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a few notes on the 1A Final 8 Boys Basketball...

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uvacavs1

VaPreps All District
Jul 30, 2010
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Okay, so the Far Far West gets to host the 1st two rounds of Basketball (in Bristol) which does give a hefty advantage to those closer (put the tournament in the middle of the state at least, but that has been argued before).

Now the East does get to host the Championship at VCU (playing in that fine venue is very different than playing in a tight high school gym, so I'm not sure how much advantage is gained from close proximity if an Eastern school or two survives to make it).

(I like going to games at VCU, sorry HR6. Go VCU Rams (got a Masters degree from there). Shaka who? He never should have left...Go Coach Wade!)

The Final Top Ten Poll had three Western teams in the top three - we shall see if is accurate at the end of the tourney (Honaker, GW, Radford).

West seeds in order - 1 Radford 2 GW 3 Honaker 4 Eastside

East seeds in order - 1 Essex 2 Lancaster 3 Altavista 4 Mathews

Radford, Essex and Lancaster would be my favorites (again hard to say with games being played way out there, too many wild variables can occur on a trip like that). Altavista v GW is a toss up.

Poor Mathews has to travel 393 miles and most likely loses pretty big to Radford. I hope not though and am pulling for the Blue Devils.

Lancaster goes 367 miles to Honaker's 48. Essex goes 363 miles to Eastside travelling 53.
 
Virginia High is not a typical high school gym. It's like an arena that seats 2,500. Arena seating
 
NNDman said:
Virginia High is not a typical high school gym. It's like an arena that seats 2,500. Arena seating
Click to expand...

Thanks NNDman for that info. Never been that far in Western Virginia.

A VCU type arena seems to impact some player's depth perception, but I know that is matter of opinion or debate. Some say it makes no difference.

So logistics of travel and the details (routines) etc. are often hard to control on big trips. May or may not be a huge factor.
 
uvacavs1 said:
Okay, so the Far Far West gets to host the 1st two rounds of Basketball (in Bristol) which does give a hefty advantage to those closer (put the tournament in the middle of the state at least, but that has been argued before).

Now the East does get to host the Championship at VCU (playing in that fine venue is very different than playing in a tight high school gym, so I'm not sure how much advantage is gained from close proximity if an Eastern school or two survives to make it).

(I like going to games at VCU, sorry HR6. Go VCU Rams (got a Masters degree from there). Shaka who? He never should have left...Go Coach Wade!)

The Final Top Ten Poll had three Western teams in the top three - we shall see if is accurate at the end of the tourney (Honaker, GW, Radford).

West seeds in order - 1 Radford 2 GW 3 Honaker 4 Eastside

East seeds in order - 1 Essex 2 Lancaster 3 Altavista 4 Mathews

Radford, Essex and Lancaster would be my favorites (again hard to say with games being played way out there, too many wild variables can occur on a trip like that). Altavista v GW is a toss up.

Poor Mathews has to travel 393 miles and most likely loses pretty big to Radford. I hope not though and am pulling for the Blue Devils.

Lancaster goes 367 miles to Honaker's 48. Essex goes 363 miles to Eastside travelling 53.
Click to expand...


What a shame!
 
uvacavs1 said:
Okay, so the Far Far West gets to host the 1st two rounds of Basketball (in Bristol) which does give a hefty advantage to those closer (put the tournament in the middle of the state at least, but that has been argued before).

Now the East does get to host the Championship at VCU (playing in that fine venue is very different than playing in a tight high school gym, so I'm not sure how much advantage is gained from close proximity if an Eastern school or two survives to make it).

(I like going to games at VCU, sorry HR6. Go VCU Rams (got a Masters degree from there). Shaka who? He never should have left...Go Coach Wade!)

The Final Top Ten Poll had three Western teams in the top three - we shall see if is accurate at the end of the tourney (Honaker, GW, Radford).

West seeds in order - 1 Radford 2 GW 3 Honaker 4 Eastside

East seeds in order - 1 Essex 2 Lancaster 3 Altavista 4 Mathews

Radford, Essex and Lancaster would be my favorites (again hard to say with games being played way out there, too many wild variables can occur on a trip like that). Altavista v GW is a toss up.

Poor Mathews has to travel 393 miles and most likely loses pretty big to Radford. I hope not though and am pulling for the Blue Devils.

