Just four regions in action on this Wednesday, including Region 5B having games at Norfolk State's Echols Hall. Another college venue - Virginia Tech's Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg - will be used later in the week for some games involving teams from Southwest Virginia.
Make Sure You Save This Link Here with our VHSL Playoff Brackets / Landing Page OR the direct link below...
VHSL 2024 Hoops Playoff Brackets Here
As for Tuesday's action, it was zany to say the least. For me, the picks were not to my usual standard, but consider the following: a trio of No. 6 seeds toppled No. 3 seeds, a couple of No. 7 seeds took down No. 2 seeds, and the big stunner came in Region 3A, where No. 12 seed Lakeland - which entered the playoffs with a 4-18 overall record - took down a No. 4 seed Hopewell team that last March played in the State Championship game. Jaylun Boone was the real catalyst for Clint Wright's Cavaliers with 22 points, including seven makes - yes 7! - from three-point territory in the second half alone.
At 6-18, Lakeland now gets top-seeded Lake Taylor, ranked atop our Class 3 rankings practically the entire season, in the regional semifinals at NSU with a chance to go to the State Playoffs on Thursday. If they pull that one off, well, the school from Suffolk will certainly be viewed as this year's Cinderella in VHSL Hoops, if not already.
Some more storylines / headlines from the action...
Speaking of Catching Fire from 3: That's what enabled No. 6 seed Indian River, a team that went just 11-10 overall during the regular season, to shock No. 3 seed Salem in the closing seconds.
Clyde Spellman's Braves fought back to send the game to overtime at 45-apiece. Salem scored eight of the first 12 points in the OT, but left the door ajar with a couple of misses at the free-throw line, one of which came with 15.6 seconds to go. Jeremiah Stevenson drained a three-pointer with 9.1 seconds left in OT and then when the Sun Devils bobbled the inbounds pass out of a time-out, chaos ensued as Steven Pettaway found Davion Riddick for the shot of a lifetime.
Riddick, a steady playmaker for the Braves all season long, hit the go-ahead three-pointer and it brought Indian River a 55-53 win that has them in a semifinal matchup with second-seeded Green Run, who routed seventh-seeded Princess Anne 59-37 in the quarterfinals.
Region 2C Stunner: Few could've envisioned Chatham, the No. 7 seed in Region 2C with a record of 9-13 overall entering the tourney, stunned No. 2 seed Floyd County 74-66 as the Cavaliers shot a blistering 11-of-13 from the field in the fourth quarter. Jonavan Coles is the big reason why. He erupted for 30 of his 36 points in the second half. The 5-foot-11 senior point guard had 18 points, eight rebounds and a couple of blocks in a loss last week. This time, he wasn't going to be denied in helping his team pull off a gigantic win.
Another 7 Seed Advances: Kudos to Larry Fox and his Strasburg Rams, who took down second-seeded Buckingham 73-54, thanks to the outside shooting of Griffin Carter and Christopher Davis. Those two combined for 36 points with nine makes from behind the three-point line. In tourney basketball, if you get hot from behind the three-point line, wild things can happen.
It now puts Strasburg in a semifinal matchup with Clarke County, another Bull Run District member they are used to playing. Clarke took the two regular season meetings; 62-55 on Dec. 21 and 60-51 on Jan. 24. The Rams are hoping that the third time is the charm.
Thrillers in Region 6A: For the fifth time since 2017, the Landstown Eagles and Oscar Smith Tigers will hook up in the regional playoffs. These two are set to square off at the Dollar Dome in Chesapeake in the Region 6A Championship, but both needed to rally from half-time deficits.
In Oscar Smith's case, LaVar Griffin's Tigers trailed Highland Springs, who is just two seasons removed from winning the VHSL Class 5 State Championship, by as many as 19 points in the second period. Their guards, specifically Ulysses Young and Jacobi Harper, got it turned around in the second half. Harper bunched 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter in the 68-62 comeback win.
Landstown has now won 16 consecutive games to move to 20-4 overall under veteran Head Coach Dwight Robinson, who earlier this season achieved career win No. 400 and is no stranger to the State Playoffs. In fact, for Robinson, it'll be his eighth trip to the State Tournament with the Eagles after they got four offensive rebounds in the final 19 seconds, edging Manchester 53-52 on sophomore DeShawn Spellman's stick-back with three seconds to go.
