Strong is in the regional tournament for the first time since 2021, which also marks the last time they qualified for the state tournament.
But if the Bulldogs are to extend their season, they must knock off a team that ranks as a contender for the state championship.
Strong (12-10), the No. 4 seed from the 8-1A, squares off against Bradley (28-1), the 7-1A regular season and district tournament champions, in the opening round of the 4-1A Regional Tournament tonight at Emerson.
Game time is set for 8:30 p.m.
How good have the Bears been? They haven’t lost since Nevada came away with an 81-75 win back on Nov. 3. They enter the regional tournament on a 27-game winning streak and they have dominated their opponents with only five of their wins during the streak coming in single digits.
“They’re a really good team,” Strong coach Alex Howell said. “They’re well-coached, they’re experienced. They’ve got some athleticism and some good guard play. They’re a really good team.”
When asked how the Bulldogs will try to slow down the Bears, Howell said by tempo and making possessions count.
“We’re going to try and slow the game down,” Howell said. “I don’t think we want to run with them. The message with us is every possession is key. We don’t want to have a bunch of wasted possessions. I think it’s all going to boil down to rebounding and not turning the ball over. If we can control the glass and not turn the ball over, I feel we’ll give ourselves a chance. If we don’t, we can also be in for a very long night.”
Nevada, the 8-1A regular season and district tournament champion, is the only team to have beaten Bradley, and Howell said he chatted with coach Jamario Bell about the Bears.
“We talked a little bit about it,” Howell said. “I’ve seen some film when they played them, and they were the only ones that beat them, so I saw some things that they did well against them. I’ve watched a lot of film, and I’ve taken a lot of things from teams that didn’t win against them, so I’m trying to put together a good game plan for the matchup. Once the tournament starts, the records go to 0-0. I’m a confident coach, I’m confident in my group that we can get the job done. I’m just trying to put a good game plan together.”
Strong qualified for the regional tournament with a 69-51 win over Hampton last week, but didn’t improve their seeding after falling to Nevada in the semifinals and Emerson in the third-place game.
Howell said he has spent time reviewing and preparing for Wednesday’s showdown.
“I’m just trying to get us as healthy as possible,” Howell said. “Each game to advance is the biggest game of the season, so we’re just trying to get everybody healthy, watch a lot of film, try to fix some defensive breakdowns that we had and try to get a game plan for this matchup.”
The Bulldogs will likely be a decided underdog against the Bears, and Howell said his team has gotten used to that role.
“I feel like they’ve got more pressure than we do,” Howell said. “We’re coming in with that edge. I definitely feel like we’re the underdogs, so we’re coming in with that chip on our shoulders. We’re trying to come out with an upset. That’s our mindset. We’ve been the underdog a lot this year, so that won’t change. We’ve gotten used to it.”
For the Bulldogs to have success, Howell said there were three things his team must do.
“Rebounding, not turning the ball over and playing solid defensively,” Howell said.