Virginia High finishes off Martinsville by 14 to get the W. Good night for Region D.
What I saw with Martinsville and Gretna were athletes and not great basketball players. Both teams are not very disciplined. They have good quickness, but just don't seem to have elite or great basketball players. Gretna and Martinsville had their athleticism neutralized by Graham and Va High's equally potent athleticism, but Va High and Graham just had better basketball players (at least that's what I saw-my opinion).
Just for my information what did Martinsville do that made you think, in your opinion of course, that they were undisciplined? I didn't see the game but from what I saw all year the reason they were competitive, was their discipline. I agree they didn't have alot of talent, they lost 3 players before the new year, 2 of which were starters, a 6'2 guard and a 6'6" post player. They had to be some what disciplined just to make it this far. So I was just wondering what you saw.
Martinsville has been good defensively all year. On offense they have 2 or 3 pretty decent shooters but do like to get out and run. I'm just thinking that with a 3 hour bus ride into hostile territory, it might be a little to much to ask the Dogs to come back with a win. Hopefully it will be a well played competitive game.
Again, Gretna is not bad. Not saying Graham can't win, but should be a good game. I don't see Martinsville winning. They'll play good defense but they can be offensively challenged sometimes.
I mean it's not a dump, it's just not as big as what the Gmen are used to playing in. All the Pittsylvania Co schools were built at about the same time and the gyms are carbon copies of each other. Also there is nothing like a Gretna home crowd, whether it's bball or football.
Logan is only a soph. He's about 6'5". He played qb and wide receiver on the football team at Gretna. The whole team played football and it took them awhile to get going this season. All this according to the Gretna scorekeeper. Coming from a Dogs fan, Gretna is very athletic, good defensively and well coached. They like to play in transition and are always looking to push the ball up the court. Martinsville was able to control the tempo for the most part but we were unable to hit enough shots to pull it out. It was a 2 point game with a minute to go last night but Gretna scored the last 6 points for the win.
So Gretna will host the VA-Graham loser while Martinsville will travel to the VA-Graham winner. This thing could turn. For example, all 4 teams are so close that lets say Graham loses to Virginia High. It's a situation where Graham could turn around and beat Gretna and Martinsville could turn around and beat VH on the road. All 4 teams are close, very close.
The Gretna-Martinsville game was 35-33 with 1:05 to go when the Dogs missed a short shot for the tie and Gretna's big man got fouled on the rebound. He hit the 2 free throws for the four point lead and added 4 more in the last :30 seconds for the final 41-33 score. It was a really even game, good hard nosed defense and both teams played hard clean basketball. They could both win the next round but they could also easily lose. VHS and Graham are each going to be handfuls to play against. I wonder where Gretna will play? Their gym isn't that big and it's a hard place to play, a very raucous crowd so to speak. Good luck to the four teams left in the west.
I agree with you Stripes. I would dare say that most of the kids on Martinsville have never been to Richmond, so just the experience of the trip would be a lifetime memory. I remember when I was keeping the scorebook for the team when they won back to back in 14-15, when I see those young men in the community they don't talk about the games as much as they talk about all the fun we had on the bus trips or other things. Would they have a chance to win, not at all !! But in my opinion you still show up and give your best effort, the VHSL needs to straightened all this out.
Fairlawncat, the Mavahi-Radford game was two good defensive teams really going at one another. It was a battle. I thought Radford was very well coached and the kids played very hard. They just couldn't get anything going consistently on offense. Gretna is very athletic and deep. They are going to be a handful for the Dogs tonite.
Pdfan, how is the new coach in Bulldog land? Is he popular with the fans? Is he changing or trending the culture back to old form? Scary stuff if that happens. Record turnaround speaks for itself
In my opinion he is doing a good job. He's not everyone's cup of tea. He coaches the boys hard, which they are not used to. He had a couple of kids quit and he lost a couple of big men ( 6'6" and 6'5") who could of really helped but they got in trouble at school and they were gone. He's a former player at the University of Buffalo, played overseas for a number of years and also worked in the Chicago Bulls organization for a couple of years. He's from Rahway, NJ so he brings a certain type of toughness to the program. He also coached the jv team this year who ended up only losing 3 or 4 games. I hope we can keep him.