With sophomore classmate Zaevion Cleveland (12 PPG, 8 RPG) out due to illness, Spellman stepped up his play with 15 points, 16 rebounds, six blocks and three steals to complement the upperclassmen, including a 12-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist effort from senior guard Demeir Pollard.
Since Class 6 has a different format as far as its matchups go for the quarterfinals, there is still plenty of importance on winning the regional title and getting to host in the opening round of State's. The Region 6A Champ will host the Occoquan Region 6C runner-up in the quarterfinal round.
Coach's Son is Hero: Union Head Coach Kory Bostic saw his Bears rally from a 37-31 deficit entering the fourth quarter, outscoring Lebanon 17-10 in the final stanza for a 48-47 Region 2D quarterfinal triumph. It was his son, Kam Bostic, with a driving lay-in with 3.3 seconds to go that lifted them to the win and now a victory shy of making it to the State Tournament, something Union is pretty familiar with since they won the VHSL Class 2 State Championship during the COVID-shortened campaign in 2021. Reyshawn Anderson chipped in 12 points in this win.
To most, this one going down to the wire was no surprise, given that Union prevailed by one when they met in January, whereas Lebanon took the overtime battle they had in December.
Domination in Class 2 Continues: Ever since realignment, it has felt like Class 2 is the John Marshall Invitational. Ty White's Justices are a national powerhouse, who last season went through the entire campaign wire-to-wire unbeaten and ascended to as high as No. 1 in the country in some polls. They are stacked with talent again as the graduation departures of Dennis Parker Jr. to NC State and Jason Rivera-Torres to Vanderbilt didn't leave the cupboard bare. Three All-State 1st Team selections returned in James Madison University signee Damon 'Redd' Thompson Jr. at point guard, shooting guard Dominique Bailey (Chowan) and powerful big man Latrell Allmond.
Even with a couple of out-of-state losses and one to an a Richmond area private school in St. Christopher's, the Justices remain as dominant as ever. They showed just that in overwhelming Nottoway 105-23 in a game they led comfortably 37-7 through eight minutes of play.
Dating back to last season, the Justices have now won its last seven playoff games by an average of 68 points with the aggregate score being 107-39.
Amelia, who edged Arcadia 65-62, now has its hands full for the semifinals with Nandua and Bruton on the other side of the bracket in Region 2A.
Three Strong Performances Across the Board: From the Class 6, Class 5 and Class 3 levels I'd like to shout out three individuals who really stepped it up for their teams to advance. In Occoquan Region 6C, Fairfax was able to get past South County 69-57 as Ronnie Peters poured in a career-best 29 points. That puts Mike Barbee's Lions in the semifinals against another quality Patriot District team, West Potomac, with a State Tournament berth on the line.
Cox held off city rival Kellam in the Region 5A quarterfinals as towering 6-foot-9, maybe pushing 6-foot-10, senior center Ben Nacey put up 27 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. Most impressive was his 8-of-10 shooting from the foul line. Check out my Video Interview with him on YouTube if you get the chance. Cox will take on top-seeded Kempsville in the regional semis on Thursday.
Over in Region 3D, Abingdon surprised Carroll County 67-52 and as their 6-foot-10 big man Reece Ketron dominated the stat sheet with 22 points and 17 rebounds.
Still Unbeaten: Spotswood joins Potomac Falls as one of just two unbeatens in all of VHSL basketball on the guys side after their 64-53 victory over Staunton secured them yet another spot in the State Playoffs. Five players scored between eight and 14 points, led by Tyler Sprague. They'll be looking for their ninth regional title when they take on Western Albemarle, who ousted Rustburg in the semifinals.
With 6'3" combo guard Cam Pacheco leading the way, the Blazers have what many believe is their best chance to win a state title since the Group AA crown they won in 1993.
Now a a Recap of how the Picks did on Tuesday 2/20/24, where we saw some surprises, blowouts and even a few close finishes...
