TIFTON — With a region championship down for the Tift County Blue Devils, now the goal is to go 1-0, according to head coach Dr. Eric Holland.

The Class AAAAAAA state basketball tournament starts Saturday at 6 p.m. for 24-2 Tift County. They host another set of Blue Devils, Marietta (14-13) in the first round.

Holland and crew are taking the state tournament one round at a time, not worried about any other games until they happen.

Marietta enters state as a fourth seed; Tift is No. 1 out its region. This is the first known meeting between the boys basketball teams of the schools.

He said there are some similarities in Marietta’s style of play to Thomasville, a team Tift played twice during the regular season, but Marietta was not as aggressive.

Holland’s descriptions of the opposing Blue Devils were of a Jekyll and Hyde team.

“They’re their own worst enemy at times,” he said.

Marietta has recorded victories over Cherokee and Campbell during the season, but stumbled in their region tournament.

Marietta lost to Hillgrove Friday by a 57-56 score. A day later, in the consolation game, they were defeated by Kennesaw Mountain. The loss was again by one point (55-54), with Kennesaw Mountain sinking a free throw with less than one second remaining to win.

“They should be a 2 or 3 seed,” said Holland.

Holland said sometimes Marietta was good at feeding the ball inside to their players, but sometimes was not as good.

Marietta is filled with height, with five players listed as 6’4” or taller.

Through 25 games, guard Kharon Cameron was scoring 13.4 points per game. Forward Fionn Brown contributed 13.1 points per game and Kahalil Hawkins added 11.8.

Rebounding is led by 6’5” Jalar Allen, who grabbed six boards per contest. Allen was their leading scorer against Kennesaw Mountain, with 15 points.

Tift had a good week of practice, Holland said.

The locals will bring a wealth of postseason experience. The Devils have made the state tournament annually since 1994 and this will be the ninth state game for the school during the past four seasons. Marietta will be playing its first state tournament game since 2012.

Preston Horne leads the team in scoring at 23.9 points per game. Both Micah Johnson and Fred Lloyd are averaging 10 points per game. Rashod Bateman adds seven points and Montae Terrell contributes six points per contest.

Point guard Johnson has dished out 122 assists during the season.

A victory for Tift would put them in the second round of state, hosting either South Forsyth or Berkmar. That game would take place either Wednesday or Thursday.