SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2023​

HOOPS: New RVA Sports Network Top 10 High School Polls​

While the number one teams remain intact for another week,
there is shifting elsewhere in the latest RVA Sports Network Top 10 high school boys and girls basketball polls,
based on results through Saturday January 14th.
********************

BOYS:

1) John Marshall (13-0, was #1)
2) Varina (10-1, was #3)
3) Hopewell (11-2, was #4)
4) L.C. Bird (9-4, was #7)
5) Manchester (12-1, was #2)
6) Steward (11-4, was #5)
7) James River (9-3, was #8)
8) St. Christopher's (9-3, was #6)
9) Glen Allen (11-3, was #10)
10) Matoaca (10-3, NEW)

Dropping Out: Mills Godwin (10-3, was #10)

KEY GAMES THIS WEEK:

#1 John Marshall vs. Grayson (GA), Monday, 10:45am, Kevin Durant Classic
#2 Varina vs. Saint Frances Academy, Monday, 4pm, DTLR MLK Classic, College Park, MD
#4 L.C. Bird at #10 Matoaca, Wednesday, 7:15pm
Highland Springs at Hermitage, Wednesday, 7pm
Monacan at #5 Manchester, Friday, 7:15pm
#7 James River at Cosby, Friday, 7:15pm



GIRLS:

1) Thomas Dale (12-2, was #1)
2) Glen Allen (11-0, was #3)
3) Manchester (11-3, was #2)
4) James River (10-2, was #4)
5) Saint Gertrude (13-3, was #5)
6) L.C. Bird (10-2, was #7)
7) Steward (13-4, was #8)
8) Highland Springs (8-3, was #6)
9) Hopewell (9-1, was #10)
10) Monacan (9-5, returning)

Dropping Out: Mechanicsville (11-1, was #9)


KEY GAMES THIS WEEK:

#7 Steward at Catholic, Tuesday, 6pm
#10 Monacan at #6 L.C. Bird, Tuesday, 7:15pm
#8 Highland Springs at Mechanicsville, Tuesday, 7:30pm
#5 Saint Gertrude at St. Anne's-Belfield (13-1), Wednesday, 5pm
Cosby at #4 James River, Wednesday, 7:15pm
#3 Manchester at #10 Monacan, Thursday, 7:15pm
Thomas Edison vs. #2 Glen Allen, Saturday, 2:30pm, Highland Springs HS
Massaponax at #8 Highland Springs, Saturday, 7pm
#7 Steward vs. St Anne's-Belfield, Saturday 8:30pm, Highland Springs HS







Posted by robwitham at 3:25 PM

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2023​

HOOPS: New RVA Sports Network Top 10 High School Polls​

While the number one teams remain intact for another week,
there is shifting elsewhere in the latest RVA Sports Network Top 10 high school boys and girls basketball polls,
based on results through Saturday January 14th.
********************

BOYS:

1) John Marshall (13-0, was #1)
2) Varina (10-1, was #3)
3) Hopewell (11-2, was #4)
4) L.C. Bird (9-4, was #7)
5) Manchester (12-1, was #2)
6) Steward (11-4, was #5)
7) James River (9-3, was #8)
8) St. Christopher's (9-3, was #6)
9) Glen Allen (11-3, was #10)
10) Matoaca (10-3, NEW)

Dropping Out: Mills Godwin (10-3, was #10)

KEY GAMES THIS WEEK:

#1 John Marshall vs. Grayson (GA), Monday, 10:45am, Kevin Durant Classic
#2 Varina vs. Saint Frances Academy, Monday, 4pm, DTLR MLK Classic, College Park, MD
#4 L.C. Bird at #10 Matoaca, Wednesday, 7:15pm
Highland Springs at Hermitage, Wednesday, 7pm
Monacan at #5 Manchester, Friday, 7:15pm
#7 James River at Cosby, Friday, 7:15pm



GIRLS:

1) Thomas Dale (12-2, was #1)
2) Glen Allen (11-0, was #3)
3) Manchester (11-3, was #2)
4) James River (10-2, was #4)
5) Saint Gertrude (13-3, was #5)
6) L.C. Bird (10-2, was #7)
7) Steward (13-4, was #8)
8) Highland Springs (8-3, was #6)
9) Hopewell (9-1, was #10)
10) Monacan (9-5, returning)

Dropping Out: Mechanicsville (11-1, was #9)


KEY GAMES THIS WEEK:

#7 Steward at Catholic, Tuesday, 6pm
#10 Monacan at #6 L.C. Bird, Tuesday, 7:15pm
#8 Highland Springs at Mechanicsville, Tuesday, 7:30pm
#5 Saint Gertrude at St. Anne's-Belfield (13-1), Wednesday, 5pm
Cosby at #4 James River, Wednesday, 7:15pm
#3 Manchester at #10 Monacan, Thursday, 7:15pm
Thomas Edison vs. #2 Glen Allen, Saturday, 2:30pm, Highland Springs HS
Massaponax at #8 Highland Springs, Saturday, 7pm
#7 Steward vs. St Anne's-Belfield, Saturday 8:30pm, Highland Springs HS




Posted by robwitham at 3:25 PM

Congratulations to SFUWO for winning this week's Pick em!

