The Keith Lady Bears will have an early wakeup call Friday morning for their 1A state championship game against Spring Garden.

With the tip-off scheduled for 8:45 a.m., Bears head coach Cecil Williams had his team practice in the morning Tuesday and Wednesday to get acclimated to the time.

“We are used to it because we had to play the first game at 9 a.m., so it’s only a 15 minute difference,” Williams said. We’ve been practicing this week at 8 o’ clock in the morning trying to get adjusted to it.”

Williams believes his team will be ready to go, especially after losing to Brantley two years ago in the state title game. Most of the players on this year’s team were also on that one, so they’ve been here before. Williams said this time around he hasn’t changed much preparation wise, but with more experience under their belt he expects the Bears to rise to the occasion.

“They are more focused. The year before last it was more of an enjoyment thing,” Williams said. “They had the idea but they didn’t have the meaning and the fight to finish it off. With us losing that year and coming back last year and not making it, it showed them what the purpose is for and how much of a blessing it is to make it there.”

It helps that he has Harriet Winchester, who he said is the best 1A player in the state.

Coupled with Zykia Pettway, who has 43 rebounds in her last three games and Shatavia Moore, who continues to develop into a go-to-scorer, the Bears are going to be a tough out. However, Keith hasn’t seen a team quite like Spring Garden this season.

The Panthers have made 21 three-pointers in their last three games, compared to just one for the Bears.

Williams said Spring Garden reminds him a little bit of Sunshine, a team Keith played four times this year, except the Panthers seem to always get their shooters open.

“Sunshine is a team that lives by the three,” Williams said. “They love to shoot it and we know Spring Garden loves to shoot it too.”

If Keith can defend the three-point line and closes the deal, Williams said watching his team celebrate would be like seeing some of the professional players who worked so hard and finally closed the deal.

“Even though a lot of people say they enjoy playing, their overall goal is to be a champion,” Williams said. “That was something I instilled in them when I got here. Your overall purpose is to be the best at whatever you do.”