I am probably premature with this, but let's take a look anyway at how the Shenandoah is shaping up so far. As I see it, we have a top tier that looks like it will only be two teams this year, followed by a four-way scramble for the middle slots, and finally three that will have to improve if they hope to avoid the lower rungs of the standings.
Lee and East Rock are the top two I speak of, and although it is still very early, I doubt if the Eagles will be able to handle Lee, even when they meet in Elkton. Vaughan is just going to make too much of a difference this year (a man among boys) and I still expect the Leemen to go undefeated in district play. East Rock might slip up somewhere else along the line, but probably only once, not enough to keep them from finishing second to the Leemen in the regular season race.
Moving to the bottom three, right now I would put Luray in 7th, Stonewall 8th, and the Bison bringing up the rear. I base that mainly on the fact that Luray has already beaten the other two and the Gap game was on the road. The Bison especially seem to be headed for hard times this year. Maybe I am being too hard on the Dogs, because they did come to Wilson and lose by only one in overtime. So of those three, I would give them the best chance to find a groove and move up the ladder.
Speaking of Wilson, they are one of the four that will likely end up fighting for position in the middle of the pack...Page, Draft and Riverheads being the other three. Those middle slots will become more important down the stretch because I assume that higher seeds will host at least first-round district tournament games this year, if not beyond that, so there may be a huge difference between finishing third and fourth and getting to host as opposed to being a fifth or sixth seed and having to travel.
To my knowledge, there has been only one game played that matched any two of those four. In that one, Stuarts Draft traveled to Page and won, so even though it is super early, that win might help the Cougars later on. Riverheads travels to both Stuarts Draft and Wilson on consecutive nights just before New Years, and if the Gladiators can steal one or both of those, they could help their own cause.
Stay tuned and let the season continue!!!! We are going to have to talk it up on here because so far there is very little discussion elsewhere, if you know what I mean......
Lee and East Rock are the top two I speak of, and although it is still very early, I doubt if the Eagles will be able to handle Lee, even when they meet in Elkton. Vaughan is just going to make too much of a difference this year (a man among boys) and I still expect the Leemen to go undefeated in district play. East Rock might slip up somewhere else along the line, but probably only once, not enough to keep them from finishing second to the Leemen in the regular season race.
Moving to the bottom three, right now I would put Luray in 7th, Stonewall 8th, and the Bison bringing up the rear. I base that mainly on the fact that Luray has already beaten the other two and the Gap game was on the road. The Bison especially seem to be headed for hard times this year. Maybe I am being too hard on the Dogs, because they did come to Wilson and lose by only one in overtime. So of those three, I would give them the best chance to find a groove and move up the ladder.
Speaking of Wilson, they are one of the four that will likely end up fighting for position in the middle of the pack...Page, Draft and Riverheads being the other three. Those middle slots will become more important down the stretch because I assume that higher seeds will host at least first-round district tournament games this year, if not beyond that, so there may be a huge difference between finishing third and fourth and getting to host as opposed to being a fifth or sixth seed and having to travel.
To my knowledge, there has been only one game played that matched any two of those four. In that one, Stuarts Draft traveled to Page and won, so even though it is super early, that win might help the Cougars later on. Riverheads travels to both Stuarts Draft and Wilson on consecutive nights just before New Years, and if the Gladiators can steal one or both of those, they could help their own cause.
Stay tuned and let the season continue!!!! We are going to have to talk it up on here because so far there is very little discussion elsewhere, if you know what I mean......
