FAYETTE &8212; Most coaches despise the holidays. And at one point, Jefferson County head coach Marcus Walton may have been right there with the rest of them.

Not this year.

His Tigers took a holiday break this season and opted out of the Jefferson Public Schools tournament for the first time in recent seasons. It&8217;s been two weeks today since the Tigers played their last game, but there&8217;s a positive heading into tonight&8217;s Region 6-3A contest at Bailey Magnet.

Everyone is ready to get after it hard.

&8220;It gave my kids some time after playing football a chance to come in and get that football out of them,&8221; Walton said. &8220;To get their legs back under them. It&8217;s a difference between game speed and practice speed. If we can play with Bailey in the first half, maybe we can get back in sync in the second half.&8221;

The Tigers haven&8217;t played since a 72-37 mauling of Wilkinson County at home Dec. 20, a win they played well on both ends of the court and may have had their best showing all season. It was definitely something to build on in the second half of the season after starting 6-3A action out with losses to Yazoo County and Raymond.

For a team that struggled last season following graduation of key players the previous two seasons, it may have been a sign of maturation.

&8220;The kids are starting to accept their roles,&8221; Walton said. &8220;They came out defensive-minded first. Their defense dictated the rest of the ball game. They played as a whole and as one group. This time of year with kids like I have, that&8217;s what it&8217;s going to take to get us to that point. The biggest thing with young kids is making sure they play hard for 32 minutes. That&8217;s the key.&8221;

Defense along the perimeter was big in that game and in the win over Port Gibson. For a team that&8217;s steady inside with Joseph Kemp and Kadon Day, that&8217;s been the X factor all season.

Kemp led all scorers against Wilkinson County with 22, while point guard Percy Turner had 15.

&8220;Kemp is the type of athlete you can always depend on,&8221; Walton said. &8220;He&8217;s going to be at practice every day and work hard. Kadon is a very talented kid, and he anchors our defense. The way my guards play (tonight), that&8217;ll determine how we come out against Bailey. The last outing we did a good job of handling the ball, and that was a plus. That&8217;s going to be our focus (tonight) &8212; limiting our turnovers.&8221;

Huntington at Franklin Academy

FERRIDAY &8212; You didn&8217;t have to make the drive up to Rolling Fork to see for yourself. Just hearing what Huntington&8217;s boys did at the Sharkey-Issaquena tournament was another indication of how good the Hounds can be late in the season.

The Hounds (13-1) rolled off three wins to claim the tournament title and carry the momentum into today&8217;s District 7-A opener on the road against Franklin Academy.

&8220;We&8217;ve just gotten better every week and had a real good tournament,&8221; Huntington head coach David Boydstun said. &8220;Sharkey gave us a real good test. They played a control ball game and shot the ball real well. We&8217;re real confident right now. We feel we can compete with anybody in Class A ball.&8221;

Today&8217;s opener will give everyone an idea of what to expect from the district, with Boydstun and some players new to the program this season.

Franklin won&8217;t have Caleb Haring, who is no longer enrolled at the school, while guard Myles Stevens graduated last year.