SFUWO 11
Gunz41 9
Scalvinscaliwag 6
Champ Cage 6
mike salem 4
m-squared 4
Ampipe_High 4
ClarkeFan83 4
tylerrossfc10 4
FoxesPride 4
-COUNTRY-CLUB-JOE- 4

(Lnacerhoo 8)



SFUWO 19
Gunz41 17
Champ Cage 14
FoxesPride 14
-------------------------(eliminated) Tiebreaker- reg season pts
mike salem 14
Scalvinscaliwag 14
ClarkeFan83 12
Ampipe_High 12
tylerrossfc10 10
m-squared 10
-COUNTRY-CLUB-JOE- 10

2A football.

Who has the most best gameday experience for fans.
Best game atmosphere?
Best student sections?
Best crowds?
Best playing field?
Best concession stands?
Best looking field?

Feel free to add another category.

This is one of your specialties. We now have five HC vacancies in the Richmond area. How many more do you anticipate? Do you see any of the openings as a golden opportunity?

BTW, has Charlottesville named a coach yet?

Final from last night

New school record in the boys 4by 400 and a first place finish! 3:25.52!!
Awesome job by Robbie Wilkerson (JR), Jessiah Parker (SO), Preston Douglas (SO), Lucas Mendoza (SO)! 👏🏻🥇
@CosbyAthletics

Henrico HS Student Activities
@HenricoWarrior

#Henrico is excited to announce DeShawn Holmes as new head FB coach. Holmes is a HCPS graduate, played 4yrs at UR serving as captain Senior year. Holmes is currently on staff in the HHS English dept, serves and an Administrative Aide in addition to being on FB staff since 15'.

After Friday night's humbling loss to Staunton, Riverheads needed a confidence boost and got it tonight with a dominating 56-30 rout of the visiting Minutemen. The Big Red controlled the action so completely that........Liberty did not score its first point until the 5 minute mark of the second quarter.........at halftime two different Riverheads players each had more points than Liberty had as a team.....and Liberty did not reach double digits on the scoreboard until the midway point of the third quarter.

The Gladiators were able to substitute frequently and as a result, all nine players got plenty of playing time and each of them scored. Sophomore sharpshooter Will Gardner returned to his early-season form and led the scoring with 19 to be the only Gladiator in double figures, with seven other guys scoring between 4 and 7 points. Gardner hit three triples and three other guys combined for another four shots from behind the arc.

It was a rather hectic game and was tightly called by the officials. Of course there were the usual cat calls and raised eyebrows over some of the calls, or lack thereof, but for the most part I thought they did a good job. It was one of those games where one team got the better of things in the first half and the other in the second.

With the win, Riverheads is now an even 7-7 on the season, with sights still set on a possible winning season and/or a Region 1-B playoff berth. Their next two games will be county rivalry battles, as they will host Stuarts Draft Tuesday and travel to Buffalo Gap Friday.

Tonight's JV game was much more entertaining and by far the more competitive of the two games. The respectable delegation from Liberty that made the trip must have been comprised mainly of JV family members because they were much louder and more enthusiastic during that game.

Of course part of that would be because they led most of the way. But RHS finally came to life in the fourth quarter and pulled out an exciting 37-32 win. Prior to that final period, Liberty had Riverheads on the ropes and in fact held the Big Red to just two third-quarter points. The Minutemen led 22-15 heading into the fourth but in one of the strangest stats you will ever hear, Riverheads scored just those 15 points through the first 21 minutes of action, but scored nine points in the first 1:21 of the fourth quarter as Chase Donathan and Ethan Mulcahy combined to hit three quick triples to surge the Big Red into the lead.

Moments later, Brody Phillips dropped in the fourth triple of the quarter and down the stretch Mulcahy fired in one more. But Liberty was keeping pace and the game was tied at 32-32 entering the final minute or so, when Riverheads was able to squeak out the win. Just as important as all those triples were four pressure packed free throws from Chris Dotson. His twin Jayden made his mark tonight also as he hit Riverheads' only triple of the first half.

So it was a good night to be a Gladiator as they completed a 4-0 sweep of the Class 3-A Minutemen, having also won both games last week on Liberty's home floor. The two teams had never met before and the idea for this home and home series actually came about because a holiday tournament Riverheads was hosting was canceled due to weather. The Gladiators were scheduled to host Liberty, Mountain View and Harrisonburg over two nights and when that event did not materialize, RHS instead scheduled series with MV and LB. Perhaps the same four schools can try the tournament idea again next season.

