Who wants the bragging rights this year?

4A No. 5 Lake Travis (23-3, 3-0) heads to No. 8 Killeen (20-7, 3-0) Friday with district title hopes and pride on the line. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Just like last year, it should be a battle of two of the best teams in Region IV, and a preview of what’s to come in some of the biggest games in the playoffs.

“They’re good, they’re the most talented squad in the district and they have eight guys that could start,” Lake Travis head coach Jan Jernberg said of Killeen. “They have some big guys, but we’re bigger across the board. So it’s going to be fun to see how it shakes out.”

The Cavaliers took two of three meetings with Killeen last season en route to Region IV championship loss to LBJ. The game Killeen did win, though, was the final district game which was held in the home of the Kangaroos. This year, that game will come before the teams meet again in Lake Travis. Both games filled the respective gyms, and the final meeting in the third round of the playoffs packed an even bigger gym at Concordia University.

Like last year, the showdown will be a tough one for Lake Travis. But some things have changed for both teams, as well. Jernberg thinks the changes in Killeen favor his squad, which doesn’t have the same scoring potential of the 2008-09 squad, but plays the same shutdown defense.

“Last year’s Killeen team was better but they didn’t exploit their opponents the way they should have. They just didn’t go enough to their big man, Cory Jefferson,” Jernberg said. “This year, Ta’shawn Thomas is a younger, smaller version of Jefferson. What it comes down to is they score a lot of points, but they also haven’t played anyone that plays as good of defense as we do.”

That, again, will be the difference for the Cavaliers, according their head coach.

“We’re capable of going to a different level defensively than anyone else in the district,” he said. “If we can beat Killeen, I think we’re definitely capable of the final four in the region. That’s definitely how I’ll feel about this team if it happens.”

It wasn’t that long ago, though, that beating Killeen was a mountain that couldn’t be climbed by the Cavaliers. But in the last three seasons, Lake Travis has played with the Kangaroos as well as anyone, and has exposed a few of the team’s major weaknesses in critical moments. Facing a double-digit deficit early in last year’s playoff match-up, Killeen opted for long-range jump shots and three-pointers instead of feeding Jefferson inside, and when the shots went cold, the hole got even deeper. Wins like that have the Cavaliers confident that they can always play with Killeen teams.

“I fully believe we’ve gained confidence the last few years because of the defense against them,” Jernberg said. “We’re happy to go toe-to-toe with them, we don’t talk about it, we just go out and do it. They can talk all they want.”

Of course, the statement isn’t always heeded, even by the coach that made it. But that’s how it goes with heated rivalries.

It didn’t change the game plan, though.

“The key is hankering down, tying them up and making them work for every single point. For us, we’ve got to get in a rhythm and do what works best for us.”