The Alabama High School Athletic Association state finals will kick off Monday with Keith’s game against Decatur Heritage at 9 a.m. at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex.

With the Lady Bears shooting for their first championship since 1990 and third overall, Keith head coach Cecil Williams expects the majority of the town of Orrville to be in attendance.

“We are taking just about the whole school,” Williams said. “We’ve got three buses from the high school and one from the elementary school and the ones who aren’t riding the bus, they are driving.”

The school sold white shirts in hopes of whiting out the BJCC and giving Keith a true home field advantage despite being nearly two hours from home.

“If they didn’t purchase a t-shirt, at least just wear white because we’re wearing white,” Williams said. “We want our fans to all be in the same section.”

Any advantage could be huge in Monday’s game, where both teams will look for any edge. Experience could play a factor.

On paper, Decatur Heritage has the more seasoned team with four seniors compared to only one for Keith, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Keith, despite being younger, made it to Birmingham two years ago and the majority of those same players are on still on the roster.

“They have seniors that haven’t been there and with us being there before as a younger group, experience is going to be the biggest difference,” Williams said.

After Wednesday’s win over Sunshine, Williams talked about the opportunity his team has in front of it. Two years ago they couldn’t close out Brantley to win the 1A title.

“We’ve been there before so we’re kind of relaxed,” Williams said. “It has us more focused because we have a taste of what we were supposed to do and didn’t finish it, so that makes us a little bit more hungry.”

In game planning for Decatur, Williams has re-watched his team’s games against Sunshine and Loachapoka.

Keith didn’t make a three-pointer in either game, but Williams said he doesn’t think that will play a factor Monday.

“We don’t depend on the three ball. If it falls, it falls,” Williams said. “If not, it’s not going to stop us from accomplishing what we’ve been trying to.”

The winner of the Keith and Decatur Heritage game will meet the winner of the game between Brantley and Spring Garden in Thursday’s championship at 4 p.m.