Gate City: Blue/White scrimmage

[Leatherhead Larry 530]

The GC blue/white game is set for Friday, August 4th. Start time: 7:00pm

[SXSW 559]

How have the Devils looked, I haven't seen a practice yet.

[Jason 299]

 Never thought I would see this day. 

[SXSW 559]

Oh my! Somebody on one of the other boards a few years ago said that GC was on it's way to becoming a basketball school and was literally laughed off the board, but with that said the Devils have a better than 50-50 chance of a state title in BBall, while in football making the playoffs will be a good year.

[Deleted Account 5,203]

7 minutes ago, SXSW said:

Oh my! Somebody on one of the other boards a few years ago said that GC was on it's way to becoming a basketball school and was literally laughed off the board, but with that said the Devils have a better than 50-50 chance of a state title in BBall, while in football making the playoffs will be a good year.

Greater than 50% chance?  Lawl.  Some of you folks need to take trips out of SWVA sometime.

 

Despite Gate City's offensive prowess, they couldn't defend Heritage Hall's JV team last year, and there are teams in the East who both score and defend admirably.  There's a reason no 2A/AA team west of Glenvar since the 1956 Graham G-Men has won a boys' state championship.  Basketball in SWVA, especially on the AA/2A level, is an afterthought, in a state where basketball is an afterthought.  It's an afterthought's afterthought.

 

I hope Gate City can turn that streak around (if Graham can't).  But my goodness, greater than 50% chance to win more than 3 months before the season begins?!  When it hasn't been done in my parents' lifetimes?  Good luck.

[GC HOKE 27]

I would like to reply to UVAO (I'm too stupid to figure out how to insert his last post): The champion will be determined on the court, where it should be.  GC better than 50/50 chance of taking it all?  I agree, probably too high a %.  But, I would think they would have as good a chance as anyone else, maybe better. It's really whoever gets the hottest at the end of the year.  They've been to the finals three times I think, and two of those were higher than 2A (I could be wrong, but I know the final against Salem was higher than 2A).  If they learn how to play defense, and play to win instead of not to lose, GC will be fine.

[trumpet1988 289]

7 hours ago, SXSW said:

Oh my! Somebody on one of the other boards a few years ago said that GC was on it's way to becoming a basketball school and was literally laughed off the board, but with that said the Devils have a better than 50-50 chance of a state title in BBall, while in football making the playoffs will be a good year.

Never thought I'd see the day. It's awkward not to have GC in the top 10, much less top 5, in the state for the Class. 

[SXSW 559]

7 hours ago, trumpet1988 said:

Never thought I'd see the day. It's awkward not to have GC in the top 10, much less top 5, in the state for the Class. 

Gate City football has been through dry spells before, they will be back. What has been disturbing the last several years though is the ability to stop anyone on defense. They have been historically bad in the past 6-8 years, but have been good enough offensively to hold their own. I don't know if the spread offenses are the reason or just lack of fundamentals, Gate City had always had trouble covering the pass, as most high schools do, I think that the 7 on 7 will help build that skill set up in the defensive backs. I honestly do not know what to expect from this years team but we will soon find out.

[Great City 210]

We are not going to be "back" in football until we get more kids out of the halls and on the team. Way too many kids having to play both ways. We also have a lot of kids who only play one sport. This did not used to be the case. How many kids on the basketball team last year played football?

Success on the field leads to more kids wanting to be on the team. The reverse is also true. Hard to stop a train once it is moving. Much harder to get it moving initially. (train = cannonball reference)

Speaking of basketball..........not sure what % chance we have of winning a state title, and that should be the farthest thing on the players'/coaches' minds.......but barring injuries, we should have the best chance we have ever had. Don't think we embarrassed ourselves last year. (Even with Dean's injury causing his game to greatly suffer the second half of the year, and Zac battling an illness that I believe caused him to lose several pounds.)  Didn't we take a fairly decent team from the East into OT last year? Should have a stronger team this year.

Based on the many, many GC games I watched last year, not sure defense was our main issue. I would argue that lack of an inside presence....and the subsequent lack of rebounding was a much bigger issue. We gave up way too many second chance points. Unfortunately it was fairly routine for a team to get 3, 4, 5 consecutive offensive rebounds against us.

I did a quick scan of the VHSL Record Book. I THINK GC has been in 4 state finals. We lost by 3, 5, 14, and 3 points in those games. We have never played above AA.

 

[Ryan4VT 4,557]

Rebounding was what I saw that killed GC last year. In that regional semi game, I saw Dan River get 7 consecutive offensive rebounds before a DR player finally scored a 3. Can't win like that.

[Great City 210]

Ryan..................congrats on the marriage!

 

[TTownTigers 82]

17 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

 

There's a reason no 2A/AA team west of Glenvar since the 1956 Graham G-Men has won a boys' state championship.  Basketball in SWVA, especially on the AA/2A level, is an afterthought, in a state where basketball is an afterthought.  It's an afterthought's afterthought.

 

1968   Blacksburg, Classified as 1B, but a traditional AA school won the state title.  They also won it in 1965 at the same level.

1962,  Haysi, Classified at Class II, won the state title.  That same year, Pulaski County won it at the 1B level.

