Steve Gieger and and the West Jones Lady Mustangs are ready for the challenge when entering into their new region. The Lady Mustangs will now be competing in the new Region 5-5A, which consists consist of Forest Hill, McComb and Brookhave. Three of those teams competed in the South State 4A Girls Basetball Tournament last season.

"It’s going to be a challenge," said Gieger. "You don't have as many oppurtunities to get to the state tournament.

“We were in one of the toughest 4A regions last year, and this year we are in one of the toughest 5A regions."

Gieger feels with the experience coming back, his team will have a good shot at winning the region. "We have a lot of experience coming back this year," he said.

“We have a lot of depth this season., and as long as we stay healthy, I think we will be able to compete. We also need to give good effort."

Gieger will be looking for Kiara Speed,who was selected by the Clarion Ledger as one of the top 30 under-classman girls basketball players in the state, Murphy Matthews, Anna Sumrall, and Jazmine Turner to contribue to this year's team.

"Kiara has been a really good point guard for us over the last couple of years,” he said. “She is smart, and she really understands our system we are running.

“Murphy does an excellent job of shooting the deep ball for us while Anna does small things that are sometimes not mentioned as much."

Gieger feels as a team goal, his Lady Mustangs must play complete games.

"Last year, there were several games we didn't play good in all phases of the game," he said.

“ think for us to succeed we must play all phases of the game.