Lancaster goes 367 miles to Honaker's 48. Essex goes 363 miles to Eastside travelling 53.
Click to expand...
How's it going UVACavs1. I'm a current VCU student and DIE HEART RAMS FAN!! Love to see fellow Rams on the board! Hope our guys can make a run this year. Shaka who? Will Wade is doing great things. Love the staff and players we have in this program! Nice to have you on here.
 
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uvacavs1 said:
Thanks NNDman for that info. Never been that far in Western Virginia.

A VCU type arena seems to impact some player's depth perception, but I know that is matter of opinion or debate. Some say it makes no difference.
Click to expand...

So, the Bearcat Den isn't anything as big as the Seigel Center obviously, but is very nice. Perception seems to be an issue people out here talk about in this gym every year as there is quite a bit of room between the goal and stands behind it. And I would have guessed it seated more than 2500 honestly.
 
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DanvilleSportsHead said:
How's it going UVACavs1. I'm a current VCU student and DIE HEART RAMS FAN!! Love to see fellow Rams on the board! Hope our guys can make a run this year. Shaka who? Will Wade is doing great things. Love the staff and players we have in this program! Nice to have you on here.
Click to expand...

Thanks my man. Go VCU! You don't wanna go to War....with the Rams... ha

Like most everyone else around Central Va, I loved ole Shaka Smart. Coach Smart and his family were beloved in Richmond. He was considered more important than the Mayor himself in regards to the image of the City and so on.

I respect that he took a chance to go to the big time. However, if Smart continues with the down slide Texas has been on and if he doesn't turn it around soon, those sports mad Texans will fire his a-- just like they did Strong, the football coach.

Smart, while still at VCU, once said a former mentor (maybe a high school coach) gave him the great advice of "Don't run away from happiness." Maybe he should have stayed with that thought process.

Yes, Coach Wade is doing some great things I agree.
 
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WhoopyCushion said:
So, the Bearcat Den isn't anything as big as the Seigel Center obviously, but is very nice. Perception seems to be an issue people out here talk about in this gym every year as there is quite a bit of room between the goal and stands behind it. And I would have guessed it seated more than 2500 honestly.
Click to expand...


I was told it seated 3500.
 
uvacavs1 said:
Thanks my man. Go VCU! You don't wanna go to War....with the Rams... ha

Like most everyone else around Central Va, I loved ole Shaka Smart. Coach Smart and his family were beloved in Richmond. He was considered more important than the Mayor himself in regards to the image of the City and so on.

I respect that he took a chance to go to the big time. However, if Smart continues with the down slide Texas has been on and if he doesn't turn it around soon, those sports mad Texans will fire his a-- just like they did Strong, the football coach.

Smart, while still at VCU, once said a former mentor (maybe a high school coach) gave him the great advice of "Don't run away from happiness." Maybe he should have stayed with that thought process.

Yes, Coach Wade is doing some great things I agree.
Click to expand...
"Don't start no stuff won't be no stuff"!!! Yessssir you are absolutely right! I think things worked out ultimately in our favor. Though most of the major contributors are Coach Smart's players, Coach Wade has made things work. Doughty, Crowfield, DJ (I'm praying he plays Wednesday), Fraser (though he doesn't play much but has been clutch when he has played) and Hamdy have all came in and really meshed well with our guys. That's a sign of a great coach/ coaching staff. We had a bad game Saturday. Tillman didn't play as much and Mo and Jequan wasn't hitting anything. Though there were negatives, I'm happy as I saw a lot of positives. Johnny had a really good game, Dougie had a great game on the defensive end,Hamdy played better, Crowfield hit huge shots and we didn't give up! I really think we can do damage come NCAA time. I'll be going to Pittsburgh for the A-10 tournament and I pray that that's not the last time I'll see them in person. Seed wise, as long as we're not playing Kansas or Nova, I feel like we can beat anyone.
 
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I was simply going by the figure listed in the VHSL Member School Directory for Virginia High's gym. If it does seat 3,500 then that should be an awesome experience for the Essex, Lancaster and Mathews players.
 
NNDman said:
I was simply going by the figure listed in the VHSL Member School Directory for Virginia High's gym. If it does seat 3,500 then that should be an awesome experience for the Essex, Lancaster and Mathews players.
Click to expand...

I was in no way saying you were incorrect with the info just to clarify, but I couldn't find an official seating capacity. You are probably absolutely correct, I was just saying it looks bigger than that. And all seats are stadium seating, so that definitely can be deceiving with the size of the place and number of
seats for sure.
 