6A = 2-0
6B = 4-0
6C = 2-2 (missed on Hayfield/W.T. Woodson and Fairfax/South County)
6D = 3-1 (missed on Chantilly/George Marshall)
5A = 1-3 (missed on Green Run/PA, Cox/Kellam and Indian River/Salem)
5C = 2-0
4C = 1-1 (missed on Loudoun Valley/Woodgrove)
4D = 0-1 (missed on E.C. Glass/Jefferson Forest)
3A = 3-1 (missed on Lakeland/Hopewell)
3B = 2-0
3C = 2-0
3D = 3-1 (missed on Abingdon/Carroll County)
2A = 3-1 (missed on Nandua/Greensville)
2B = 4-0
2C = 3-1 (missed on Chatham/Floyd County)
2D = 4-0
1A = 4-0
1B = 4-0
1C = 3-1 (missed on Grayson County/Narrows)
1D = 4-0
Tuesday's 2/20/24 Total: 54-13 (80.6%)
Hatfield's Region Playoff Record: 97-20 (82.9%)
... A 15-1 mark in Class 1 along with 14-2 in Class 2 saved me with my worst picking coming in Region 5A, which resides in my own backyard, with a 1-3 mark in those four games.
REGION PLAYOFF ACTION for WEDNESDAY 2/21/24:
Region 5B: Semifinals at Norfolk State
#5 Norview (15-9; 14-8) vs. #1 Woodside (22-21)
Hat's Pick - Woodside by 15
#2 King's Fork (19-4) vs. #3 Maury (22-4; 19-4)
Hat's Pick - Maury by 1
Region Tourney Final Pick: Woodside over Maury
Region 5D: Semifinals
#4 Harrisonburg (16-9) at #1 Potomac Falls (24-0)
Hat's Pick - Potomac Falls by 13
#3 Riverside (16-10) at #2 Massaponax (19-5)
Hat's Pick - Massaponax by 4
Region Tourney Final Pick: Potomac Falls over Massaponax
Region 4B: Semifinals
#5 Atlee (16-8) #1 Varina (19-1)
Hat's Pick - Varina by 22
#7 Dinwiddie (16-8) at #3 Courtland (17-7)
Hat's Pick - Courtland by 2
Revised Region Tourney Final Pick: Varina over Courtland
Region 4D: Semifinal
#2 Handley (18-5) at #1 Charlottesville (21-4)
Hat's Pick - Charlottesville by 4
Revised Region Tourney Final Pick: Charlottesville over Jefferson Forest
Make Sure You Save This Link Here with our VHSL Playoff Brackets / Landing Page OR the direct link below...
VHSL 2024 Hoops Playoff Brackets Here
As for Tuesday's action, it was zany to say the least. For me, the picks were not to my usual standard, but consider the following: a trio of No. 6 seeds toppled No. 3 seeds, a couple of No. 7 seeds took down No. 2 seeds, and the big stunner came in Region 3A, where No. 12 seed Lakeland - which entered the playoffs with a 4-18 overall record - took down a No. 4 seed Hopewell team that last March played in the State Championship game. Jaylun Boone was the real catalyst for Clint Wright's Cavaliers with 22 points, including seven makes - yes 7! - from three-point territory in the second half alone.
At 6-18, Lakeland now gets top-seeded Lake Taylor, ranked atop our Class 3 rankings practically the entire season, in the regional semifinals at NSU with a chance to go to the State Playoffs on Thursday. If they pull that one off, well, the school from Suffolk will certainly be viewed as this year's Cinderella in VHSL Hoops, if not already.
Some more storylines / headlines from the action...
Speaking of Catching Fire from 3: That's what enabled No. 6 seed Indian River, a team that went just 11-10 overall during the regular season, to shock No. 3 seed Salem in the closing seconds.
Clyde Spellman's Braves fought back to send the game to overtime at 45-apiece. Salem scored eight of the first 12 points in the OT, but left the door ajar with a couple of misses at the free-throw line, one of which came with 15.6 seconds to go. Jeremiah Stevenson drained a three-pointer with 9.1 seconds left in OT and then when the Sun Devils bobbled the inbounds pass out of a time-out, chaos ensued as Steven Pettaway found Davion Riddick for the shot of a lifetime.
Riddick, a steady playmaker for the Braves all season long, hit the go-ahead three-pointer and it brought Indian River a 55-53 win that has them in a semifinal matchup with second-seeded Green Run, who routed seventh-seeded Princess Anne 59-37 in the quarterfinals.
