When the Alabama High School Athletic Association announced the realignment for 2016-18 last January, one thing stood out to new Ardmore boys basketball coach Kyle Owens.

“Disbelief was my first reaction. It was hard to believe they would make an area like that,” said Owens. “I knew Jemison would be tough and Lee dropped down to 5A after almost winning 6A. I knew exactly what was going to happen when they came out with that area.”

Ardmore was put in a basketball area with perennial powers Lee, newly formed Mae Jemison and an always competitive St. John Paul II Catholic team.

What looked like a tough area before the season started, turned into murderer’s row in the team’s first year competing in Class 5A Area 15.

Mae Jemison, formerly J.O. Johnson High School, is led by reigning Mr. Basketball John Petty, an Alabama signee. In their first season, Jemison is the top-ranked team in Class 5A and recently beat 7A No. 1 Mountain Brook to win the Huntsville Times Classic.

“They are all 6-3 or taller. It’s just a different kind of basketball,” said Owens. “You can key in on Petty, but they’ve got other guys that can do it all.”

Lee is not far behind, another Huntsville city school with several collegiate prospects. As if that weren’t enough, St. John Paul II is having one of its best seasons in school history, ranked No. 6 in 5A.

In its first three meetings between the teams, Ardmore did not fare well against overmatched opponents. They will get another chance, however, starting tonight when the Tigers host top-ranked Jemison.

“It will be great for our program, just to have someone like that come into our gym,” said Owens. “Our fans will be excited to see someone like John Petty come in and play. We will have probably the biggest crowd all year. They know what they’re up against. I just tell them, go out and play as hard as you can and hopefully it will make us better.”

When they aren’t playing one of the state’s top two teams, Ardmore has been competitive. Four of the Tigers’ losses have come by five points or less.

But Owens isn’t looking for moral victories as Ardmore enters the second half of the season.

“I hope the outcome of playing games like this will make us better against other schools,” said Owens. “I’m trying to build a program here, so now these guys know what it takes to compete on this level.”

Ardmore and Mae Jemison will tip off from Ardmore with a varsity girls game at 6 p.m. tonight followed by the varsity boys.