Last year, Dallas County’s season ended with a loss to Dora on a buzzer beater in the Central Regional semifinals at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome in Montgomery.

The same two teams will take the court at Alabama State University Saturday at 10:40 a.m. with a trip to the state semifinals on the line. The Hornets come into the game ranked No. 1 in the state, just like they were when they played the Bulldogs last season, but Dallas County is not focused on revenge.

“We are not focused on what we did last year,” Dallas County head coach Willie Moore said. “Their team is different. Our team is different. We’re not trying to live in the past. We are just trying to correct things and live in the present and the present is tomorrow at 10:40 a.m.”

Last season’s loss was a heartbreaking, surprising defeat to a Hornets’ team that was ranked No. 1 most of the season. Dallas County is in the same position this year, and Moore said a win would be the biggest in the school’s history.

Moore was quick to point out that the Hornets are not taking the court Saturday with last year in mind.

“If we win it is not a revenge game for us because if we win it is not going to change the fact that we lost to them last year,” Moore said.

William Lee, the senior leader of the Hornets, agreed with Moore — the past is over.

“Like coach said, we are a different team and they are a different team,” Lee said. “Leave the past in the past and just look forward to what is going on tomorrow and play our very best and be fundamentally sound and we will be all right.”

The Hornets head coach said a win would be the biggest in Dallas County’s basketball history, because the school has never reached a Final Four.

“It would be a huge win for the simple fact that we have never gone to the Final Four here and it would be good to be able to be called regional champions,” Moore said. “That’s something we have not done here.”

Dallas County’s championship drought in one of the major sports goes back to 1990, when the Hornets won a football championship.

Dallas County has also won a baseball championship, but the Hornets are yet to win a basketball title.

“We’ve won a championship in every major sport at this school except basketball,” Moore said. “We are the only public school in this county that has not won a championship in basketball.”

The Hornets can change that with three more wins, with the first challenge coming against the Bulldogs. The state semifinals would be played in Birmingham next week.