Overcoming obstacles is at the forefront of every player’s mind in Straughn as they struggle to put an area win on the board.

The Tigers (8-11, 0-3 in Class 3A, Area 3) will vie for an area win this Friday night as they travel to Letohatchee to face Calhoun High School (5-10, 0-3).

Straughn has an opportunity to capitalize tomorrow night as both teams carry the same area record going into the game.

Earlier in the week, the Tigers faced Luverne and lost 47-38, which Straughn coach Todd Reynolds said was the result of “lousy free throw shooting.”

“It was the same obstacles that we’ve been dealing with,” Reynolds said. “Again, it was lousy free throw shooting. We were up by two points at halftime, 17-15 and then Luverne moved up by three at the end of the third, 26-23.

“Then, they basically pulled away a little bit and the free throw line was the difference,” he said. “We shot 6-for-16 so you can’t win these tough ones and shoot that poorly.”

Reynolds said his team has to take this opportunity and pull out a win tomorrow night.

“Calhoun and us are at the bottom of the league right now at 0-3, so somebody’s going to dig themselves out a little bit with a win,” he said. “We’ve got a pretty good chance. We feel as if we had a pretty good chance in some of our other ones, so it’ll come down to whether we can execute or not and make a few free throws and play in a tough road environment.”

On the free throw problem, Reynolds said it all comes down to how his players perform in games.

“Free throws are the kind of thing where you can practice them where you’re blue in the face, but then you’ve got to make them in the game,” Reynolds said. “There’s just something about them and it’s mental. We practice them hard and heavy and practice them every day. It’s just the ability to convert them in the game that makes the difference.”

Reynolds said he’s making sure his players are prepared not only for the rest of area play, but for the future.

“These games are opportunities and the fact that I only have three seniors and then I have basically two starting post players that are out with injuries,” he said. “Basically it’s a lot of heavy prepping for the future. In seeing the games of opportunities and making the most of them and learning from them to make us better.

“These players are getting much better,” he said. “They’re working hard. We appreciate the fan support and the team is still representing Straughn well and we’ll continue to work hard to get better.”

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