• “Coaches against Cancer Night,” Fans wear pink to show support for both girls and boys teams

• Lions’ also hope to pack the place for Pride's home-court advantage

FOLEY—Coming off a big Class 7A, Area 2 victory over visiting Fairhope last week, the Foley Lions moved into third place in the area 2 standings and hope to move up again with another home win Friday night.

The Lions are hosting a tough Murphy Panther team at 7:30 p.m., after the girls game which tips off at 6 p.m. The Panthers won the first meeting at Murphy High but Foley head coach Shumbe Hunter believes his Lions can turn the tables if his crew plays up to their potential and enjoy a strong home-court crowd supporting.

“We are capable of playing with anybody when we do the things we do well and maintain our focus on those things,” he said. “That means we have to rebound better than last time and make the other team defend us on our terms — That is: force them to defend against the offense we want to present. To do that we definitely need to box out at both ends and make them play defense the entire game. Murphy is very athletic as we are, but they have a lot of size. So we have our work cut out for us. But I have no doubt that if we just have more consistency and continuity in our play then we will be fine.”

The game is also Foley's annual, “Coaches against Cancer,” event dedicated to all victims and survivors of the disease. Fans can wear pink to the game for an additional show of support for the cause as well.

On Tuesday the Panthers, ranked No. 3 in the state, took a big 67-64 Area 2 win over the top-ranked McGill-Toolen Yellow Jackets. The win gives Murphy (19-3 overall) a perfect 4-0 mark with two Area 2 wins over Fairhope. The Jackets fell to 18-4 and 1-1 and will be on the road tonight at the Pirates home gym at 7:30 p.m.