Love how you say "everyone" in a thread that had one reply prior to yours...........but I digress! Since you quoted me with your response, here is mine!
The first category in my original post lists players I have seen. Which should be self explanatory given the heading of that grouping of players in my original post reads "The one's I have seen play in no particular order." The second category is clearly labeled "The following were either 1st or 2nd Team All-State a year ago as underclassmen." I took that information directly from the VHSLCA flyer distributed in late March. Bailey Frazier is listed as a senior in that email. If that isn't the case, the reigning Class 2 State Player of the Year would be most deserving of any list of top players from our region. Dee Cvetnich was not selected as an All-State performer last season which, given the heading of the second grouping of players on my list, would disqualify her from said list.
Actually, Dee Cvetnich was selected first-team all state by VHSL & VHSCA for the 2017-18 season as a junior.
That's not totally true. Coaches can request to not have certain refs and vice versa. You think Bob Jeter is gonna just let everything go and do Central games?
Bob Jeter has already reffed a Wise Central game this year. I do know he doesn't normally though, because I don't think they had him at all last year.
Won't pull for Central under any circumstances. They didn't pull for us two years ago, so... go Martinsville! Lol
It is sad that there is such an intense hatred among some fans from both sides. I will say that two years ago, Ridgeview was playing Union in the State Championship game so it wouldn't be unheard of for kids/fans/etc from Central to pull for Union instead. Honestly, the saddest thing is, the actual girls on Central and Ridgeview's teams are pretty good friends for the most part; several of them played on the same team until 8th grade in basketball and several others still play travel softball together. Yeah, they hate losing to each other, just as true competitors should, but they aren't out for blood like some of the immature fans for both sides are. I just think it's crazy when I see adults behaving like children and the kids are acting like adults.
Is anyone going to be carrying the Wise Central/Graham game?
I think Richlands is blessed to have 2 stations that carry their basketball and football games. I appreciate the staff and sponsors for doing this for our fanbase.
Girls basketball and softball consistently produce more state championship caliber teams than any other sports on our end of the state and have for a long time. They rarely receive the same recognition as the boys, however. It's nice to see the efforts of these young lady's being noticed with the amount of activity on this site.
The girls who remain in the program at Galax are changing the culture. The new coach ruffled some feathers of parents and players alike causing roughly half the program participants to quit over the past year. I'm not certain that's an altogether negative thing. Changing a culture of mediocrity means changing habits, patterns, expectations and desires. Those who weren't willing to put in the work throughout the spring and summer were a part of the culture of mediocrity. The results have been tremendous thus far. This team is young, hungry but inconsistent. But the inconsistency is changing rapidly!
I look forward to what these girls can accomplish over the next few years.
The summer showcase team that Essence Brown and Shay Fox of Galax played with this summer had several other SWVA girls (Grace Hess and Taylor Gilbert [Abindgon], Dee Cvetnich [Central], Ericah Burton [Richlands]). Their coach was extremely demanding in a very positive way so with those two at the helm, I see a bright future for Galax.
I think it's wonderful that we have, between this thread and the "Rankings" thread, 9 pages of nothing but girls basketball commentary. I didn't think that was possible, to be honest!
Well, aside from Gate City & Richlands, the girls are much more competitive at a statewide level than the boys in this end of the state. It's nice to see this amount of interest for sure, especially knowing the effort some of these girls are putting out year round now. Back when I played (~10 yrs ago), there were only a few girls playing year round; now, there's pretty much at least one from most teams here playing and working year round.
That was a really good breakdown of the teams/girls. I can only make one correction. All the girls that traveled throughout the summer, played Showcase ball, not AAU. After about 7th grade AAU ball becomes really weak and most of the better girls moves up to the Showcase circuit.
That's true. Sorry about that. Thanks for the correction.
I think 1-4 or maybe even 5 are a toss up. These girls are going to come out hard every night and it will be anybody's game.
Abingdon has a roster of AAU girls. Hess, Taylor Gilbert, Emily Breeding, Sarah Walters, and Peyton Carter have all played on the AAU circuit this summer. They have the experience and potential to really be a great team; Hess seems to always know where the ball needs to be on the floor and as the floor general, she gets it there.
Central only has one player who has played in the AAU circuit over the summer (Dee Cvetnich), but the team is talented. Cvetnich is averaging a double-double through 4 games and Gracie Mullins has taken on a leadership role. Brook Porter and Olivia Mullins are experienced guards having started in previous seasons and Olivia Mullins is showing more confidence in driving the lane. Watching them at the PVNB tournament, it appears they need to get better control of the ball and limit turnovers.
