After a meeting that ended in double overtime a little over a week ago, the Keith Bears and Southside Panthers will meet on the court one last time this season before both teams venture into area play.

The No. 9 Keith Bears (10-9, 3-0) will travel to Southside High School to play the Panthers (10-5, 2-0) Friday at 5 p.m. in their final meeting of the season.

The game will break the tie between the two teams, as Southside won the first meeting 64-57 at Keith on Dec. 2 and the Bears won the second meeting 73-70 in double overtime at the Bazemore-Johnson Tournament in Wetumpka on Dec. 28.

Panthers’ boys head basketball coach Cedric Brown said the last meeting between the two was a thriller and he’s expecting and even harder-fought game the final time around.

“I’m actually expecting a little bit more considering the two meetings we’ve had before,” Brown said. “I’m expecting an even more exciting game than we’ve played before. Maybe we’ll play a third overtime this time.”

Brown said the Panthers didn’t finish last game and he’s hoping solid defense and offensive runs will help change that this game.

“The last time we played them we didn’t close the game,” Brown said. “We played three and a half quarters and we should have played that other half of a quarter. The key to the game is going to be trying close the game. We want to get the W at the end of the day, but we have to sustain runs and make runs ourselves. We have to be real solid on defense.”

Keith head basketball coach Tommy Tisdale, whose team is ranked No. 9 in the Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 1A state rankings, said his team is excited about the game and looking forward to a competitive matchup.

“The season series is tied at 1-1, so my guys are looking forward to it,” Tisdale said. “We want to approach it hard, but we want to approach it like every other game. I can’t sugar coat it because the guys know who we’re playing. I can’t give them any false speeches in the locker room because they know it’s Southside, I know it’s Southside.”

Tisdale said it’s going to take a variety of things to beat a good Panthers again, including strong defense against Southside’s starting point guard Mario Oliver.

“That kid is hands down one of the best point guards in the state, I was fortunate enough to coach him in the all-star game (AHSAA North-South All-Star Sports Week basketball game in Montgomery last July) and I’ve seen it first hand from when I coached him as an all-star player,” Tisdale said.

Tisdale said Southside also has great shooters to contend with in Sammarkus Jones and Devante Richardson, and an unsung hero in forward Octavius Gulley.

“He’s (Gulley) a kid that, when I explain to the guys, he plays Keith basketball,” Tisdale laughed. “He’s hard nosed, he’s going to rebound, he’s going to put back missed shots and dive on the floor for loose balls.”

Tisdale said playing tough defense against the shooters and controlling the boards should give the Bears a strong shot at victory.

“If we can find a way to box him (Gulley) out and do something to get a hand in the shooters’ faces, I think we can be in the game with them most of the night,” Tisdale said. “Like I tell my guys, all we want is a chance to win it in the end. If we can get a chance to win it in the end, it’s on us in what we do with it.”