sixcat

Galax played the Bland game without Shay Foxx and Essence Brown. With an already shocking lack of depth, losing the top two players on the team was noticeable. I agree they are young and inconsistent but I wouldn't base any opinion on the Bland game.

Awesome concept! Should be enough to satisfy most scenarios and piss the holy hell out of Notre Dame for not having an automatic berth should they finish 9-3.

According to the VHSL Book of Records, GW in 2008 and Radford in 2009, 2011 and 2013 were Group A-Division 2. The rest were Division 1 or Class 1 under the new format. The jump from D1 to D2 was significant. Anything above D2 for the smaller schools would have been nightmarish for most. Under the new format, the road to a boys basketball state title for Class 2 is significantly more difficult than in years past, I believe.

Radford - 2009, 2011, 2013, 2016-2017 George Wythe - 2008 (beat Gate City) Galax - 2011-2012 Council - 2001 Floyd - 1997 Twin Springs - 1993 Just a few off the top of my head.

I spoke to some friends in the Roanoke area about the issues with Cave Spring. I just don't remember all of the details from that far back. It seems, Cave Spring played a game at the Roanoke Civic Center in conjunction with the old NBA D-League Roanoke Dazzle. Cave Spring played someone followed by a Dazzle game for a promotional deal to help the struggling NBDL franchise where Cave Spring apparently picked up some of the gate proceeds. For many reasons, that would be a very different situation than what we have here with Gate City.

I'm not sure why this is so difficult. Galax has 7 players and one never plays. Against teams not named East Mont and Auburn, Galax has been outscored in the 4th quarter at nearly a 3:1 clip for the season. Galax is a far cry better than they have been in a decade, maybe longer. But they aren't nearly ready for significant competition as of yet. And without depth to build for the future, it's likely to not get better for a while. Not only is the depth nonexistent at the varsity level but the JV roster features a whopping 8 players. Galax lacks depth in girls athletics as a whole from 8th grade through high school. It won't improve until the middle school kids take over.

Couldn't agree with UVAO and Larry more. Gate City will likely not face another Virginia based 2A program with athletes comparable to McClung and Ervin and most certainly not anyone the caliber of North Meck. North Meck is the #1 ranked team in the Charoltte Observer Top 10 in North Carolina. They are young and extremely talented. My brother and I were talking about the Ford kid being similar in build, athleticism, ability, style and talent to another North Meck product, VCU standout Jamie Skeen. Being only a freshman, he may end up better than Skeen. Radford is a quality program year in and year out. But they haven't had talent such as McClung and Ervin since the Nichols brothers were in high school. I believe Gate City would make Radford suffer if they were to pressure them in the open court if and when they meet.

I get it. He is huge and looks like he is 25 years old but he was in middle school with my nephew until this school year. The way the boundaries fall, Ford ended up at North Meck and my nephew ended up at Hough. Edit to add....My brother played at Bluefield College from 1998-2002. He was offered several coaching positions following college, one under Tommy Brown at Lee University in Cleveland TN. He turned them down to chase a lifelong dream of being a "big city police officer" to which he has been with CMPD since 2002. Point is, he knows more about basketball than I ever have or will. He has been telling me about this kid for the past 5 or 6 years. I just didn't realize he was already playing varsity until I saw the Huntington Prep box score.

Ford is also 6'-4" tall and close to 200 pounds. He has potential to grow quite a bit more. My brother says he is a good kid also. Went to middle school with my nephew.

To be fair, Gate City has two kids who would see playing time at North Meck. North Meck has a dozen! A lot different defending North Meck than defending Lee or Lebanon. I'm not intending to slight Gate City and I don't believe in moral victories but that's about as impressive an outcome as anyone should have expected. North Meck has at least three kids heading to major D1 programs and at least three others who will play mid-major D1 basketball. Gate City has McClung and Ervin who scored 56 of their 64 points. It's also worthy of mention, North Meck played without three year starting PG Vaud Worthy and started two sophomores and a freshman.

Didn't several Roanoke area schools get into some hot water with VHSL over something similar when JJ Redick was at Cave Spring? Quite possible I'm confusing it with something else but I seem to recall some reprimands handed down to school board members, administrators and coaches by the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors in an effort to appease VHSL. I just don't remember the exact issue(s).

