By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

The Troup Tigers, coming off one of their most successful seasons in years, will take the court on Tuesday for a preseason game against the Heard County Braves.

Under first-year head coach Blake Craft, Troup beat Northwest Whitfield 56-54 in the opening round of the Class AAAA state tournament last season before losing to St. Pius X in the second round.

The new-look Tigers will travel to Franklin to face the Braves, and both teams will be missing a bunch of players because the football teams for both schools are still playing.

Craft is looking forward to seeing how some of his new players handle the pressure of a varsity game.

“It gives the young some guys some varsity experience,” Craft said. “That’s how you build a program. We’ve got a bunch of young kids, a bunch of 10th-graders, and we’re excited to see how they play on the varsity level.”

Troup’s girls’ team, with head coach Carla Thornton leading the way, posted a winning record last season before falling to Pickens County in the opening round of the state tournament.

Most of the key players from that team, including standout junior post player Amber Gilbert, are back this season.

Troup’s teams will play their regular-season openers on Monday at Opelika, Ala.

LaGrange High’s teams were on the court on Monday for their blue-white, intra-squad games.

LaGrange’s girls’ and boys’ teams open the season on Nov. 20 at home against Newnan.

Callaway’s teams won’t kick things off until Dev. 4 when they host Chapel Hill.

LaGrange Academy’s teams will begin their seasons on Tuesday at Lafayette Christian.

Lafayette Christian’s teams began the season by falling to Oak Mountain Academy on Monday.