Since 2020 arrived, Strong has had its ups and downs, posting a 5-5 record.
Tonight, the Lady Bulldogs will look to nail down a berth in the regional tournament by taking on Taylor in the 8-1A District Tournament.
Strong (9-10) enters as the No. 2 seed, while Taylor (0-19) is the No. 7 seed.
Game time is set for 8 p.m. from Hermitage.
The Lady Bulldogs, who posted an 8-4 record in league play, rolled to a pair of lopsided wins over Taylor by scores of 53-16 on Dec. 13 and 50-19 on Jan. 24 during conference play.
Although Strong enters the postseason having lost three of its last four games overall, the Lady Bulldogs won four of their last five conference games with their lone blemish coming against league champion Emerson, and Strong coach Jason Porter believes his team is ready to go.
“We finished the conference season on a high note,” Porter said. “We did not know if we would be the second or third seed until the last game. The girls have been working hard and finally worked themselves into shape.”
For Porter, there is no looking past Taylor.
“Our goal at the district tournament is first and foremost to win that first game in order to qualify for regionals. After that, we will concentrate on winning the tournament,” Porter said.
“We must play solid defense and rebound the basketball. Our two top scorers have picked it up the last part of the season. If we get our role players to chip in, we will be fine.”
Senior guard Dynasty Davis is averaging 21.4 points per game to lead the team. Chrishunda Williams, a junior post, is averaging 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
“Dynasty’s career at Strong has been pretty spectacular,” said Porter. “She’s been one of the prolific scorers this area has had in a long time. Under her leadership, her junior high team went undefeated for three years. She has led two teams to state tournaments and multiple regional tournament championships.
“Chrishunda has really stepped up a lot this year. She has alleviated some of the scoring burden off Dynasty. We made concerted efforts to get the ball inside more the second half of the season and it turned things around for us.
“With her being six-feet tall and about 165 pounds, she’s a load to handle inside. Teams have had to double team her some, which leaves our shooters open more.”