2A Contenders?

[BigWinners]

Okay so as we kick into basketball season, who look to be early favorites to be at the top of their regions and potentially make a run to a state final?

Out west, the consensus top two contenders are Graham (who haven’t played yet) and Gate City, while Virginia High and Union are regarded as the next two. Both squads have looked impressive to start the year, Union at 5-0 and VHS winning an early season tourney.

I figure Radford and Draft are two early season favorites to get fed to the JM machine.

 

[10iceiceice]

Just watch them a couple of weeks ago against a very good Hopewell team that was runner up in the C3 state finals last year and they beat them by 25 and JM looked like a Jr College team . No one in C2 will beat them unfortunately. But good luck.

 

[MCAthletics]

Because the VHSL allows a particular school to make a mockery of the system, 3 of the 4 Region Champs, and the runner up in the other region who loses to a particular team, should just have a four team tournament among themselves for the TRUE 2A champion. Let the other school, who shall remain nameless, be declared the hybrid public-but allowed to do private school stuff, champ.

 

[blackknight_pride]

A: Greensville is the favorite, outside of John Marshall of course.

B: Madison, though they've had a rougher start, is the favorite once more. After them it's a log jam. Clarke, Strasburg, Central, Draft, Luray and Buckingham will all have a say.

C: Radford or Floyd. 'Nuff said.

D: Graham, Virginia, Union, Gate City, like you said.

 

[19GHS87]

So, who's playing for 2nd in the state? That's the real question. Having JM playing in the state tournament in 2A is just ridiculous. Looks like they would petition to play up just for basketball if their goal is to be on the national radar. Anyway,

in region D I would say Lebanon, Union, Gate City, Graham, V-High and Marion are all close to each other at the top. It's hard to tell who will come out of D this season.

 

[BigWinners]

Just watch them a couple of weeks ago against a very good Hopewell team that was runner up in the C3 state finals last year and they beat them by 25 and JM looked like a Jr College team . No one in C2 will beat them unfortunately. But good luck.

They beat Woodside in the fall too, the top 757 public school. It’s like Kansas playing UVA Wise when they play 2A teams.

 

[BigWinners]

A: Greensville is the favorite, outside of John Marshall of course.

B: Madison, though they've had a rougher start, is the favorite once more. After them it's a log jam. Clarke, Strasburg, Central, Draft, Luray and Buckingham will all have a say.

C: Radford or Floyd. 'Nuff said.

D: Graham, Virginia, Union, Gate City, like you said.

So Madison is the top team in 2B? I just said Draft bc they’re always good.

What happened to Dan River? Not long ago they were state title contenders routinely.

 

[10iceiceice]

So, who's playing for 2nd in the state? That's the real question. Having JM playing in the state tournament in 2A is just ridiculous. Looks like they would petition to play up just for basketball if their goal is to be on the national radar. Anyway,

in region D I would say Lebanon, Union, Gate City, Graham, V-High and Marion are all close to each other at the top. It's hard to tell who will come out of D this season.

If I'm not mistaken they did petition. Not sure what happen. But living in the city of Richmond is different than rural areas schools when it comes to rules about what school kids want to go to. JM.

 

[BigWinners]

If I'm not mistaken they did petition. Not sure what happen. But living in the city of Richmond is different than rural areas schools when it comes to rules about what school kids want to go to. JM.

Yeah I don’t blame JM whatsoever. This is the VHSLs mess and they should allow them to play at 4A or higher for basketball and let them remain in 2A for the other sports. Don’t punish other sports bc of their basketball success but they gain absolutely nothing from playing in the 2A tourney.

 

[TS69]

JM did ask to play up. Denied by VHSL. Heard from a friend, once connected with the upper echelon of power, the VHSL thought it would set a bad precedent. Imagine that - no backbone like a jellyfish. One solution might be go back to the way it once was when I began coaching many years ago. A high school coach or an assistant could not coach their teams out of season in summer leagues, travel ball, or AAU. Only exception was team camps on college campuses. Now we got around that by having a couple no basketball players from other sports on the summer league teams. But when I began my career there wasn’t so much emphasis on travel teams sponsored by Nike, UA, Adidas and so forth. College coaches actually attended high school games and or practices. Just food for thought. As with most things money speaks. Who the hell ever thought NIL would come to existence.

 

[10iceiceice]

Before we know it high school kids will be getting paid to transfer and get payed for their talent and name.. it might be happening now.

 

[M11H16D18H]

A: Greensville is the favorite, outside of John Marshall of course.

