Soccer_Dad

The popcorn was pretty good Tim.

Battle runs a variation of the Veer on Offense. Defense is 4-2-5

My son's Hudl account for a couple of them. The other's I watched through a Hudl account of guy at work's son.

My son's Hudl account for a couple of them. The other's I watched through a Hudl account of guy at work's son.

My son plays for Battle. So I see them every week. I've been to one GC game during our bye week & watched 4 or 5 of their games online. For Battle to have a chance, they will need to set the tone by finding a way to block #53 & #40, & a way to corral #7 .... Also, Battle only has 6 or 7 Seniors. They are very young. They will be better next year. But realistically, I'd say that they are 2 years away.

***the JSB game... not the Haysi game***

I went to that game at Essex to watch my Daughter cheer her Freshman year. The "adults" there were very nice & welcoming. But at least half of the "young" folks were awful. But that seems to be the case everywhere anymore.

The Grizzle kid @Gate City looks pretty dominant.

I don't think anyone in SWVA expected John Battle to be 4-3 at this point... Not even the kids that play there! And to be honest, if it weren't for one safety falling down on a long pass & 55 yards in stupid penalties in the 4th Quarter of the Patrick Henry game allowing them to come from behind in the last 3 minutes, they would be 5-2. So I am very surprised to see JSB doing this well with a team that only has 7 Seniors.

John Battle, Daniel Boone, & Johnson County Tn.... DB 3 tds - JSB 0 tds... JC 3 tds - JSB 0 tds... DB 2 tds - JC 0 tds

Yeah... I just went to vhsl site & saw that... I probably should have done that before I posted. Looks like it's still only 4 teams at VCU & they added one extra round before that. More money for the vhsl that way I guess.

I was thinking that only the top 2 teams move on in both East and West, champs+runner-ups, making 4 teams total at VCU.. unless it has changed.

Lee 44 - Lebanon 40

Union 59 - Central 36

Battle 92 - Ridgeview 64

I was clapping for Justin too. I was talking to a couple of older gentlemen from up your way. They said he rarely gets to play & never scores just before he took that shot. You could tell that shot made his season by the huge smile on his face.... #20 is Nathan Bowers. He's a really good player. Led the Conference in scoring last year. I think he's 2nd or 3rd this year ( around a 20pt avg). He has been a little off his game the 2nd half of this season with Harris not playing. Harris feeds alot of good passes to him (backdoors, ally-oops, etc...). Great kid too. 4.0 GPA

Battle/Ridgeview really surprised me. I thought with Harris out that Battle most likely would go down. I've never been so wrong.... All I know is that my daughter gets to cheer at least one more game in her Senior year.

I was at that game. I have seen every Battle game this year. They have had the lead at the end of the 1st in all of them. Outside of the starting 5, Battle is not very deep at all. Yes the Harris kid just came back from injury & did go out midway thru the 1st in this one with another separated shoulder. And I know Harris always seems to always have a great game against GC too. So losing their best defensive player who also averages over 12pts & 7or8 rebs per game hurt some. But GC couldn't miss a shot from outside. Also when GC switched to a zone in the 2nd it took away Nathan Bowers' ability to drive to the basket. GC is much deeper than Battle. They would've made up the deficit anyway. They did the first time they played each other in Bristol. And it was switching to the zone & lack of depth that made the difference that time too. I don't think losing Harris was the difference in the outcome of this game. I personally think that not having Harris in the 2nd Lebanon & 2nd Ridgeview game was the difference in those however. But not the 2nd GC or 2nd Union game.

I didn't realize that... Kinda crazy & really confusing. So since there are 7 teams, does that mean that GC will get a bye in the 1st round?

Lebanon is not in the CMC. They are in the Southwest.

Yeah when John Battle went to Essex in 2012 some had to break out their folding chairs. You would be lucky to fit 200 in the visitor's stands.

OK. I was just going by what I was told. Thanks for the clarification.

Apparently Tennessee High is supposed to have a really good team & might be the local team to watch this year. They are ranked in the Top 25 (public schools) by USA Today in the South Region. The South Region consists of prep teams from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Louisiana. They are the only TN public school on the list. So they must be pretty darn good. But they did get the absolute toughest opening round draw too. I sure would love to see a local school win this year.

They are having a great boys tournament next week (Dec 10 - Dec 12) at VA High School in Bristol VA. I attached a file with the bracket showing the teams & times. This tournament will feature Oak Hill Academy (Grayson Co VA), Evelyn Mack Academy (Charlotte NC), Hamilton Heights Academy (Chattanooga TN), Covenant Christian Academy (Marietta GA), & Faith Assembly Academy (Durham NC). There will also be 3 local schools playing. They are Abingdon, Lebanon, & VA High. This should be a very good tournament with 8 Division 1 commits & 5 kids in the ESPN top 100. Tickets are only $8 per day. It might be your only chance this year to see this much High School talent in one gym. Scan2.pdf

Honaker will be very good this year. They return 4 starters from last year's team (at least that's what I've been told). I saw them play 2 or 3 times last year & they were good then. Should be one of the top 3 teams in Div 1 this year in our area.