Ridgeview has two really talented guards in Bailey Frazier and Nikole Counts; they're capable of getting to the hoop at will. Frazier played the AAU circuit over the summer, but watching her this weekend she seemed to be playing in pain and had both hips on ice following every game. That would be my biggest concern for them. Ridgeview did show great ball movement this weekend and they have 5+ girls who are able to consistently hit the 3.
Union is just a bunch of athletes. The whole bunch is long and lean. Abigail Webb has stepped up and taken on a scoring role, and Ashley Chester has consistently been a scorer and rebounder for the Bears over the past 3 years and that is holding through their first games of this young season. Jayda Smith has shown improvement and I believe she's only a sophomore. She's going to contribute a lot for them this season.
Gate City has an experienced senior in Tori Powers and a fresh face in Sarah Thompson. Although Thompson is a freshman this year, she played for an AAU team this year that literally walked all over most anyone that they came up against in their age division (along with Honaker's freshman LeeAnna McNulty). She may not be experienced in Varsity play, but she's played against the best girls her age nationwide over the summer and she will surprise some people.
John Battle's Callie Haderer is back for her final season with the Trojans and after a successful AAU season this summer, is poised to have a great year. Coming off a season where they showed growth in being able to knock off Gate City at the end of last year, I think they'll be hungry to show that they've improved. To be honest, even though Honaker is a 1A school, I was surprised to see John Battle beat them in the VA High Tournament this weekend so I think they're going to give teams a tougher game this year than in recent years.
I've honestly not heard anything about Lee High this year and I don't think they've played a game yet. I think they do play tonight though.
What other options do we have in SWVA? To my knowledge, we have the Va High tourneys, fort chiswell (which is a stretch to get to), and the UVAW tourneys. Options are limited. Plus most teams are not very good.
I would beg to differ that most teams are not very good. SWVA has the toughest conference in the state in 2A girls basketball. Central's girls have won state in 2013-14, 2014-15, & 2016-17. Ridgeview won state in the 2015-16 season & the finals that year we're 2 local teams (Ridgeview & Union). Also, before Ridgeview was formed, in 2014-15, the state championship in 1A & 2A were both from SWVA as Clintwood won 1A & Central 2A. Girls basketball in our end of the state is usually the best action you'll see. The conference/district (whatever format they've gone to this year) should be extremely competitive adding Abingdon, with D1 signee Grace Hess (Air Force), into the mix with Central, Ridgeview, & Union.
Yeah, you're probably right... I still think that tournament and the boys tournament both over there are a joke.
I would assume one of the players who quit was the one who hit the end of regulation buzzer beater against Ridgeview, since I think she was the coach's daughter and an 8th grader at that.
The 8th grader who hit the shot at the buzzer did not quit. A senior who started quit. The 8th grader who hit that shot holds 3 D1 offers already and she started on Saturday (she had not started in either of the 2 games before during the tournament).
I've said it for several weeks, Battle has played everyone in the district decent. They were due a win and last night was their night. Even though Union lost to Lebanon in the regular season, I was shocked it took a buzzer beater from them last night to beat Lebanon again, because Union had been playing the best ball in the district over the last two weeks. I'm not going to be a bit surprised if Battle pulls the upset on us either. First meeting, they led the entire game except the last two minutes and lost by 3. At Ridgeview they lost by 13, but only Gate City has ever come to Ridgeview and got a win I believe. Battle will have everything going for them. Confidence that they can win in the district and beat one of the elite teams at that and I'm sure the Central folks will be pulling for Battle hard and heavy to knock us out.
I know a lot of you GC folks are not too fond of Houseright... think this loss puts her on the hot seat as coach?
After keeping up with the score on twitter, I was wishing I'd make the trip to Gate City to watch. Battle has played everyone in the conference hard, but I was still shocked to see it actually happen.
I don't think any of the four teams left in the tournament are going to have it easy tomorrow or Friday night.
Central actually beat Ridgeview once at Ridgeview last year in a close battle.
All 7 teams will play in the conference tournament. The #1 seed does have a bye and will play the winner of the #4/#5 seed game from the first round in the semis. #2/#7 winner plays #3/#6 winner in semifinals.
Feb 13 - Boys' first round @ higher seed
Feb 14 - Girls' first round @ higher seed
Feb 15 - Boys' semifinals @ #1 seed
Feb 16 - Girls' semifinals @ #1 seed
Feb 17 - Championship Games for Boys & Girls @ #1 seed
.png.01bb665814ffc257795fe158cb2045c7.png.8a531ac878a82772b21014d7a6167582.png){kind=logo}
Postseason Awards
in SWVA Basketball
Posted
All-Region 1D and All-Cumberland District (boys)
All- Region 2D and All-Mountain 7 District (girls)
High School Boys
All-Region 1D
Player of the Year
Caleb Williams, J.I. Burton
Coach of the Year
Aaron Williams, J.I. Burton
First Team
Caleb Williams, J.I. Burton, sr.