B: Madison, though they've had a rougher start, is the favorite once more. After them it's a log jam. Clarke, Strasburg, Central, Draft, Luray and Buckingham will all have a say.

C: Radford or Floyd. 'Nuff said.

D: Graham, Virginia, Union, Gate City, like you said.

Floyd will be missing the kid who was in the wreck. Looks like he will be okay thankfully, but will hurt depth going forward. Radford is not Radford everyone has grown to know. I am sure they will be there for a chance in the end but......not a given.

 

[blackknight_pride]

Floyd will be missing the kid who was in the wreck. Looks like he will be okay thankfully, but will hurt depth going forward. Radford is not Radford everyone has grown to know. I am sure they will be there for a chance in the end but......not a given.

Would not be surprised if other C teams creep in. Giving the nod to Radford out of respect for the program, but wouldn’t be surprised if someone else comes out of C. Very good news to hear the Floyd kid will be alright. Life is precious.

 

[blackknight_pride]

So Madison is the top team in 2B? I just said Draft bc they’re always good.

What happened to Dan River? Not long ago they were state title contenders routinely.

Personally I would say yes, Madison is still the favorite. Returned just about everyone from last years Region champ. Tough comp so far with two losses to Class 4 Orange and lost a rivalry game on the road to William Monroe. Once Bull Run play gets going we’ll have a better idea, but they beat Strasburg three or four times last year and Strasburg is worse than last year (I think at least). Clarke will also be a tough test. I’ve seen Draft play and don’t think they’ll have much for Madison. Central will muck things up too. Almost beat Clarke on Tuesday.

 

[MCAthletics]

Luray is a sleeper in Region B.

 

[MCAthletics]

MC pulls out a tough 45-44 win at Luray to go to 2-0 in the BRD. The road doesn’t get any easier this weekend when they play Spotswood and Staunton. I hope this very tough non district schedule pays off down the road.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

So Madison is the top team in 2B? I just said Draft bc they’re always good.

What happened to Dan River? Not long ago they were state title contenders routinely.

I get jumped by Southside posters when I say that sports down that way isn’t the same anymore. In my lifetime GW Danville, Dan River, Magna Vista, and Martinsville had teams they could compete/ beat those superteams like John Marshall and Woodside. I would say that whole 58 corridor from South Hill to Martinsville is down really bad, collectively.

 

[BigWinners]

I get jumped by Southside posters when I say that sports down that way isn’t the same anymore. In my lifetime GW Danville, Dan River, Magna Vista, and Martinsville had teams they could compete/ beat those superteams like John Marshall and Woodside. I would say that whole 58 corridor from South Hill to Martinsville is down really bad, collectively.

Yeah man years past it seemed like whoever advanced from the Mahavi/DR gauntlet was gonna be a serious threat in 2A but now, both seem to be an afterthought.

 

[19GHS87]

A Young Graham team with a win over Cross Town Rival Bluefield, WV tonight 58-56

 

[BoKnowsSports]

Yeah man years past it seemed like whoever advanced from the Mahavi/DR gauntlet was gonna be a serious threat in 2A but now, both seem to be an afterthought.

Covid year hurt Dan River, Martinsville and Tunstall. All 3 teams were going to be very good that year but weren’t able to play. Tunstall was able to recover, the other two schools didn’t. Dan River had a great run. Their 2009 and 2012 teams are probably two of the 15 best teams in VHSL history to not win a state championship. It’s insane to see them fall so far.

 

[MCAthletics]

Covid year hurt Dan River, Martinsville and Tunstall. All 3 teams were going to be very good that year but weren’t able to play. Tunstall was able to recover, the other two schools didn’t. Dan River had a great run. Their 2009 and 2012 teams are probably two of the 15 best teams in VHSL history to not win a state championship. It’s insane to see them fall so far.

That 2008-2009 season may have had 4 of the best 2A teams in the same season ever. Madison beat Dan River in the Region B championship to remain undefeated. James River beat Radford to win Region C. DR staged a great comeback to beat Madison in the state semi and end MC’s 28 game winning streak. Radford then returned the favor by defeating JR to get to the championship. Radford handled DR in the finals. Either of those four could have won the title that year. The next year MC went undefeated to win 1A and James River won 2A. If the VHSL had not done a weird reclassification that cycle, we probably would’ve had a Madison/James River final.

 

[BigWinners]

Covid year hurt Dan River, Martinsville and Tunstall. All 3 teams were going to be very good that year but weren’t able to play. Tunstall was able to recover, the other two schools didn’t. Dan River had a great run. Their 2009 and 2012 teams are probably two of the 15 best teams in VHSL history to not win a state championship. It’s insane to see them fall so far.

