Soccer_Dad

Obviously GC is the overwhelming favorite... I know Abingdon graduated their 2 best players/scorers. I haven't really heard much about them this Fall though... Wise Central is the "Great Unknown" after losing such a skilled player & leader... Union should definitely be good enough to contend for 2nd; especially with the Slagle kid back. I really enjoyed the few times I got to see him play... Battle should be better this year. They return their best scorers/ballhandlers. But they did graduate a key post player & a contributing "athlete". I think they will definitely be good enough for 2nd as well.......... GC & Union both have a great non-conference schedule as usual... Abingdon & Wise Central seem to have pretty much the same schedules... Battle has replaced the 2 games vs Holston with games against Sullivan South & Sullivan East. This should help them in Conference play... Lee did show some flashes last season. I wouldn't be surprised if they upset a couple of these teams. I don't think they lost much from last year... And I honestly haven't heard anything about Ridgeview up to this point. I do remember them shooting a bunch of 3's last year. So maybe they have improved on that & can make it even tighter....... 2-7 should definitely be competitive & fun to watch this season.

That's great! Congratulations young man!!!

First things first; Congratulations to the JSB JV Boys on the win !!!... The Varsity game (GC/Union) was a close game for the most part. GC came out playing fast. But when the Slagle kid went out, they just hit the brakes. GC was taking 20-30 seconds on almost every possession. Union seemed to look content shooting & hitting 3s. Definitely not the game that I expected to see. The younger referee was just awful & really kinda killed the hopes of seeing any pick-up in the pace. Neither team played "their" game for whatever reason. The JV game was really the better of the two... and I'm not just saying that because my Son was playing in it. I just really think the Varsity game needed some tempo. But I still enjoyed watching it. Good Luck to both teams moving forward.

Surprising. I figured JSB would win this one going away. They have been up & down all year though.

Don't know. I left for work after the my Son's JV game. What was the JSB/WC score? Has anyone heard?

I expected a bigger point spread based on my seeing both of these teams twice. I was expecting around 25 pts diff.

Ridiculous

Must've been a better game than I expected it to be judging by the final score.

They weren't. Not sure about the crowd for GC/Union; although I did hear that it was standing room only. You must've misunderstood my post. They were expecting the same kind of visiting crowd they had when GC came to Bristol.

Not sure. But he did play well; especially in the 4th period. It was a 4 point game after 3 periods. He hit 2 or 3 big shots to give them the final point spread.

Union came in with the perfect plan for Battle. They put Mitchell on Felty the entire game & it worked. They knew what they had to do to win the game... Stop Felty!!! And they executed it well. It really was the difference in the game. Union is the best Defensive team Battle has seen all season. As far as the quality of play goes; well let's just say not so good for either team. It was kinda sloppy. Both teams played their hearts out though. It was a very hard fought game. Both teams played it physically & cleanly as expected. But the biggest disappointment was the crowd. Battle was expecting a large crowd. So Battle fans showed up in good numbers. That was BY FAR the smallest visiting crowd of the season. Most of the Battle fans there were talking about it. I actually took the time to count the Union fans in the stands near the end of the 3rd Period & it was 68 people; not counting the JV kids, Varsity Girls, and Cheerleaders.... 68 !!! I actually felt kinda sorry for the Union Boys on the floor playing that hard with hardly anyone there to cheer them on. Now I know Battle doesn't travel well. But they don't have one of the top 3 or 4 teams in all of SWVA. I make no excuses for that. I guess it could've just been the expectation of a large crowd that killed the atmosphere. Everyone there really did expect the same kind of crowd that came with GC. And I guess all the folks sitting there talking about the small visiting crowd made it a little worse, too. Battle fans did have one positive thing tonight. The Boys JV team is guaranteed no worse than 2nd in the Conference with their win tonight. And if they win their next two games, they will tie for 1st.

That's awesome. Glad to see them get a Conference win.

Battle's best rebounder is likely still out with the concussion he received courtesy of getting kneed in the head against Central while trying to get up after diving for a loose ball a week and a half ago. His Dad said he probably won't be back until the Union game this Friday.

Ridgeview girls beat Battle girls Battle boys beat Ridgeview boys ... Don't remember either score. Girls was about 25 point spread.. Boys was around 15 point spread

I didn't see anyone get tossed during the JSB game. The fans were very nice. The team was a completely different story though.

Battle beat Lee. They were up big (over 20pts) when I left early in the 3rd. Starters were already on the bench. Not sure of the final. All my Son said when he got home was that they won & went straight to bed.

JSB Boys won 70-62 in an extremely overly physical game. They tried to give it away in the last 3 minutes by missing 8 consecutive free throws. But they held on with good defense... I can see what the GC fans were fussing about. WC had one kid throwing blocks like an O-lineman. He even kneed a Battle kid in the head as he was trying to get up off the floor. Another one flopped at least 4 times.... Very good crowd on hand. WC has some passionate fans, too. They do love their team. They cheered them on relentlessly. They were very friendly and welcoming.... Good game overall. It just wasn't a style of play that you normally see. Watching WC play kinda feels like watching the Detroit Pistons of the 1980s.

I agree with goofoti32. John Odum has done a phenomenal job with Battle. They lost their top 3 scorers from last season & currently have the same record as last year at this point.... Not to mention his off-court health situation. It would be really easy for him to be distracted. These kids are really playing their hearts out for him.

They seemed to shoot better tonight from the field. But TN High's Defense is not nearly as good as Battle's Defense.

I watched both games. They don't seem to be able to spread the floor without Dean in the lineup. They are sitting on the ball alot, too; playing at a very slow pace.

Yeah, I know. The game last month had already been discussed in a previous post. I just thought that maybe the person who posted this didn't know about the game that took place on Wednesday. Thanks though.

Battle beat Lebanon 70-54 Wednesday night(1/11/2017)

Lebanon does like to slow it down against better teams. They did just that last year in the 2nd game against Battle. But it won't matter against GC. The end result will be a W for GC. But Lebanon may score more than you think. GC didn't seem to focus very much on Defense in Bristol last week at all.

Thomas Jones

No prediction from me. I would just like to say Congratulations to TS QB Justin Grizzle for breaking the school record for passing yards in a single season. Congrats young man.