The Mount Airy girls find themselves in unfamiliar territory tonight in Greensboro, as they take on Mitchell County (23-4) in the Western Regional 1A girls basketball semifinal.

The Granite Bears eked out a come-from-behind win over a tough East Surry squad last Friday, 59-47, to advance to the regional round.

Mitchell is the No. 1 seed from the Western Highlands Conference and is built around point-forward Laken Norris, who enters the game averaging just more than 25 points per game and has scored more than 2,200 points in her high school career.

“She is a do-it-all point forward,” coach Howard Mayo said. “She plays point guard, but she plays inside sometimes. She is a very good ball player, and they have some other outstanding players.”

Mayo said a good comparison for Norris might be Bishop McGuinness star junior Megan Buckland. While Buckland is quite a bit taller, both players are very versatile with and without the ball.

“She attacks the basket very well and she can shoot the 3,” Mayo said. “We are going to have our hands full containing her.”

Stopping Norris is obviously a big priority for the Bears, but Mayo said his team must focus on doing the things it has done well all season in order to survive and advance.

“As the old saying goes, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’” Mayo said. “We want to push the ball, we want to play good pressure defense, and we want to attack the basket. We feel if we can do that, we have a good chance to keep playing.”

Tonight will mark the first time any of the Bears’ players have made a trip past the sectional finals.

Mayo said he wants to impart to his team that be it regional final or first contest of the season, the game itself never changes.

“It’s a game and we are just going to go out and remember it’s a game,” Mayo said. “Tomorrow they are going to wake up and there are going to be other things to do, and we need to just go out and play the game. Whichever team can settle down and play will be fine.”

Mount Airy and Mitchell will tip off at 7 p.m. at the UNC-Greensboro gymnasium located on the university’s campus.

The winner of Friday’s game will face the winner of Bishop McGuinness and Avery County, also out of the Western Highlands conference.

Contact Thomas Smith at tsmith@mtairynews.com or 719-1920.