There is a rotation for basketball semifinals and quarterfinals that came into play this season. If my memory serves me correctly, next year 1A and 2A will move to Harrisonburg and the following year they move to Hampton Roads. I could be wrong but that is what I remember came into effect this year.
 
Maroons67 said:
What a shame!
Click to expand...

Well, I guess it could be looked upon as "what a shame." I assume you are a GW fan. Good luck to the Maroons. What did you think was a shame?

1) The fact that Essex and Lancaster have to travel what 6 1/2 hours or more compared to their opponent's 1 hour trip.

2) Mathews has to go the furthest of all (almost 400 miles) and, most likely, will be beaten soundly by Radford.

3) Had GW scored more than 33 points in the championship game and defeated Radford, GW would be playing Mathews instead of Altavista in the 1st round?

4) Of all 4 Eastern teams, Altavista has half the trip of the other three Eastern contenders. Still a long one though.

Dre says the tournament rotates which sounds good. So be it. Good luck to all those remaining. I'll tune in to the local broadcast for the Neck teams on WRAR in Tappahannock.
 
IIRC correctly the first two rounds return to Bristol next year and then to Harrisonburg in 2019. But my memory might be foggy.
 
uvacavs1 said:
Well, I guess it could be looked upon as "what a shame." I assume you are a GW fan. Good luck to the Maroons. What did you think was a shame?

1) The fact that Essex and Lancaster have to travel what 6 1/2 hours or more compared to their opponent's 1 hour trip.

2) Mathews has to go the furthest of all (almost 400 miles) and, most likely, will be beaten soundly by Radford.

3) Had GW scored more than 33 points in the championship game and defeated Radford, GW would be playing Mathews instead of Altavista in the 1st round?

4) Of all 4 Eastern teams, Altavista has half the trip of the other three Eastern contenders. Still a long one though.

Dre says the tournament rotates which sounds good. So be it. Good luck to all those remaining. I'll tune in to the local broadcast for the Neck teams on WRAR in Tappahannock.
Click to expand...


I think it is a shame that any school has to travel that far. It seems as though the people in the east seem to think that it is a lot farther from Richmond to Bristol than it is from Bristol to Richmond. We get to host once every 10 years or so and the eastern part of the state raises hell because of the travel. The tournament shou
uvacavs1 said:
Well, I guess it could be looked upon as "what a shame." I assume you are a GW fan. Good luck to the Maroons. What did you think was a shame?

1) The fact that Essex and Lancaster have to travel what 6 1/2 hours or more compared to their opponent's 1 hour trip.

2) Mathews has to go the furthest of all (almost 400 miles) and, most likely, will be beaten soundly by Radford.

3) Had GW scored more than 33 points in the championship game and defeated Radford, GW would be playing Mathews instead of Altavista in the 1st round?

4) Of all 4 Eastern teams, Altavista has half the trip of the other three Eastern contenders. Still a long one though.

Dre says the tournament rotates which sounds good. So be it. Good luck to all those remaining. I'll tune in to the local broadcast for the Neck teams on WRAR in Tappahannock.
Click to expand...
 
I said it in a previous post but the only issue I had with having the quarters and semis in Bristol was because the top seeds in the East should be rewarded. Surry girls and ARGS girls and Essex and Lancaster boys shouldn't have to travel 6 hours to " host" a state quarterfinal game. Same thing with the top seeds in the West if they had to travel East. In the past the top seeds would play at a supersite close to them in the quarters and then the semis and finals would be at VCU.
 
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uvacavs1 said:
Well, I guess it could be looked upon as "what a shame." I assume you are a GW fan. Good luck to the Maroons. What did you think was a shame?

1) The fact that Essex and Lancaster have to travel what 6 1/2 hours or more compared to their opponent's 1 hour trip.

2) Mathews has to go the furthest of all (almost 400 miles) and, most likely, will be beaten soundly by Radford.

3) Had GW scored more than 33 points in the championship game and defeated Radford, GW would be playing Mathews instead of Altavista in the 1st round?

4) Of all 4 Eastern teams, Altavista has half the trip of the other three Eastern contenders. Still a long one though.

