There have been plenty of storylines so far as the regionals are winding down and the State Tournament set to commence at the end of this week. For one, John Marshall in Class 2 is demolishing opponents to the tune of an average of 114-46. That's an average victory 68 points per game! They scored 100-plus points in each of their Region 2A Tournament wins over Prince Edward, Thomas Jefferson of Richmond and Brunswick.
From Saturday, Cave Spring made their third encounter with Northside in the Region 3D title game the charm. After falling to the Vikings 57-38 and 72-64 during the regular season, they won this latest encounter 65-60 behind a monster game from Fairleigh Dickinson commit and six three-pointers by Graham Lilley. These two have plenty of playoff history, so don't count out a matchup in the State Semis, although Region 3C Champ Spotswood may have something to say about that, too.
Under veteran Head Coach Chad Edwards, the Blazers continue to roll as sophomore forward Rayne Dean erupted for 24 points and 16 rebounds in their 64-56 triumph over Staunton. Staying in Class 3, Lake Taylor breezed by Lafayette, halting the 16-game winning streak of the Rams with a convincing 79-55 win at the Norfolk Scope. Lake Taylor moves on to the Region 3A Finals against Hopewell, which beat Petersburg - last year's Class 3 runner-up - for the third time this season thanks to a surprising 42-28 advantage in the rebounding department.
To go with the re-match theme in the regionals like Cave Spring / Northside and Hopewell / Petersburg, the Region 2B Finals saw Madison County and Strasburg collide for the fourth time this season. Madison County won the first meeting 49-40, lost the second one 53-51, but recovered to win the Bull Run District Tournament battle 52-42. Their defense was on point in a 50-39 victory over the Rams to capture the regional title.
As we move along to Monday night's regional title games, there will be some familiar playoff matchups renewed. In the Region 6A Finals, Dwight Robinson's Landstown Eagles take on LaVar Griffin's Oscar Smith Tigers, who suffered their lone blemish on the season at Region 4A Champ King's Fork. Landstown has eliminated Oscar Smith from the playoffs three times since 2017, prevailing by two, by four points in a double-overtime classic during the 2019 State Semis, and by 13 in 2020. That also doesn't include a four-point win in the 2019 Region 6A Finals. So essentially, Oscar Smith is trying to avoid falling to 0-5 against Landstown in the postseason since 2017.
Meanwhile, in Region 5A, Princess Anne is viewed as a heavy favorite with their 19-5 mark compared to an 11-13 ledger for Green Run, which will head into the State Tournament with more losses than any team. However, Green Run, under the direction of Kenneth Harris, has won a couple of regional titles and shared the 2020 State Championship in Norview. Furthermore, the Stallions have ousted Corey Coffer's Cavaliers from the playoffs in 2018 (by 3), in 2019 (by 3) and 2020 (by 10). Coffer was the J.V. Head Coach at Green Run under Harris prior to taking the job as head man for PA's varsity in 2016-17. PA did win both regular season meetings, cruising 62-41 in December at home before rallying from seven down to notch a 68-64 road win at the start of February over the Stallions.
There's also a re-match of last year's Region 5A Championship set to take place at Midlothian when top-seeded Glen Allen squares off against Highland Springs, the reigning Class 5 State Champs who won the playoff encounter one winter ago by a count of 61-54. And in 2B, it's a showdown of Three Rivers District rivals as Brian Harman's Floyd County Buffaloes take on the wily veteran Rick Cormany and his Radford Bobcats. Radford, which had to survive a double-overtime thriller with Alleghany in the quarterfinals, has long had the number of Floyd, but the two programs split during the regular season with the Buffaloes avenging a 54-38 defeat with a 58-46 triumph on January 27th.
Below is a breakdown of how the Picks fared for Saturday 2/25/23 with regional semifinals and regional title games. Only two losses came with Madison County / Strasburg in Region 2B and Auburn / George Wythe in Region 1C.
6C = 1-0
3A = 2-0
3C = 1-0
3D = 1-0
2B = 0-1
2C = 2-0
2D = 1-0
1C = 0-1
1D = 1-0
Saturday 2/25/23 Total: 9-2 (81.8%)
Hatfield's Region Playoff Total: 148-36 (80.4%)
MONDAY 2/27/23 REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Region 6A: Finals at Norfolk Scope
#1 Oscar Smith (23-1) vs. #3 Landstown (19-5)
Hat's Pick - Landstown by 2 in OT
Region 5A: Finals at Norfolk Scope
#1 Princess Anne (19-5) vs. #6 Green Run (11-13)
Hat's Pick - Princess Anne by 12
Region 5C: Finals at Midlothian
#1 Glen Allen (19-5) vs. #2 Highland Springs (18-6)
Hat's Pick - Highland Springs by 9
Region 4B: Finals at Higher Seed
#4 Matoaca (16-7) at #2 Varina (19-4)
Hat's Pick - Varina by 10
Region 2C: Finals at Radford University
Radford (20-4) vs. Floyd County (20-4)
Hat's Pick - Radford by 1
