THOMASVILLE — The Brookwood boys basketball team’s quest for a fourth straight GISA Region 3-AAA championship begins Tuesday night.

The Warriors, 15-9, 4-2 in region play this year, open the tournament as the No. 2 seed and will play Tiftarea Academy at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus.

Tip-off for Tuesday’s game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

“We definitely hit the reset button over the weekend. We had a good strong practice on Saturday and we’re confident going in. It’s our tournament until somebody takes it from us,” Brookwood coach Drew Giudice said. “Going for four in a row, we’ve had a lot of success on that court. We’ve had a lot of success in that building. We’re going in confident and telling ourselves it’s our tournament.”

The Warriors may be trying to make history, but they are not the favorite this week. The Southland Academy Raiders are 20-1 and 6-0 in region play and one of the main threats to compete for a state crown. They also slowed the Warriors twice this year, 55-43 and 43-26.

“I think we are in a great position to go in with no pressure on ourselves. Southland is the best coached team in the region. They’ve got the best roster in the region. They beat us twice. We’re definitely the underdog, if we’re lucky enough to play them in the championship on Friday,” Giudice said. “We’ve got no pressure on us at all. That’s how we’re approaching it.”

The region tournament is set up differently this year with a couple of days between the semifinal and final. Giudice likes the new format.

“Saturday’s practice and (Monday’s) practice will be entirely focused on the semifinal. I really enjoy how we’re doing it this year. We’ve never done it Tuesday/Friday. That really allows you to totally focus on the semifinal. In years past, we’ve done it Thursday/Friday. You’ve got to kind plan your week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, prepping for every scenario,” Giudice said. “I really enjoy that we’re doing it Tuesday/Friday this year where we can totally focus on the semifinal game and then allow Wednesday/Thursday for whoever Friday’s opponent would be.”

Brookwood destroyed Tiftarea 61-41 and 63-36 in the two regular season matchups.

The Warriors are currently ranked No. 7 by Maxpreps in the state. The top 16 advance to the state tournament the following week, with the top 8 hosting a first-round playoff game. A win over Tiftarea would go a long way in solidifying a first-round home playoff game for the Warriors.

The region championship game will be Friday night at 8:30 p.m.