I’m not that upset Mahavi and DR didn’t play the COVID year, that was when Union was able to win their state title lol. Some good teams that season tho, East Rock with Nickel, Cormanys senior year at Radford, a good Graham team, James River I think was good too. Would either DR or Martinsville been able to snip Radford? Radford was very very good and super tough, PJ Prileou was a defensive wizard and quick as hell.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

I’m not that upset Mahavi and DR didn’t play the COVID year, that was when Union was able to win their state title lol. Some good teams that season tho, East Rock with Nickel, Cormanys senior year at Radford, a good Graham team, James River I think was good too. Would either DR or Martinsville been able to snip Radford? Radford was very very good and super tough, PJ Prileou was a defensive wizard and quick as hell.

Dan River had Robert Carter Jr, Tavion Belcher and Emmanuel White who all could give you a 20 piece. Dan River went 20-3 their junior year and was upset by Glenvar in the region semis. Martinsville had Jaheim Niblett and the young man who went to Shaw University and Tunstall had D’dric Rogers and Jamison Graves who were All Region players their freshman year. The area was rich with talent that year. Tunstall and Carlisle are the areas premier teams now.

 

[BigWinners]

Dan River had Robert Carter Jr, Tavion Belcher and Emmanuel White who all could give you a 20 piece. Dan River went 20-3 their junior year and was upset by Glenvar in the region semis. Martinsville had Jaheim Niblett and the young man who went to Shaw University and Tunstall had D’dric Rogers and Jamison Graves who were All Region players their freshman year. The area was rich with talent that year. Tunstall and Carlisle are the areas premier teams now.

Region C would have been a war then. Between JR, Dan River, Mahavi and Radford, that’s four super talented, athletic teams. Union could have played with any of them, but the size of Mahavi may have given them the most problems. Bunch, who won POY over Nickel, and Cusano were 6’5 wing guys who could handle and shoot so if you had size that would really slow down the Bear attack. Nickel was the best player obviously, he was getting high D1 looks, but that ER team was not accustomed to Region C/D style rough defense and their coach let them get beat in the first quarter by not stopping a huge Bear run. Martinsville was always well coached, they would have been a very tough out for anybody.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

Region C would have been a war then. Between JR, Dan River, Mahavi and Radford, that’s four super talented, athletic teams. Union could have played with any of them, but the size of Mahavi may have given them the most problems. Bunch, who won POY over Nickel, and Cusano were 6’5 wing guys who could handle and shoot so if you had size that would really slow down the Bear attack. Nickel was the best player obviously, he was getting high D1 looks, but that ER team was not accustomed to Region C/D style rough defense and their coach let them get beat in the first quarter by not stopping a huge Bear run. Martinsville was always well coached, they would have been a very tough out for anybody.

Union was due to win a state championship in basketball. They came so close but had to deal with Mac a few years before COVID.

 

[BigWinners]

Union was due to win a state championship in basketball. They came so close but had to deal with Mac a few years before COVID.

Had Cusano not moved, they would have been a real contender the last two years or so as well. There’s always talented athletes in BSG but they were blessed with a few legit pure basketball players.

But yes, having to deal with a future NBA dunk champ and a legit pro made it damn near impossible in itself but when he’s surrounded by two more D1 kids, it’s game over. Mac alone was a beast but when you added Ervin and Dean, you’re in for a long night esp with a HOF coach on bench.

 

[EPJr]

If I'm not mistaken they did petition. Not sure what happen. But living in the city of Richmond is different than rural areas schools when it comes to rules about what school kids want to go to. JM.

the VHSL executive committee rejected the petition (2x)
not sure what happened but they played in Class 3 for years with the similar population. I tried looking through the meeting notes (a herculean task) but could not find the rationale other than they wanted to play up over their population class. That is apparently now a no-no.

 

[hrsepasture1]

Martinsville may be down, but we're 6-3 so far and beat Orange Co last night by 9, who has beaten Madison twice this year. We've lost to 4A Rocky River out of the Charlotte area, 3A Tunstall and Eden-Morehead by 2 on a buzzer beater. As Bo has said bball is down on the Southside now and this is not one of the Dogs better teams, but they play very hard, play pretty good D, and have a little bit of talent. Probably not enough to win region C but that's why they play the games. Bo, everyone should come to Clevland Ave and witness a Mavahi and GW or Magna Vista game at least once. Pretty intense games no matter what the records of the teams are.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

The Piedmont will come down to Tunstall and Martinsville. Both teams should be able to make a run in the playoffs. C3 is tough but Tunstall beat a pretty stout Aleghany team and will get a crack at LCA tonight and either undefeated Rustburg or defending champ Northside tomorrow. Kudos to them for stepping the schedule up. Hope they can get Carlisle on the schedule. Martinsville will always be a very tough out. They may be down by their standards but they’re always very gritty and play with pride. Could see them in the state tournament this year with Radford being down.

