The Glenwood girls and boys basketball teams will spend today, the first day of the AISA Region 1-3A tournament, fitting in a little bit more preparation for their first-round games on Thursday.

Both teams are 1-seeds in their half of the bracket and will host Macon-East and Hooper Academy, respectively. The girls game will begin at 2 p.m. and the boys at 3:30, both at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala.

For the boys (24-2, 7-1), though they defeated Hooper handily in their only other meeting this season, coach Dusty Perdue said the Gators can't take the game lightly.

"We played very well the first time," he said. "They lost their best player (Darius Bennett) midway through the second quarter, and we really played well in the second half. With (Bennett), though, they're great. The offense goes through him."

The Gators already have an automatic bid to the state playoffs because of their regular-season area title, but a loss to Hooper would drop them to a 4-seed.

They won the region tournament last season, defeating Lee-Scott.

The girls (20-3, 6-2) also have already defeated their opponent, Macon-East, this season. The game was a 23-point, 65-42 win for the Lady Gators, but coach Julie Humphries said they aren't taking anything for granted, either.

"We have to put our uniforms on and play," Humphries said. "We're preparing for Macon-East, then going one game at a time."

Humphries said the team would like to improve on last years less-than-stellar finish in the region tournament, but it still has its work cut out for it this year.

Evangel Christian and Lee-Scott have both handed the Lady Gators loss this year, and Humphries said it will require an ability to handle pressure and take care of the basketball to avoid repeat performances.