Galax is considerably better then they have been in years past but that's not saying much. The only place the program had to go was up because it couldn't get much worse. These girls have worked as hard as any group I've seen beginning late last season and continuing through summer and into this season. But they still have a ways to go before they can compete on a state level.

The Galax girls basketball team has 7 total players on the roster. That lack of depth has to be a handicap regardless of how well those 7 girls play together. George Wythe exposed that lack of depth last night. It's my understanding, Galax has moved two girls up from JV to fill the void but there is a reason they both began the season on JV. Galax has an impressive win over 4A Carroll but I'm not certain Carroll is nearly as talented as they have been in years past. George Wythe has some pretty lackluster performances on their resume also. The truth is, neither of these teams is likely to scare anyone with aspirations of making a deep playoff run!

Fixed that for you! I didn't make the map and am not an administrator. Take it up with those who are!

I would like to see them cut down on turnovers and convert more efficiently at the free throw line. To be honest, I haven't followed closely enough these past few years to know what the rest of Class 1 has. But I know this is the best Galax team I have seen in many years.

If you're stressing over high school football to the point of needing to take time off work in order to "reflect and recuperate", you might consider a reassessment of your priorities! Just a suggestion.

Carroll won the rematch last night 63-52. The game was close throughout with Carroll pulling away late by converting at the free throw line and a timely three pointer. Still, as impressive a Galax girls team as I've seen in quite some time. Galax might just make some noise in Class 1.

I'll try not to jinx it!

Alright, Dickie V, I'm starting to get a little worried here!

I have spent time in virtually every corner of Virginia, both professionally and socially. The lack of awareness by many outside SWVA concerning anything involving SWVA is astounding. I've said it before, folks in other parts of the state will send their kids to Virginia Tech but never bother to explore the communities southwest of Blacksburg. Hence, the feeling in SWVA that most Virginians not from SWVA believe the state stops at Exit 118 along I-77. I once had a coworker argue and ultimately lose a bet to me that Oak Hill Academy was located in Tennessee. He couldn't fathom anything in Virginia being south or west of Blacksburg. Just this Monday, a "headhunter" contacted me on Linkedin, gauging my interest in a career move to the Norfolk area. I politely told her I live well over 300 miles from Norfolk and that's as close as I will ever live to Norfolk! She couldn't understand why "anyone would chose to live in that part of Virginia who had options". The quoted text is taken directly from her email to me. She was dumbfounded that I would chose to stay in "that part of Virginia", meaning SWVA, when I had opportunities in Norfolk. In my mind, this clearly shows a bias the rest of the state harbors toward SWVA. And many have never even been to SWVA! So, it should be no surprise that anyone from "Central VA all day" can't have an objective and unbiased opinion of our little slice of heaven! SWVA respects one another in a way other parts of Virginia cannot understand. When our school is knocked out of the playoffs, we show up in droves to support our neighbors in their quest to reach "states". What a bunch of hillbilly rednecks we must be to support our neighbors! But it's this mindset that makes living and raising children in SWVA so rewarding. We can have pride in our community and show similar pride and support for a neighboring community without our community believing us to be disloyal. We may fuss among ourselves from time to time but when push comes to shove, we have each others backs. I'll step down from my soapbox now!

I don't know about top 10 but Tarboro, NC would be #1 with a bullet! Went 15-0, won the AA state championship and gave up 66 points all season, and only 24 in 5 rounds of the playoffs. Just so it's clear, they allowed 4.4 points per game! They beat a Mount Airy team in the state title game I had seen play a few times this season as well as last. I didn't think anyone could or would beat Mount Airy. Tarboro beat them 32-7!

North Meck lost to Huntington Prep over the weekend 85-79 without Vaud Worthy available. Not sure if he is injured or was sick. Still, pretty good showing against a national power program with a D1 signee out of the lineup.

The Rural Retreat, Grundy dominance in 1A may last a while and is likely to be captivating. Just an observation.

No, 2001-2005. Sorry, half asleep and misunderstood what I was reading. I guess I thought you were asking for girls players who went on to play in college.

Erin Gibson from Carroll was a 4 year starter at Virginia Tech.