TIFTON — Tiftarea Academy sports go from one arena to the next this week as footballs are switched for basketballs.

Tiftarea travels to Westfield Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. start. The game will be the first of the year for the Panthers, but the Lady Panthers already have three wins under their belts after tipping off last week.

Westfield will present a challenge to both Lady Panthers head coach Amy Strenth and Panthers mentor Mike Patrick. Size will challenge Strenth’s bunch. For Patrick, it’s a matter of getting started. Tiftarea fell in the state football semifinals Friday and almost all of Patrick’s main athletes play that sport as well.

“I’m very proud of what our football team accomplished,” said Patrick. He knows that it will take time for them to switch sports, especially considering that Tiftarea played a tough, physical 12-game slate. “It’s obvious some of [the players] need a break.”

Patrick has had talks with his roster. Formal practice for the football portion of the roster starts Monday. The handful of non-football players, which number nine or 10, have spent the last month preparing.

Once it’s up and running, the Tiftarea roster will run deep. Patrick has 26 varsity and junior varsity players and another 16 coming up in middle school. Among the expected returnees are Spence Massey, Bo Cunningham, Brandon Mullis, Dalton Jones, Casen Royal, Logan Crosson, Tristan Scarberry, Carter Stewart, Banks Johnson and Harmon Maraman. Dow Johnston, Dylan Harbort and Gray Patterson are candidates for the big team as well.

With so many players available, Patrick said the Panthers will be able to “play the hot hand.”

State is a goal for the Tiftarea boys, as is being competitive at home, said Patrick. They have not been out of the region tournament since 2015. Things are looking up, however. Though the Panthers won but five games last year, they increased their points per game by 12 from 2016-17: 40 points per game to 52. Every regular on the roster increased his points production in that span.

The Lady Panthers had two fairly easy wins at Terrell Academy last week, defeating Glenwood (Ala.) 47-37 and Fullington Academy, 64-19. Bailey Jones was the high scorer in the former. The latter Strenth described as both a runaway for Tiftarea and a “total game.”

“We hustled,” she said. Rebounding was especially strong. “We hit the boards all the night.”

Strenth will start two seniors, Abby Carswell and Peyton Matt. More returning players are Allee Cooper, Reese Henderson, Annslee Jones, Ally Pate and Carlie Strenth. Shelby Sutton and Ali Strenth, Grace Odom and Elli Bryan will also play.

Annslee Jones has stepped up her play, Strenth said, and has gotten more aggressive. Carswell, a longtime starter, is using her experience with the younger post players. She is nearing 1,000 points for her career, having entered the season at 806.

Both coaches see Deerfield-Windsor as a challenge in Region 3-AAA.

“They’ll be tough for us,” said Strenth. On the boys side, legendary coach Gordy Gruhl stepped down at the end of the 2017-18 season. Patrick doesn’t think the Knights will fall back any. “Deerfield’s Deerfield,” he said.

Southland’s girls should be strong. Brookwood will be strong with boys and girls. Neither coach knows what to expect from Valwood.

Following Tuesday’s Westfield game, Tiftarea is expected to go to Echols County Friday night. Games had also been set for Thursday at Terrell Academy, but the Eagles are still playing football. That date has been changed to Dec. 6. Tiftarea’s first home games will be Dec. 4 against Westwood.