If you didn&8217;t get a chance to catch the Class AA state tournament last season at Brookhaven Academy, this may be the closest thing to it.

It&8217;s the BA Holiday Invitational, and it may have just as many talented teams scheduled to play &8212; maybe even more &8212; when action tips off today at the Cougars&8217; gym. Both Adams Christian clubs will be a part of it, and it&8217;s only fitting that the they do.

The tournament is housed in the John R. Gray Gymnasium. Gray&8217;s two sons will also have teams there &8212; Barry with the Brookhaven Academy girls and Ricky with the Parklane boys.

Gray&8217;s Lady Rebels team, meanwhile, will go at 3:40 p.m. against Simpson Academy in a bracket that includes Central Private, Presbyterian Christian, Parklane, BA and Marvell Academy.

The Rebels will follow the girls&8217; game against Parklane.

&8220;That&8217;s why we made the decision to cover over (that) way,&8221; Gray said. &8220;There are a lot of good girls team and boys teams over there. Marvell vell is the No. 1 team in Class A and is 16-0. They have a Christmas tournament, but they usually don&8217;t have this many good teams come.

&8220;We feel we need this because we need the environment of playing in this atmosphere along with playing good teams. We need this to give us the experience.&8221;

Not only that, but it&8217;s the best way possible to shake off the holiday rust by jumping head first into a tournament of this caliber. The Lady Rebels haven&8217;t played since losing at Tensas Academy Dec. 19 on a shot at the buzzer from Caitlen Emfinger, and it was another game Gray&8217;s club had a chance to win.

Much like the loss at Parklane by one point, the Lady Rebels missed free throws in the waning seconds that could have changed the outcome. This time, however, they missed the front end of two one-and-ones instead of one as in the Parklane loss.

&8220;We just made some crucial errors at the wrong time again,&8221; Gray said. &8220;We let them shoot a 3 to win it with nobody guarding the shooter. We had our chances again. We&8217;ve got to start making (free throws late). I just feel we&8217;ve got to get to where we believe we can win the close ones &8212; just like Parklane.&8221;

The loss also brought up new areas of concern for a team that many folks felt was an outside shooter or two away from being really special. That perimeter game has improved, but against Tensas the inside game suffered with the Lady Chiefs&8217; Whitney Alford and Tabitha Howard combining for 27 points.

&8220;We&8217;re just making crucial mistakes on the free throw line at the wrong time and not blocking out at the wrong times,&8221; Gray said. &8220;Tensas beat us where I didn&8217;t think anybody could beat us. They beat us with their two post players. I hate to use the word, but we were lazy on blocking out and rebounding.&8221;

Today&8217;s game, meanwhile, will match them up against a Simpson Academy team they may very well see down the road at the state tournament. The Lady Cougars depend heavily on 5-11 Kate Hubbard, who can be just as effective down low as she can be from the perimeter and is putting up about 18 points a game.

Also today, both Huntington squads will go to the Sharkey-Issaquena tournament for a doubleheader with Mount Salus of Clinton. The girls begin at 1:30 with the boys to follow at 2:45 p.m.

As for the Hounds, the game will be their first in over a week since downing Central School back on Dec. 16.

The tournament will at least give both teams a chance to see some different teams and different styles of play of teams from the North. The Hounds will also match up against a Mount Salus team that will have a 6-5 player in the post that could give them matchup problems.

&8220;We&8217;ll have to keep him away form the basket,&8221; Boydstun said. &8220;That&8217;s the good thing about this tournment &8212; most of them are Class A teams from the north part of the state. We&8217;ll see teams we don&8217;t normally play, and I like that. It could help down the road. It&8217;s good to get away.&8221;