Region 2C Stunner: Few could've envisioned Chatham, the No. 7 seed in Region 2C with a record of 9-13 overall entering the tourney, stunned No. 2 seed Floyd County 74-66 as the Cavaliers shot a blistering 11-of-13 from the field in the fourth quarter. Jonavan Coles is the big reason why. He erupted for 30 of his 36 points in the second half. The 5-foot-11 senior point guard had 18 points, eight rebounds and a couple of blocks in a loss last week. This time, he wasn't going to be denied in helping his team pull off a gigantic win.
Another 7 Seed Advances: Kudos to Larry Fox and his Strasburg Rams, who took down second-seeded Buckingham 73-54, thanks to the outside shooting of Griffin Carter and Christopher Davis. Those two combined for 36 points with nine makes from behind the three-point line. In tourney basketball, if you get hot from behind the three-point line, wild things can happen.
It now puts Strasburg in a semifinal matchup with Clarke County, another Bull Run District member they are used to playing. Clarke took the two regular season meetings; 62-55 on Dec. 21 and 60-51 on Jan. 24. The Rams are hoping that the third time is the charm.
Thrillers in Region 6A: For the fifth time since 2017, the Landstown Eagles and Oscar Smith Tigers will hook up in the regional playoffs. These two are set to square off at the Dollar Dome in Chesapeake in the Region 6A Championship, but both needed to rally from half-time deficits.
In Oscar Smith's case, LaVar Griffin's Tigers trailed Highland Springs, who is just two seasons removed from winning the VHSL Class 5 State Championship, by as many as 19 points in the second period. Their guards, specifically Ulysses Young and Jacobi Harper, got it turned around in the second half. Harper bunched 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter in the 68-62 comeback win.
Landstown has now won 16 consecutive games to move to 20-4 overall under veteran Head Coach Dwight Robinson, who earlier this season achieved career win No. 400 and is no stranger to the State Playoffs. In fact, for Robinson, it'll be his eighth trip to the State Tournament with the Eagles after they got four offensive rebounds in the final 19 seconds, edging Manchester 53-52 on sophomore DeShawn Spellman's stick-back with three seconds to go.
With sophomore classmate Zaevion Cleveland (12 PPG, 8 RPG) out due to illness, Spellman stepped up his play with 15 points, 16 rebounds, six blocks and three steals to complement the upperclassmen, including a 12-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist effort from senior guard Demeir Pollard.
Since Class 6 has a different format as far as its matchups go for the quarterfinals, there is still plenty of importance on winning the regional title and getting to host in the opening round of State's. The Region 6A Champ will host the Occoquan Region 6C runner-up in the quarterfinal round.
Coach's Son is Hero: Union Head Coach Kory Bostic saw his Bears rally from a 37-31 deficit entering the fourth quarter, outscoring Lebanon 17-10 in the final stanza for a 48-47 Region 2D quarterfinal triumph. It was his son, Kam Bostic, with a driving lay-in with 3.3 seconds to go that lifted them to the win and now a victory shy of making it to the State Tournament, something Union is pretty familiar with since they won the VHSL Class 2 State Championship during the COVID-shortened campaign in 2021. Reyshawn Anderson chipped in 12 points in this win.
To most, this one going down to the wire was no surprise, given that Union prevailed by one when they met in January, whereas Lebanon took the overtime battle they had in December.
Domination in Class 2 Continues: Ever since realignment, it has felt like Class 2 is the John Marshall Invitational. Ty White's Justices are a national powerhouse, who last season went through the entire campaign wire-to-wire unbeaten and ascended to as high as No. 1 in the country in some polls. They are stacked with talent again as the graduation departures of Dennis Parker Jr. to NC State and Jason Rivera-Torres to Vanderbilt didn't leave the cupboard bare. Three All-State 1st Team selections returned in James Madison University signee Damon 'Redd' Thompson Jr. at point guard, shooting guard Dominique Bailey (Chowan) and powerful big man Latrell Allmond.
Even with a couple of out-of-state losses and one to an a Richmond area private school in St. Christopher's, the Justices remain as dominant as ever. They showed just that in overwhelming Nottoway 105-23 in a game they led comfortably 37-7 through eight minutes of play.
Dating back to last season, the Justices have now won its last seven playoff games by an average of 68 points with the aggregate score being 107-39.