The best team in the region in my opinion is Gretna. They got off to a slow start this year but have everybody back from last years team. They'll be a tough out. Martinsville is a very scrappy bunch, a lot of kids in the 6'1" to 6' 3" range, that play very hard on the defensive end of the court. Offensively they do it by committee, usually a different leading scorer every game. Radford-Martinsville and Chatham- Gretna should be two good games Thursday.
I think they were because Nobody Else was. Radford isn't very good, but neither is Martinsville and Glenvar ain't great. Floyd beat Radford and Glenvar twice and Blacksburg once. By default, there really isn't anybody left to pick other than Floyd in Region C. Nobody is that good. Unless you want to argue Chatham or Gretna? Martinsville fans have came on here and one states, "this team is terrible." Who else is left to pick?
Martinsville beat Dan River tonight 58-41. The terrible bunch play Radford Thursday at 6. Hope we can keep it within 20 points. One thing about the Dogs this year, we're short but we make up for it by being really slow.
Whoever finishes 1st or 2nd in 2D has a very reasonable chance of playing for a state title against JM. 2C ain't pretty either. Floyd, Radford, Martinsville? Martinsville and Radford are shadows of what they once were. About 9 teams in my opinion from the west that on any given night, are within 3 to 4 points of each other. VH and GC kind of......kind of.....stand out in 2D, but not really. There's no major separation there.
Martinsville is terrible this year. How they won 15 games I'll never know. If they played in the Three Rivers district they would have been lucky to win 8 games. Jmo
Patrick Co is going into the Three Rivers this year because of the travel issues( trips to Mecklenburg, Halifax, GW-Danville) and also getting to play schools more their size. This leaves Martinsville as the only 2A in the Piedmont so we know all to well Liberty-Bedford's predicament. Nowhere to go for the Dogs so they will take their lumps from the 4A and 3A teams in the district.
Patrick Co has been building this team for awhile. As a 2A playing against Halifax Co, Tunstall, Magna Vista and Bassett they see mid to upper 80's on a consistent basis. The Coach's son has committed to Va Tech and a couple more have committed to Ferrum and other places. They will be good again next year, but they also move to the Three Rivers district so I don't know how many of the larger schools they still will be playing.
Glenvar and Radford are both capable. Both have played tough schedules, are exceptionally well coached and have loads of talent. Blacksburg not withstanding, Glenvar may be the best team in C/D regardless of classification. Magna Vista is 19-0 but have played a really weak schedule. They can't be overlooked but until they play someone of consequence, the jury is still out on just how good they are.
Is the Palmer kid on jv just an 8th grader? He is going to be a really good player. He was a nightmare matchup for the jv Dogs. They were able to get the ball out of his hands enough in the 4th quarter to pull out a 1 point win. He and a few more of the jv kids are going to make Graham really tough to beat next year.
Good game as the Dogs built a 16 point lead in the 3rd quarter only for Graham to battle back to cut it to a 3 point lead at the start of the 4th. Martinsville pulled away late for the final margin. Graham is going to be a really good team as the year goes on, they just need more court time. After watching the jv and varsity and seeing how much youth they have, the bball program is going to be very good for the foreseeable future at Graham. Good luck to the G-Men and we'll see you in a few weeks in Bluefield.
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State Playoffs Information
in SWVA Basketball
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Just for my information what did Martinsville do that made you think, in your opinion of course, that they were undisciplined? I didn't see the game but from what I saw all year the reason they were competitive, was their discipline. I agree they didn't have alot of talent, they lost 3 players before the new year, 2 of which were starters, a 6'2 guard and a 6'6" post player. They had to be some what disciplined just to make it this far. So I was just wondering what you saw.