Dre says the tournament rotates which sounds good. So be it. Good luck to all those remaining. I'll tune in to the local broadcast for the Neck teams on WRAR in Tappahannock.
Click to expand...
Listen to 105.5 KD Country for the Altavista game if you want to
 
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JMU - VHS - VCU - VHS - SCC - VHS
2018 19 20 21 22 23
virginia-hs-bearcats-1.jpg

"The Bearcat Den"
 
A couple of things here...

This isn't Virginia High's first rodeo at hosting the state tournament. Did for a couple of years when A and AA girls tourney was held in the fall.

Shaka Who? took your team to the Final Four. How many other VCU coaches have done the same? And he left for big time dollars in a bigger time conference.
 
Last edited:
I think NNDman is right that the 1-A quarters and semis will be in Bristol one more year and then move to H'burg in 2019. I remember reading that and being excited because my Gladiators were led this season by a strong freshmen class that just might be state-tournament-caliber by the time they are juniors and seniors, and if so, then they might get to play in H'burg one or both of their final years.
 
Thanks for the clarification on that. I just now recall when the list was first released that VHS was there 4 times in 7 years
 
Radford and them play there last week ? That's a huge advantage . You can't tell me this is the best vhsl can do . 1000 of gyms across the state of va and they have to go all the way to end Of the state to decide who gets to play at VCU .
 
HokieTDTech said:
Radford and them play there last week ? That's a huge advantage . You can't tell me this is the best vhsl can do . 1000 of gyms across the state of va and they have to go all the way to end Of the state to decide who gets to play at VCU .
Click to expand...


Do you think e like driving to the other end of the state in Richmond?
 
No problem personally with quarterfinal games being played at Virginia High. I do have a problem when teams who won their region or finished 2nd and who therefore should be playing a game at least close to them instead have to travel 6 or 7 hours to host. I think the VHSL just got lazy and said all of 1A here, 2A here etc. Easily could have worked it out like in the past where various super sites were used and the higher seeded team played in their area.
 
Maroons67 said:
Do you think I like driving to the other end of the state in Richmond?
Click to expand...

I can understand the frustration that many in the far West feel about having to always or often travel East, sometimes far to Richmond etc.

(Western VA has been upset about Eastern VA since back in the 1670s with something called Bacon's Rebellion ha (Western VA farmers v Eastern Elites). Heck, later during the Civil War, a part of Western VA seceded from Virginia! You ever thought about how West VA seceding from VA was legal and allowed but VA seceding from the Union was not, according to the Feds - kinda interesting but back to sports ha)

Remember though that Far East also almost always has a long trip to compete in the state tournaments.

Football goes to Salem - around a 4 to 5 hour drive for Neck, All Spring Sports (softball, soccer, track, baseball) goes to Radford 4 1/2 hour drive for Neck, 6+ hours for Northampton.
 
I guess though State tournaments in the middle of the state or rotating is the only way to go to be fair though.

As the other poster mentioned, all 4 West teams have played at least TWO games already at VA High this season (very recently).

With that type of arena style of a gym (looks great btw), it is definitely an advantage to the West there, plus they have much shorter travel distance as noted and will have way more West fans to cheer on their local or close teams....

as long as it rotates around, I suppose you just have to deal with it.
 
Lets all get together and find as many excuses as you can. Its the State Tournament it matters not where you play this is done it is a great experience for fans and teams make the best of it...........make your community proud and play winning basketball and make it to Richmond Thursday. I think our two teams from here are good enough to meet again Thursday the last thing they need is a bunch of adults moaning about the distance to Bristol............Ill bet 75% of the kids on the teams have never been to Bristol what a great sports town one of few cities where state line for Va. and Tn. is right down middle of State Street.
 
Hey folks, the gym at Virginia High is a very nice facility, and will accommodate all the needs
The VHSL needs to have present to host the tournament basketball rounds slated for Bristol.

It is good that some folks have never been to Bristol. Now you will get to finally see some of your
State that you did not know existed until now.

May I suggest you Google Bristol, Va and Bristol Tennessee before you head down I-81 and
Educate yourself on the greater Bristol area. Have a nice day or two!
 
HeyHokieTDTech, it might make you a more educated person if you crawl out from
Under that flat rock you have been living under, and see parts of your world you live in.

Most people are never too old to learn or see a new thing or two.
 
Don't hate it there just saying there is not much to do there . Never graduated from there had a lot of friends that went there Visited them a lot . Good luck today ! Go Colonels
 
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