 

[EPJr]

Martinsville may be down, but we're 6-3 so far and beat Orange Co last night by 9, who has beaten Madison twice this year. We've lost to 4A Rocky River out of the Charlotte area, 3A Tunstall and Eden-Morehead by 2 on a buzzer beater. As Bo has said bball is down on the Southside now and this is not one of the Dogs better teams, but they play very hard, play pretty good D, and have a little bit of talent. Probably not enough to win region C but that's why they play the games. Bo, everyone should come to Cleveland Ave and witness a Mavahi and GW or Magna Vista game at least once. Pretty intense games no matter what the records of the teams are.

miss seeing you guys on the state level

 

[hrsepasture1]

As Bo stated, Covid really did a number on our sports programs. Also with the recent coaching change we've had a few transitional problems but we are working thru them. JV and middle school teams are doing well so far, middle school beat Bonner yesterday, which as Bo would tell you very rarely happens. Also if we could have gotten a couple of the kids at Carlilse to stay at Martinsville we would definitely been a region contender. Bo, do you think Beamer would have made a difference for the Dogs??

 

[BoKnowsSports]

As Bo stated, Covid really did a number on our sports programs. Also with the recent coaching change we've had a few transitional problems but we are working thru them. JV and middle school teams are doing well so far, middle school beat Bonner yesterday, which as Bo would tell you very rarely happens. Also if we could have gotten a couple of the kids at Carlilse to stay at Martinsville we would definitely been a region contender. Bo, do you think Beamer would have made a difference for the Dogs??

Happy Holidays bro. I think Beamer and Branson would’ve been enough to get the Dawgs back to Richmond. IMO DeMario would’ve built the program back up. Not saying that Campbell hasn’t and won’t but DeMario would’ve brought the swagger, toughness and strong guard play back. Beamer will end up being a top 3 player in the state for 2026, i believe if he was playing for the Dogs that they’d at least win the region this year.

 

[hrsepasture1]

Coach Campbell is really working hard with the younger teams. He actually is not only the varsity coach but is the head jv coach. He's ruffled some feathers but sometimes that's not a bad thing. Hopefully we're heading in the right direction.

 

[BigWinners]

With Radford being down, who is the C favorite?

 

[hrsepasture1]

Anybody's guess. Floyd should be decent, I would have thought Gretna would be a tough out but they've had a slow start. I think it maybe wide open and have alot to do with who host early round games in the region. Still early to really make a call.

 

[BigWinners]

I knew Floyd was supposed to be near the top but I wasn’t sure who else would be considered at this point. Lotta season left, I was jus curious who to watch out for.

 

[RadfordCat]

A: Greensville is the favorite, outside of John Marshall of course.

B: Madison, though they've had a rougher start, is the favorite once more. After them it's a log jam. Clarke, Strasburg, Central, Draft, Luray and Buckingham will all have a say.

C: Radford or Floyd. 'Nuff said.

D: Graham, Virginia, Union, Gate City, like you said.

As someone else said, Radford is not Radford with Gavin Cormany and Elijah Kelley transferring. They are really young and looking for a scoring leader to step up. This will be an off year but there is lots of young talent.

 

[Fairlawncat]

Greensville County is probably the 2nd best team in the state behind JM. You dont hear much about them because they are in JMs region and have few if any fans on here. They've probably been the 2nd best team in the state for 4 years now even better than us (Radford) and East Rockingham and even Union the year Union won it, but JM and Greensville County set out the Covid year. Aside from JM, I don't think any Class 2 team this year would win more than 4 out 10 games if they played Greensville. They are very good again.

 

[10iceiceice]

Agree and JM will beat them by 40 points. Greeneville that is.

 

[BigWinners]

As someone else said, Radford is not Radford with Gavin Cormany and Elijah Kelley transferring. They are really young and looking for a scoring leader to step up. This will be an off year but there is lots of young talent.

Radford got smashed by Carroll County by like 40 IIRC, didn’t three kids transfer when the coaching change happened? It may be a couple years before they’re back.