I hope that all of you in 2A..
- Thread starter pawfan
- Start date
Everybody said the same thing when Martinsville and Greensville and others dropped down. They haven’t been dominate yet. Good yes. Dominating no.
The old AAA schools have dominated 3A since dropping down and I have no reason to believe that won't continue for these two schools a level down. We'll see!
I've been on these boards under a couple of different names since the early 2000's and I dont remember any talk about Martinsville dominating when they moved down to 2A. Being good yes, won a couple of state championships yes, but not dominate. JM and TJ sound like they're going to come into 2A and run roughshod over everyone. And if they do, the sun will come up the next day and you'll just have to go to work and get better. Or you can petition to move to 1A, whatever works.
well now
Thanks for the warm welcome.
JM and TJ will not be changing districts or many of their traditional non district opponents. I doubt that many of you will see them until the post season. Because of the abundance of schools in Tidewater and Central Va; I doubt they will be venturing beyond those areas in basketball scheduling (of course I may be wrong).
Dominance?
There is no criteria for me judge one way or another. Living in RVa the only times I see 2A teams is at The States. I will be relying on pizzzzza's expertise to navigate this foreign land.
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These schools drop down for a reason, lower enrollment. This levels the playing field (or court as the case may be). Ill bet that these new 2A schools will be good as always but not run roughshod in 2A. Might but I doubt it. When RE Lee made the drop, there was hand wringing galore. Lee has been solid and won a title (maybe 2?) but definitely not dominate. Time will tell.
I've been on this board since its inception with Zirkle. Took a little sabbatical when the new ownership came into being but have been back for awhile. There most definitely was talk of and complaints that the schools dropping down would dominate the division every time realignment happened. Never has materialized. I originally thought the same thing about the bigger schools dropping down (regardless of sports). But it just never has played out that the newcomers have that much of an impact at the end of the season. Don't get me wrong, these newer 2A members may well excel, but it usually a result of quality coaching.
According to an article in the RTD during the summer of 2018 discussing classifications, it listed the enrollment of TJHS at 578 and JMHS at 576. Those schools have been at those enrollments for years but have won appeals to the VHSL to remain 3A. So it's not that they're dropping down due to a recent decline in enrollment. It's because the VHSL isn't allowing them to stay at 3A.
Wasn't aware of that. Those are middle of the road 2A enrollment numbers. I stand corrected. My apologies Pawfan...
correct
the concern over the years have been travel costs. You western folks may find this amusing but the eastern part of the state is so compact that you can play a whole slate of games w/o ever leaving the area. Folks have gotten spoiled. So a compromise is the keep them in the same district so the majority of the games are still close. Out of district games are usually scheduled out of relationships among coaches. So They will probably not schedule in western VA teams unless they are in a tournament or invitational. One interesting note is that the 2A Region asked the VHSL Executive Committee to move both teams to 2B (the request was denied).
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The problem with Greenville Co/Martinsville/Lee moving down is that 2A was already solid with Gate City/Radford/Dan River at the time.
Make no mistake .. John Marshall moving to 2A is just adding another barrel to a loaded gun.
Make no mistake .. John Marshall moving to 2A is just adding another barrel to a loaded gun.
Which bring up the question of who ARE the big dogs in Class 2 hoops now?
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Doesn't matter, JM and TJ are coming and its theirs for the taking. Everybody else is going from contenders to pretenders.
According to Maxpreps in 2018 these schools (minus Goochland who have moved to C3)) were in the postseason:
- Graham
- Martinsville
- Radford
- Gate City
- Staunton
- Greensville County
- Woodstock Central
Care to wager on that one? I go to the state tourney every year and I'll be glad to buy the popcorn and cokes if either are in the 2A title game.
You have Radford who is arguably the best team in 2A this year. They were single A last year. Size of schools give more opportunity at good athletes. High school sports are cyclical, sometimes your going to have the athletes sometimes your not. Those two teams could very well move down and dominate and then graduate half their team and be a very average team the next year.
