Greg Scott drew on an old clich é while talking about Cass High's preparations for its visit to Rockdale County this evening in a game that determines who advances to the next round of the state basketball playoffs.

"This is a true David vs. Goliath matchup," Scott said. "We have some 6-footers and some 6-foot-1-inchers, and they have some who are 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-9."

Scott said the Colonels -- who play Rockdale at 7 p.m. -- will be at a decided height disadvantage for the game and will have to play accordingly.

"We've played teams with one player this tall, but we've never played a team with so many who are so tall and athletic," Scott said. "They really like to get the ball down the court and they love to shoot 3s."

The coach may be guilty of a little understatement, too, instead of exaggeration when talking about this collection of tall trees posing as an opponent.

Rockdale is the No. 7 team in the GACA state coaches poll and the reason is clear. It sports a 23-5 overall record with an 8-0 record in 8B-AAAA. The Bulldogs have scored 70 points per game while giving up 54 points. Cass (21-8, 10-4 in Region 7-AAAA) averages 59 points per outing while surrendering 53 points.

Scott said Rockdale's record does contain something that might be helpful to the chances of the Colonels.

"When they are held to 60 points and under, they are 2-4 on the season," he said.

Scott said that will be the focus of the approach by Cass, making its host work for each bucket that squeezes through the nets for them.

"If they don't shoot well, and we don't give them second and third shots or some easy buckets in transition," he said, "then we should have a shot."

He said Cass will focus on blocks of four minutes. "We want to play the first four minutes and not let them get out to a big run on us. We want the same at the end of the first quarter and be in it at each four-minute mark."

Scott said the Bulldog transition game moves quickly and all phases of its attack feature the dunk. "They have a high/low game where [Deshaun] Sunderhaus moves to the free-throw line and tries to connect with [Darion] Clark at the backboard."

He said the 6-foot, 9-inch Sunderhaus has quite a dunker with the 6-foot, 7-inch Clark, who's a big, physical force deep in the paint.

Scott said the Bulldogs also have a gifted point guard in Kevin Ware, who is 6-foot, 5-inches tall and has signed to play with the University of Tennessee.

"We can't just stay in one defense with them," he said. "We have to mix up our defense based on tempo, foul trouble and a whole lot of other variables that go into what we do."

Scott said while Cass has a height disadvantage, he likes where it's at mentally for this game and the experience it went through to get this far.

It has played Sequoyah, the state' No. 1 ranked team, as well as Chattahoochee, now ranked No. 10, both parked in its region. It's played other top teams, too, and has earned its spurs throughout a long, arduous season.

"Our kids are not scared. We've played 25 games -- like everyone else -- to get ready and we realize that anything can happen in a game like this," he said. "We're just going to try to make it happen."

Cass also has some experience playing this long in the tournament.

It has made the Sweet 16 two of the past three years. The Colonels also went to the Elite 8 in 2002-03 and this year's edition wants to add to that tradition.

While the Colonels don't have super stars, they have a lot of players capable of contributing to a victory.

"We are truly a team," Scott said. "We share the wealth, so to speak. I know Jay [Stephens] scored 26 points for us the other night, but he's averaging about 11 or 12 points, Tarris [Batiste] has about nine, Sam [Taylor] has nine and several average 5 or 6 points. We all contribute to our victories."

He said at this point, it's about getting the points to add up to a victory. "We're all at the point where we win and advance or lose and we get to watch."