RIPLEY — As the North Half tournament tips off this week, Lady Tiger coach Katie Bates is confident about her team’s chances to advance.

Friday, the Lady Tigers led the Belmont Lady Cardinals, the Daily Journal’s No.1 ranked 3A girls team and the favorite to win the North Half Tournament, for three and a half quarters before falling 60-52 in the girls’ final of the Division 1-3A tournament.

Despite the fact that the Lady Tigers lost to Belmont three times already this season, Bates is confident they may see them again.

The Lady Tigers lost by 18 to the Lady Cardinals in the first outing, but have lost the last two meetings by a combined 15 points, with most of that coming from late Lady Cardinal free throws.

"We’ve played Belmont well in the last two meetings, but we weren’t able to finish," said Bates, who has guided her team to 19-8 record. "To me, that says we’re playing a lot better, but we haven’t played our best yet.

"I really like our (tournament) chances and if we step up like we are capable, I think our chances are good to meet Belmont again."

A lot must fall into place for the Lady Tigers to get a fourth shot at the Lady Cardinals. They must win tonight’s play-in game against the winner of Riverside/Tchula Marshall. Once they accomplish that, they could have a possible match-up with another 3A favorite, the Aberdeen Lady Bulldogs led by Alcorn State signee Jameika Hoskins.

Playing Aberdeen is something Bates and her team thought about before the season started. Bates recalled a preseason Daily Journal article that featured the six area girls’ teams to keep an eye on. The list included Belmont, New Albany, Myrtle, New Site, Tupelo, and Aberdeen.

Bates said she wasn’t upset that the Lady Tigers were not listed, but it did give her a motivational tool. Five of the teams were on the Lady Tigers’ 09-10 schedule and Aberdeen was a playoff possibility.

"I wasn’t mad about it, but our goal was to beat all of them," added Bates. "We have to take care of our opening game, and Aberdeen will have to do the same, but they are one of the teams we were looking to play."

Should the matchup occur, the Lady Tigers would be tasked with containing the 5’10" Hoskins, who averages 21 points and five rebounds per game.

"We’ll match up well with them but the key will be containing Hoskins," said Bates. "You’re not going to stop her, so you have contain her and stop everybody else.

"We’re not going to hold her scoreless but hopefully we can keep her around 15 or less and can keep everybody else from scoring."

If the Lady Tigers win tonight, they will advance to the quarterfinals of the North Half tournament hosted by Belmont High School. Monday, the Mississippi High School Activities Association changed the dates for the 3A North Half girls’ tournament because of scheduling conflicts due to bad weather.

The tournament was moved one day to Friday, Feb. 19, Saturday, Feb. 20, and Monday, Feb. 22. The event was originally scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.