Nm

Nm

Skyline is 14-0. Big test against Meridian next week.

Pick a winner for each game. For the bottom 2 games with double asterisks (**) select a score. Closest to the actual score gets 5 pts.

JAX @ KC*
NYG @ PHI*
CIN @ BUF**
DAL @ SF**

*2 pts each
** closest score 5 pts

Most basketball fans here in the Valley are very much aware of the tradition established in Staunton at (then) Robert E Lee High School under the legendary Paul Hatcher. When he retired a decade or so ago, there was a period of adjustment not only about the basketball program but about the school itself in terms of the name change, etc. As a result there were some lean years there for awhile.

But if what we witnessed tonight at Riverheads is any example, The Storm as they are now called under the direction of Coach Terrell Mickens, once again has a very established program with a DEEP well of talent and the Shenandoah District needs to take note of what the forecast looks like for the next few years. To say that The Storm was impressive tonight against the Gladiators would be an understatement.

In both the JV and varsity contests, the visiting Storm rolled out anywhere from 13-15 athletes, each one seeming to be as talented as the one beside him. They had size, they had depth, they had quickness, and last but CERTAINLY not least, they could shoot the lights out. As a result they overwhelmed Riverheads at every position and rolled to easy wins in both contests.

In the JV game, Riverheads at least scored first, as they took a 1-0 lead. But in no time at all, Staunton turned on its pressure defense and surged ahead 9-1 and it only got worse from there as they raced to a 72-27 win. One guy in particular, freshman Anthony Renne, had just an unconscious night from three-point range. The JV Gladiators did the best they could but it was simply a total mismatch.

As the Varsity teams took the floor, the first thing fans noticed was the discrepancy in both numbers and size. Staunton had 14 players to Riverheads nine, and also had a decided height advantage. They too turned on the speed almost from the opening tip and jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Riverheads did rally briefly and by the end of the first quarter the Staunton lead was only 15-10.

But the visitors poured it on in the second quarter to the tune of 22-5 and eventually won 73-44. Just like the JV team, their three point accuracy was uncanny as shots were made by far too many players to list. Not only that but senior Maaliah Cabell threw down a couple of monster dunks that would make a lot of college highlight reels.

In short, the two teams we saw tonight are clearly the class of the district. I personally cannot see how Wilson beat Staunton earlier this season but my money will be on The Storm when that re-match takes place. Not only that but based on tonight, I would give Staunton the best odds for making some serious post-season noise.

As for The Storm JVs, maybe it was RHS' misfortune that this was the night they chose to play their best game of the season, but whatever the case, the team they put on the floor tonight could beat many of the Varsity teams we have seen this year. So yes, Shenandoah District, The Storm was the real deal tonight and most likely will be for the foreseeable future.

But since my job here is to hype up the Gladiators, they have another game Saturday night with Liberty Bedford, so they need to re-focus fast and get ready for that one, especially since they swept the Minutemen down there. So the best thing The Big Red can do, and I suspect the coaches have already covered this, is to put tonight's games in the rear view mirror and just accept the fact that some nights you are going to meet teams that are significantly better than you are. After all, the Gladiators have had three games this year in which they were the ones who rolled to a huge victory over an undermanned opponent. As the old saying goes.......sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes you are the bug.

After the Liberty game, the Gladiators then turn their attention to Stuarts Draft, which will visit Tuesday. Meanwhile, good news from Staunton tonight as the Lady Gladiators hit the road to the Paul Hatcher gym and tamed the Staunton ladies 43-29. That was a much needed win for them as they are still in playoff contention and beating a Class 3-A team is a good way to stay there.

I was checking out MaxPreps and the top 2 teams were from VA. Don't know if it's a typo or not.
1 John Marshall
2 Paul VI
3 Dyncanville

I know a bunch of their assistants have applied for jobs....will one of them get it?

I will add more as they come in.

Franklin 65 Windsor 46
JI Burton 86 Castlewood 53
Middlesex 69 Carver Academy 51
Eastside 64 Thomas Walker 39
Narrows 63 Parry McCluer 52
Honaker 56 Grundy 40
Staunton 73 Riverheads 44
Chilhowie 71 Rural Retreat 54
Auburn 65 George Wythe 53. Big win for Auburn in a battle between two top 5 teams
Twin Springs 79 Rye Cove 30

Nm

Nm

How do we play Springers and Freedom? We used to playing IMG Dematha and the big dawgs we don’t want no scrubs on dis schedule. Come to Forest Hill if you want that smoke! Coach Scott already da GOAT of VA! 116 kids D1 in 5 seasons at Life!

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