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.
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.
Rivalry game man... throw the records out the window. What happened to Battle tonight?
Also, with our loss to Lee High, we have clinched last place in the conference and have a date with Union next week in the conference tournament. Yippee.
Don't know. I left for work after the my Son's JV game. What was the JSB/WC score? Has anyone heard?
Not sure why JSB would expect the same kind of crowd that came with GC/Union, considering its not GC/Union...
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.
Union travels really well for rivalry games but with Battlenbeing so far away and the game not as big as the one next week, I'm not surprised Union had a small crowd.
How many points did Slagle have?
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.
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.
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.
I'm not sure how well GC shot the ball tonight against TN High....But I seen where GC shot like 14% from deep against Battle last night and only hit 61% from the FT line. GC also shot 64% from the stripe against Central. Need to clean up the freebies. Having a bad night from deep will happen....But the Devils need to shore up their FT percentage. Against the teams in the MD it's probably not gonna cost them....But down the road that will come back to bite them.
They seemed to shoot better tonight from the field. But TN High's Defense is not nearly as good as Battle's Defense.
Was hoping a few players would step up in the void left by Dean being out and GC would be able to maintain without him. His absence is definitely missed though as evidenced by the past 2 nights. Still 2 solid wins....But seems like GC is letting off the throttle a smidgen bit in the 2nd half. Maybe this has helped a couple bench players and hopefully the game against Lee on Tuesday Scotty will be able to get them even more playing time.
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.
Lebanon also beat Battle earlier this season, so each team has one point.
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 @ Union - This is a big one, heard the Jenkins kid for Union is out with some injury. Almost a must win for Battle after the Lebanon loss. The key is to avoid being 4/5 seed in conference tournament. The winner of this can go a long way in getting there.
Central @ Ridgeview - The Warriors broke the seal and its time for TJ's boys to go on a run. They struggled for three quarters which should give cause for concern but emotion and energy are always present when Central plays. Ridgeview is going to have a hard time beating anybody not named Lee. The Counts kid isn't a bad player but he has little help.
Lee @GC - Devils name the score and get ready for Friday's game vs Union. No need to rush Dean back for this one.
What if Leb slows it way down - runs a box in one - triangle in two or maybe a line in Three? Remember Gate City has not beaten a Virginia team all year and they are on a 3 game losing streak. So there a chance. JK
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.
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.
.png.01bb665814ffc257795fe158cb2045c7.png.8a531ac878a82772b21014d7a6167582.png){kind=logo}
M7 Boys Basketball
in SWVA Basketball
Posted
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.