Dallas County head coach Willie Moore has probably been paying attention to his team’s injury report more than he’d like to this week, especially with a central regional semifinal game on the horizon.

Hornets’ leading scorer Jerrod Moorer has been treating a hamstring injury and Kendell Motley, who Moore said is his team’s best defender, is battling a knee injury.

The Hornets (22-5) are set to play Talladega (30-2) Monday in a 5A central regional boys basketball final at Alabama State University’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome. Unfortunately, the defending 4A champions are limping into their biggest game of the season.

“I told the guys you don’t touch a wounded dog because he’ll bite you,” Moore said. “I’m hoping that ‘s the case for our basketball team.”

Moorer’s injury could keep him out of the game, Moore said, although he said the senior guard has felt some better this week. Motley is expected to give it a go.

“We are nowhere near 100 percent going into this ballgame and that concerns me a little bit,” Moore said. “We are going to play hard. That much I do know.”

The Hornets would like to have every contributor they can on the floor, especially against a Talladega team that runs a press defense the entire game. Moore said the 30 wins the Tigers have earned this season are no fluke.

“They are as good as advertised,” Moore said. “They are a senior laden team with outstanding guard play. They are the type of team that presses and traps and does it for 32 minutes. They try to speed you up and try to turn you over.”

Moore said because of the Tigers’ style and the fast pace they force on their opponents, limiting turnovers will be key.

“They are the type of team that can be down 10 and two minutes later be up 10,” Moore said.  “They will be the quickest team we’ve seen all year.”

As if the injury concerns aren’t enough, both teams also have two other factors working against them as well. The game is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday, which is seven hours before most high school games tip, and the forecast calls for freezing rain and low temperatures, meaning there’s a chance the Alabama High School Athletic Association might have to consider postponing games.

A post on the AHSAA website Saturday read: “The AHSAA is continually monitoring the weather. Please follow this site for any changes to regional basketball.”

Moore said there was talk about his team spending Sunday night in Montgomery, but he wanted the players to be able to sleep in their own beds.

Plus, he said if the game is not canceled or delayed fans and the teams should be able to get to Alabama State safely Monday. If not, the game shouldn’t be played.

“If it’s not safe enough for our fans to come up there, why are we playing the game?” Moore said.

The Dallas County boys will be the third local team to play at Alabama State this week. The first two — the Selma girls and Keith girls — won their games and will play in quarterfinal games Wednesday. Moore said he can’t remember the last time three local schools made the AHSAA state quarterfinals, but that he’d like to see it happen.

“It would be a sweet story to say that three local teams made the quarterfinals,” Moore said. “That would be great and I hope that’s the case.”