Cade Looney, Grundy, so.
Grayson Honaker, Honaker, so.
Ethan Powers, Eastside, so.
Dylan Catron, Chilhowie, sr.
Zack Cale, Chilhowie, sr.
Houston Thacker, J.I. Burton, sr.
Tyler Keen, Twin Valley, sr.
Second Team
Tyler Strong, Northwood, jr.
Ben Hulbert, Holston, sr.
Chase Love, Rye Cove, sr.
Nick Livingston, Eastside, sr.
Taylor Justus, Hurley, sr.
Trevor McGlothlin, Twin Valley, jr.
Brett Boyd, Honaker, sr.
Hamilton Campbell, Grundy, so.
Honorable Mention
Jacob McCoy, Grundy, jr.; Caleb Yeary, Thomas Walker, so.; Brady Gilbert, Castlewood, sr.; Chris Swann, Eastside, sr.; Luke Carter, Northwood, jr.; Nathan Mossholder, Holston, sr.; Eli Carter, Northwood, fr.; Drew Miller, Patrick Henry, sr.
All-Cumberland District
Co-Players of the Year
Caleb Williams, J.I. Burton
Ethan Powers, Eastside
Coach of the Year
Patrick Damron, Eastside
First Team
Ethan Powers, Eastside
Caleb Williams, J.I. Burton
Houston Thacker, J.I. Burton
Chase Love, Rye Cove
Nick Livingston, Eastside
Caleb Yeary, Thomas Walker
Brady Gilbert, Castlewood
Chris Swann, Eastside
Justin Reed, Twin Springs
Trevor Culbertson, J.I. Burton
Honorable Mention
Castlewood – Jacob Vance, Zach Owens; Twin Springs – Dean Jarnagin; Rye Cove – Colton Eads; J.I. Burton – Zac Campbell; Thomas Walker – Logan Ely; Eastside – Connor Blevins, J.R. Kilgore.
High School Girls
All-Region 2D
Player of the Year
Brook Porter, Wise Central
Coach of the Year
Robin Dotson, Wise Central
First Team
Brook Porter, Wise Central, sr.
Sarah Thompson, Gate City, so.
Amaya Lee, Virginia High, sr.
Dee Cvetnich, Wise Central, sr.
Averie Price, Lebanon, jr.
Bailey Frazier, Ridgeview, sr.
Taylor Owens, Virginia High, sr.
Emili Brooks, Union, jr.
Second Team
Lauren Earls, Richlands, jr.
Jada Campbell, Virginia High, sr.
Nikole Counts, Ridgeview, sr.
Lydia Lambert, Tazewell, jr.
Olivia Mullins, Wise Central, sr.
Gracie Billings, Marion, sr.
Jaden Fullen, Gate City, sr.
Kara Long, Lebanon, jr.
All-Mountain 7 District
Players of the Year
Class 3 – Peyton Carter, Abingdon
Class 2 – Sarah Thompson, Gate City
Class 2 – Brook Porter, Wise Central
Coach of the Year
Robin Dotson, Wise Central
First Team
Peyton Carter, Abingdon, jr.
Sarah Thompson, Gate City, so.
Brook Porter, Wise Central, sr.
Dee Cvetnich, Wise Central, sr.
Bailey Frazier, Ridgeview, sr.
Emili Brooks, Union, jr.
Nikole Counts, Ridgeview, sr.
Olivia Mullins, Wise Central, sr.
Jaden Fullen, Gate City, sr.
Jayda Smith, Union, jr.
Second Team
Emily Breeding, Abingdon, jr.
Hannah Carter, Wise Central, jr.
Heather Lipps, Union, jr.
Brooklyn Frazier, Ridgeview, fr.
Cassie Farley, Abingdon, jr.
Morgan Blevins, Abingdon, so.
Shelby Fannon, Lee High, so.
Bethany Smith, John Battle, jr.
Honorable Mention
Amber Taylor, Ridgeview, sr.; Kandace Quillen, Lee High, jr.; Anna McKee, John Battle, fr.; Kate Pendleton, Gate City, sr.; Marah Mullins, Gate City, sr.; Kara Mullins, Union, sr.; Jaylan Webb, Union, jr.; Brittany Mullins, Wise Central, sr.