Who cares about the Super Bowl when you could be thinking instead about high school basketball? We are heading into the home stretch, to the point that some area teams will have their final home game this weekend and therefore will presumably salute their seniors. However in one case, Senior Night will have a twist which I will get to in a moment.
There will then be a final three games on Monday and I just read about a make-up game on Wednesday of next week. Then we should be finished with the regular season and will see who goes where for regional play. So here is the Friday night slate with one additional game set for Saturday.........
FRIDAY GAMES...........
BUFFALO GAP AT RIVERHEADS........Hmmmmm, what are you supposed to do when it is "Senior Night" but your team doesn't have any seniors? That is the dilemma facing the Big Red this weekend, so they will instead recognize some athletes from other sports and from what I understand, will also salute some that will have their Senior Nights a few years down the road, meaning the Little League program. As for the game, it should be a dogfight. Riverheads won 45-44 in the Holiday Tournament game and then BG won 46-44 on its home court. So somebody will come out of this one with a 2-1 advantage in the series. If that is Riverheads, they will finally get that first district win after some close calls and even that one victory should give them some confidence for next year. The Gap's motivation will be to sweep RHS and then sweep Waynesboro on Monday, so that they can finish a semi-respectable 4-8 in the district. I am sure the Gladiators will be super-pumped for this one, so look for a red team victory. (And it might not even be by just one or two points!)
STAUNTON AT FORT DEFIANCE......This is the final home game for the Indians and if you want to read up on him, the Waynesboro News Virginian (nv.com) website has a feature story on their top dog Sam Garber. The Indians have a handful of other seniors and they have enjoyed running Coach Gale's frantic system this year, to the point that they have scored over 100 points a few times. However, The Storm will "storm" into the Fort Friday night and the first time around, they were the ones to hit the century mark. I have read someplace that Staunton's average margin of victory in district play has been 33 points. This one probably won't be that bad but look for a 90 something to 70 something win for the visitors.
WILSON AT STUARTS DRAFT.........Ah yes, these two who don't seem to know the meaning of home court advantage. I commented on that the first time around but then went against my better judgment and picked Wilson to win in the Hive. So what happened? Draft won by six. This trend (winning away from home) is a pretty regular thing for these two and I think it even carries over into other sports. For example, Wilson's football team surprised the Cougars 14-12 this year on the road, which allowed them to leapfrog over the Draft in the final standings. So knowing all of that, shouldn't I logically pick Wilson to win this basketball game? Ah... but that is what they WANT me to think so I will outsmart them. Cougars will win by 12 to get the season sweep.
WAYNESBORO........Off this weekend.
Saturday:
LIBERTY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY AT WILSON: Way back at the beginning of the season, LCA spanked the Hornets pretty good in Lynchburg. Then along the way, Spotswood rolled over them in a home game in Penn Laird. So it might be wise to think that Wilson has improved enough to even the score for that earlier loss. But Wilson is no Spotswood, so let's go with a sweep by LCA but maybe by just 10 points or so this time.
There will then be a final three games on Monday and I just read about a make-up game on Wednesday of next week. Then we should be finished with the regular season and will see who goes where for regional play. So here is the Friday night slate with one additional game set for Saturday.........
FRIDAY GAMES...........
BUFFALO GAP AT RIVERHEADS........Hmmmmm, what are you supposed to do when it is "Senior Night" but your team doesn't have any seniors? That is the dilemma facing the Big Red this weekend, so they will instead recognize some athletes from other sports and from what I understand, will also salute some that will have their Senior Nights a few years down the road, meaning the Little League program. As for the game, it should be a dogfight. Riverheads won 45-44 in the Holiday Tournament game and then BG won 46-44 on its home court. So somebody will come out of this one with a 2-1 advantage in the series. If that is Riverheads, they will finally get that first district win after some close calls and even that one victory should give them some confidence for next year. The Gap's motivation will be to sweep RHS and then sweep Waynesboro on Monday, so that they can finish a semi-respectable 4-8 in the district. I am sure the Gladiators will be super-pumped for this one, so look for a red team victory. (And it might not even be by just one or two points!)
STAUNTON AT FORT DEFIANCE......This is the final home game for the Indians and if you want to read up on him, the Waynesboro News Virginian (nv.com) website has a feature story on their top dog Sam Garber. The Indians have a handful of other seniors and they have enjoyed running Coach Gale's frantic system this year, to the point that they have scored over 100 points a few times. However, The Storm will "storm" into the Fort Friday night and the first time around, they were the ones to hit the century mark. I have read someplace that Staunton's average margin of victory in district play has been 33 points. This one probably won't be that bad but look for a 90 something to 70 something win for the visitors.
WILSON AT STUARTS DRAFT.........Ah yes, these two who don't seem to know the meaning of home court advantage. I commented on that the first time around but then went against my better judgment and picked Wilson to win in the Hive. So what happened? Draft won by six. This trend (winning away from home) is a pretty regular thing for these two and I think it even carries over into other sports. For example, Wilson's football team surprised the Cougars 14-12 this year on the road, which allowed them to leapfrog over the Draft in the final standings. So knowing all of that, shouldn't I logically pick Wilson to win this basketball game? Ah... but that is what they WANT me to think so I will outsmart them. Cougars will win by 12 to get the season sweep.
WAYNESBORO........Off this weekend.
Saturday:
LIBERTY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY AT WILSON: Way back at the beginning of the season, LCA spanked the Hornets pretty good in Lynchburg. Then along the way, Spotswood rolled over them in a home game in Penn Laird. So it might be wise to think that Wilson has improved enough to even the score for that earlier loss. But Wilson is no Spotswood, so let's go with a sweep by LCA but maybe by just 10 points or so this time.
