HAMMOND — The matchup is painfully familiar but the opportunity is one the Lakeview Lady Gators basketball team has craved throughout the past year as they take the court this afternoon to play for the Non-Select Division IV state championship.

The top-seeded Lady Gators (29-4) will square off with No. 2 Arcadia (30-4) at 4 o’clock in the University Center on the Southeastern Louisiana University campus. The teams met last season in the state semifinals and the Lady Hornets, who went on to claim the state title, blew out Lakeview.

That 60-29 defeat has fueled Lakeview’s team since then. Led by two-time first-team All-State guard Timberlyn Washington, Lakeview has won 21 straight games. The last loss was to two-time defending Division I state champion Parkway, 49-41, on Dec. 10. Parkway is back in the big school championship game again.

Today’s contest will be broadcast on 100.7 FM KZBL and can be seen on a pay per view basis on NFHSNetwork.com or the LHSAANetwork app.

Classes at Lakeview were called off for today to allow students, faculty and staff to make the four-hour trip to Hammond to support the team. A large crowd gathered on campus Thursday for a sendoff as the Lady Gators headed back south.

They advanced to the finals by holding off Midland 48-44 Monday in a semifinal game, after hammering Homer 50-13 in a second-round game following a first-round bye.  Arcadia topped White Castle 55-47 Monday in a game the Lady Hornets led by 21.