If you notice a large number of school buses, charter buses and cars with area license plates heading down U.S. Highway 80 toward Montgomery, Interstate 65 and Mobile, don’t be alarmed. There’s not a mass exodus.

Instead, Perry, Wilcox, Lowndes and Dallas counties will be sending more basketball teams to the either the central regional basketball tournament in Montgomery, or the south regional basketball tournament in Mobile, than just about any region in Alabama.

In Alabama’s Black Belt, basketball is king when it comes to high school sports, and if perception is reality, this area is holding court over the state.

“The Black Belt has been known for basketball throughout the years. It’s a tradition that goes way back,” Selma head coach Woodie Jackson. Jackson also coached at Francis Marion before coming to Selma High School. “You have all of these areas that are so good and even though there is not as much hard work as there was about 10-15 years ago, it still flourishes.”

Beginning Tuesday, area teams, which represent each of Dallas County’s four high schools, will try to advance further, punching a ticket to Birmingham and the state championship tournament.

“I think it’s because of the legacy of success that it is some important around here,” Dallas County head coach Willie Moore said. “Every school in the area except for Dallas County has won a state title in basketball. That’s why I tell my kids that if they want to get respect as a team they have to win titles, not just games.”

But why does the Black Belt seem to produce solid teams year in and year out? Is there something in the soil? Is it the water, development programs or coaching?

Keith head coach Tommy Tisdale said it is something much more basic.

“For me personally it has to do with the tradition of competitiveness in this area. I have been coaching from here the South Carolina and you hear all of these different reason about it being a poverty sport, but here it is about not wanting to walk in town and be known as the team that got beat by everyone, so they play harder,” Tisdale said. “It’s so competitive which each of the teams that when we finally face a team from out of the area, it may take them a half to come up to the same intensity as our guy have because they aren’t use to playing at that same level all the time.”

Each of the coaches though said the legacy of winning in this area and the ambition of the athletes to win does move them ahead of many in the state.

“My kids in Tuscaloosa when I coached there are no different than the ones I coach here at Keith,” Tisdale said, referencing his time coaching in Tuscaloosa. “The biggest difference here is that if there is a ball on the floor, these Keith players are going to get it, because they work that much harder.”

Moore said even the area’s rural nature might be an asset this time of year.

“You are dealing with a lot of rural areas that have the time to play,” Moore said. “It’s a game you can play anytime and can play even after you graduated, so a lot of these kids have moms, dads, aunts and uncles who played.”

Editor Tim Reeves contributed to this report.