game for them.”

Tip off in Opp is at 4:30 p.m. for the B-team.