With the Class AAAA playoffs set to start this Friday, the Fayette County Lady Tigers are looking a lot like they did last year when they captured the state championship.

However, the biggest difference now is this is a new group and the Lady Tigers are in the position of being the hunted instead of the hunters.

“The main thing is I’m glad to be back on that board of 32 teams,” Fayette County girls’ coach John Strickland said. “Now, we just go one game at a time.”

Last season, the Lady Tigers (23-5) entered the tournament on a 14-game winning streak and now will begin the playoffs with 16 consecutive wins after a 50-39 victory over Alcovy last Saturday.

“We all know the championship team was a different team,” Strickland said. “However that is the bag this group is going to have to carry. We just have to be aware that teams are going to come at us hard.

“I told them last year was 2011; this year is 2012,” Strickland said. “How are you going to leave your mark?”

The Lady Tigers will begin answering that question Friday when they get a visit from Lovejoy (14-10).

“All of the teams are going to play with that edge and we’ve been down this stretch before,” Strickland said. “It’s going to be a chess match and a battle of who is going to survive. We’re looking forward to it and want to be playing our best ball every night.”

On the other hand, the Tigers’ region championship game didn’t go as well due to a 73-60 loss to Alcovy last Saturday.

“I thought Alcovy was extremely good,” Fayette County boys’ coach Andre Flynn said. “They were able to do some things a lot of teams weren’t able do to us—put a lot of pressure on our guards and we just didn’t handle it well. They made shots and we didn’t make shots.”

Despite having their 17-game winning streak snapped, the Tigers (25-2) still have the chance to refocus and prepare for a 2011 playoff rematch against 22-5 Lovejoy.

“They have everyone back from the team we defeated to go to the Final Four last year where as we only have three people back,” Flynn said. “It’s going to be a tough game.”

The McIntosh Lady Chiefs (21-7) also have a playoff rematch on their hands Friday, when they visit Forest Park (21-6).

“Forest Park will be ready to go,” McIntosh girls’ coach David Dowse said. “It’s going to be a huge challenge for us this year just as it was last year. I hope our kids will do what they did last year which was come to compete. We've done that all year and I expect nothing less on Friday. It will be a hard-fought ballgame."

In Class AAA, the Sandy Creek Lady Patriots (19-9), who won their first-ever region championship, will host Cross Creek (21-7) this Friday.