Pleasant Home coach Jerry Davis said he hopes having a home-court advantage will pay off for his Eagles tonight against rival Kinston.

The Eagles will face a stingy Bulldogs basketball team in the semifinals of the Class 1A, Area 2 tournament, to try and earn a berth in the sub-regionals. PHS needs to win tonight’s game to be guaranteed two more games.

“It’s a big rivalry game,” Davis said. “It’s the area tournament. There’s not a whole lot of difference between anybody in our area.”

Throughout the regular season area contests, PHS has played close with each of its opponents, yielding a couple of overtime and single-digit wins.

To get ready for the area tournament, Pleasant Home played Straughn on Monday night. The Eagles lost 40-34 to the Tigers.

“I feel like we played a good ball game Monday night against Straughn,” Davis said.

When asked what he hopes to carry over from the game against SHS to tonight, Davis said he’d like to see his boys keep guarding the perimeter well.

“Kinston’s got several really good outside shooters,” he said. “Holding Straughn to 40 points — I felt like — we were very fortunate to do so. That’s what we have to look at right now.”

In the last month, Davis said he’s notice more of a balance on the offensive side of the ball.

“We feel confident about our scoring capability,” he said. “We’re about as ready as we’re going to be. This is what the 25 practice games before have led up to.”

Before Pleasant Home tips off against Kinston, Florala will face Geneva County at 5 p.m.

The Eagles tip off at 6:30 in the night cap, and admission to today’s games is $6 per person.