Amelia, who edged Arcadia 65-62, now has its hands full for the semifinals with Nandua and Bruton on the other side of the bracket in Region 2A.
Three Strong Performances Across the Board: From the Class 6, Class 5 and Class 3 levels I'd like to shout out three individuals who really stepped it up for their teams to advance. In Occoquan Region 6C, Fairfax was able to get past South County 69-57 as Ronnie Peters poured in a career-best 29 points. That puts Mike Barbee's Lions in the semifinals against another quality Patriot District team, West Potomac, with a State Tournament berth on the line.
Cox held off city rival Kellam in the Region 5A quarterfinals as towering 6-foot-9, maybe pushing 6-foot-10, senior center Ben Nacey put up 27 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. Most impressive was his 8-of-10 shooting from the foul line. Check out my Video Interview with him on YouTube if you get the chance. Cox will take on top-seeded Kempsville in the regional semis on Thursday.
Over in Region 3D, Abingdon surprised Carroll County 67-52 and as their 6-foot-10 big man Reece Ketron dominated the stat sheet with 22 points and 17 rebounds.
Still Unbeaten: Spotswood joins Potomac Falls as one of just two unbeatens in all of VHSL basketball on the guys side after their 64-53 victory over Staunton secured them yet another spot in the State Playoffs. Five players scored between eight and 14 points, led by Tyler Sprague. They'll be looking for their ninth regional title when they take on Western Albemarle, who ousted Rustburg in the semifinals.
With 6'3" combo guard Cam Pacheco leading the way, the Blazers have what many believe is their best chance to win a state title since the Group AA crown they won in 1993.
Now a a Recap of how the Picks did on Tuesday 2/20/24, where we saw some surprises, blowouts and even a few close finishes...
6A = 2-0
6B = 4-0
6C = 2-2 (missed on Hayfield/W.T. Woodson and Fairfax/South County)
6D = 3-1 (missed on Chantilly/George Marshall)
5A = 1-3 (missed on Green Run/PA, Cox/Kellam and Indian River/Salem)
5C = 2-0
4C = 1-1 (missed on Loudoun Valley/Woodgrove)
4D = 0-1 (missed on E.C. Glass/Jefferson Forest)
3A = 3-1 (missed on Lakeland/Hopewell)
3B = 2-0
3C = 2-0
3D = 3-1 (missed on Abingdon/Carroll County)
2A = 3-1 (missed on Nandua/Greensville)
2B = 4-0
2C = 3-1 (missed on Chatham/Floyd County)
2D = 4-0
1A = 4-0
1B = 4-0
1C = 3-1 (missed on Grayson County/Narrows)
1D = 4-0
Tuesday's 2/20/24 Total: 54-13 (80.6%)
Hatfield's Region Playoff Record: 97-20 (82.9%)
... A 15-1 mark in Class 1 along with 14-2 in Class 2 saved me with my worst picking coming in Region 5A, which resides in my own backyard, with a 1-3 mark in those four games.
REGION PLAYOFF ACTION for WEDNESDAY 2/21/24:
Region 5B: Semifinals at Norfolk State
#5 Norview (15-9; 14-8) vs. #1 Woodside (22-21)
Hat's Pick - Woodside by 15
#2 King's Fork (19-4) vs. #3 Maury (22-4; 19-4)
Hat's Pick - Maury by 1
Region Tourney Final Pick: Woodside over Maury
Region 5D: Semifinals
#4 Harrisonburg (16-9) at #1 Potomac Falls (24-0)
Hat's Pick - Potomac Falls by 13
#3 Riverside (16-10) at #2 Massaponax (19-5)
Hat's Pick - Massaponax by 4
Region Tourney Final Pick: Potomac Falls over Massaponax
Region 4B: Semifinals
#5 Atlee (16-8) #1 Varina (19-1)
Hat's Pick - Varina by 22
#7 Dinwiddie (16-8) at #3 Courtland (17-7)
Hat's Pick - Courtland by 2
Revised Region Tourney Final Pick: Varina over Courtland
Region 4D: Semifinal
#2 Handley (18-5) at #1 Charlottesville (21-4)
Hat's Pick - Charlottesville by 4
Revised Region Tourney Final Pick: Charlottesville over Jefferson Forest