Central (Woodstock) is moving to 3A next year. George Mason also makes the move. They were always in the post season conversation until last year. Madison Co. is usually decent and in the hunt but the coach has blurred vision this year and probably wont get it straightened out until after 2022. East Rock has built a strong program (they beat Spotswood the other night at Spotswood). Gate City has turned from a football powerhouse to a perennial basketball factory. Radford is always there. And one of the Dogwood teams always makes a run. I would say Dan River may be the most consistent Dogwood team in the post season (?). Page Co. has been a bit down but you can expect a return from them soon. Lee (Staunton) should be on an upcycle in the next year or two.
I have been here a long time as well, and while I can't comment on Winter or Spring sports, there most certainly was the talk when teams moved down that they would dominate. These are schools who traditionally did well in a higher class. Then of course there is the talk that since they are in a lower class that they couldn't compete in a higher class. And then the talk that when a team does move up, that they certainly couldn't compete.
What I have come to see, whether it's a team moving down and being "dominant", a team that "cant compete" when they do move up, those opinions usually dont come true
What I have come to see, whether it's a team moving down and being "dominant", a team that "cant compete" when they do move up, those opinions usually dont come true
One poster mentioned Radford was 1A last year. We weren't. We were 2A last year and lost to Gate City after winning our region over Martinsville
Basketball is 5 on 5. Football is 22 on 22, and always 11 on 11 any given time. It's tougher in football for a school with 500 or so students to compete against a school with 750 students because 15-17 really good players (assuming some play both ways) is much tougher to find. The basketball scenario is easier. The basketball school with 500 students and playing the school with 750 students is easier because you only need 5 good players. This is one of the things that explains why schools dropping down don't always dominate in Hoops.
Basketball is 5 on 5. Football is 22 on 22, and always 11 on 11 any given time. It's tougher in football for a school with 500 or so students to compete against a school with 750 students because 15-17 really good players (assuming some play both ways) is much tougher to find. The basketball scenario is easier. The basketball school with 500 students and playing the school with 750 students is easier because you only need 5 good players. This is one of the things that explains why schools dropping down don't always dominate in Hoops.
Agree with you almost 100%.....the area where it hurts the small school in basketball is having that depth. It's not too awfully hard to find 4 or 5 solid players in a small school. But to have 8 to 10 players who can come in without much dropoff from the #3-5 players is much easier to accomplish at the larger schools. When those 4 or 5 players are jelly legged and sucking wind those bigger schools are throwing fresh guys at you with all kinds of energy.
Its doesnt always happen this way....but I do see it alot with smaller schools playing larger schools here in my local area.
Have to agree with that, all it takes is a talented group of 5-7 players to be successful. Flashback 8 years, JR had a group of kids with the tallest at 6'3"- 6'4" who took the state using 5 players in the final and losing only 2 games during the year, one to Cave Spring who also won state 3a over Brunswick and Liberty who was a very talented team at 3a as well. NOT any were D1 talent and only one ever played college and that was at D3. City schools also get an advantage with kids playing together at rec centers, the Y and parks and other gathering places. Lets them play together more and build chemistry.
I loved watching that JR team play. Very fundamentally sound. Loved their point guard. Think Humphries was his last name
The year before, JR, Radford, Dan River and Madison Co made up one of the better final fours I’ve personally seen. Both Madison and JR returned everybody the following year and I was looking forward to a great state final between the two. Both made the finals but it was after realignment sent Madison to 1A. Both won a state title (Madison went undefeated) but we never got to see the game every one expected.
Mason is 15-7, beat Central twice and has won 9 games in a row. Don’t sleep on them in the region!
Not to take anything away from Radford but JR should have never lost out to them that year, coaching lost that game for JR and its only gotten worse over the years. He needs to go on and retire. Anyone only needs watch them play to realize it. Nice guy but he doesn't excel at coaching.