1964.  Lebanon, won the state title at the Class II level.

Martinsville kind of skews the data.  They have won many state titles and many of those titles were traditional AA or Class 2 type teams in SWVA losing to them in the semi's, but the same results happened to the Eastern teams when they played them in the state title game.....often a loss.  No question though, AA basketball in SWVA is not even close to being as strong traditionally as other parts of VA, but....Gate City has one of the better chances this coming year to when it in a long time.  From 1961 to about 1970, Virginia had 4 classes as the largest school was 1A, then 1B, then Class II, then Class III being the smallest, so somewhere in the range of Ib to Class II would be "AAish," but there actually has been a few schools in SWVA to win it at that level since Graham of 1956.  Haysi and Lebanon did, and it depends on how one classifies Blacksburg and Pulaski back then, but whichever way one classifies it, 2 of the 4 won it at what would be the "AA" level since 1956-Graham.

 

[cityofRaven 2,453]

My book in Vegas has Gate City at about 8/2 right now. 

[GC HOKE 27]

Great City, you said that in bball, GC has never played above AA.  That's sort of a complicated issue.  In classification name only, that is true.  However, prior to a certain year, it was only A, AA, and AAA.  Then they renamed the classes 1A-6A.  I'm fairly certain that in 1997, when Salem beat GC in the bball finals, GC was AA, but in the new classification system, they were called 3A.  I am basing this on the fact that in the fall of 1997, GC won the FB state championship in 3A.  Even if bball didn't have 6 divisions back then, but just 3, GC was AA, which is the equivalent in today's day and time as either 3A or 4A.

As far as your analysis of the slide in football at GC, you are spot on.  The athletes are there, they are just choosing to focus on other sports, and not playing football.  Kids do whatever appeals to them most.  Also, travel sports are big in our area, with the TriCities hosting a bevy of tournaments in all non-football sports.  I know that there is travel football in our area, but I don't think it's as prevalent.  Just my two pennies.

[Deleted Account 5,203]

40 minutes ago, TTownTigers said:

1968   Blacksburg, Classified as 1B, but a traditional AA school won the state title.  They also won it in 1965 at the same level.

1962,  Haysi, Classified at Class II, won the state title.  That same year, Pulaski County won it at the 1B level.

1964.  Lebanon, won the state title at the Class II level.

Martinsville kind of skews the data.  They have won many state titles and many of those titles were traditional AA or Class 2 type teams in SWVA losing to them in the semi's, but the same results happened to the Eastern teams when they played them in the state title game.....often a loss.  No question though, AA basketball in SWVA is not even close to being as strong traditionally as other parts of VA, but....Gate City has one of the better chances this coming year to when it in a long time.  From 1961 to about 1970, Virginia had 4 classes as the largest school was 1A, then 1B, then Class II, then Class III being the smallest, so somewhere in the range of Ib to Class II would be "AAish," but there actually has been a few schools in SWVA to win it at that level since Graham of 1956.  Haysi and Lebanon did, and it depends on how one classifies Blacksburg and Pulaski back then, but whichever way one classifies it, 2 of the 4 won it at what would be the "AA" level since 1956-Graham.

 

I appreciate the correction!

 

Nevertheless, it has still been 53 years since the last SWVA AA/2A equivalent champion.

[Deleted Account 5,203]

36 minutes ago, cityofRaven said:

My book in Vegas has Gate City at about 8/2 right now. 

I can imagine some of the Gate City fans here scrambling to BetUS in a vain attempt to put money on this.  And I'm not kidding.  I literally see this in my mind's eye, because delusion runs deep.

[GMan 3,569]

45 minutes ago, cityofRaven said:

My book in Vegas has Gate City at about 8/2 right now. 

My bookie has them 4/1...

[GC HOKE 27]

UVAO, I think your perception of the number of delusional fans in GC is skewed a bit.  Yes, there are some, but on the whole, most of us know how hard it is to win the top prize, because after all, we have never done it in boys.

[GC_Quincy 582]

Gate City High School, as a whole, has traveled the State of Virginia more than the majority of the other schools in all sports. To say they need to get out of SWVA is ridiculous. I don't see that it's delusional to think GC could win the state championship anymore than it would be for any other school to feel that way. If you don't go there thinking you're going to win, you'll be tucking your tail between your legs and making a long drive back home.

[SXSW 559]

1 hour ago, GC_Quincy said:

Gate City High School, as a whole, has traveled the State of Virginia more than the majority of the other schools in all sports. To say they need to get out of SWVA is ridiculous. I don't see that it's delusional to think GC could win the state championship anymore than it would be for any other school to feel that way. If you don't go there thinking you're going to win, you'll be tucking your tail between your legs and making a long drive back home.

I don't know of another school in the E. Tennessee, S.W. Va. area that has had the overall athletic success ( Counting all Sports) than Gate City. What is the number of State Titles now 24,25, 26 something like that and the school didn't open till 1956 that is a pretty good run for still being a young school. I salute and brag on all the teams from Southwest Virginia, and not so long ago, we (SW Va.) were feared on the gridiron.

[Deleted Account 5,203]

4 hours ago, GC_Quincy said:

Gate City High School, as a whole, has traveled the State of Virginia more than the majority of the other schools in all sports. To say they need to get out of SWVA is ridiculous. I don't see that it's delusional to think GC could win the state championship anymore than it would be for any other school to feel that way. If you don't go there thinking you're going to win, you'll be tucking your tail between your legs and making a long drive back home.

It's patently delusional to take Gate City over the field for the 2017-2018 basketball season when we are in August 2017, and when non-SWVA schools have whipped SWVA schools like a red-headed stepchild for 53 years.  That is precisely the point to which I responded and precisely the counterpoint I made.

 

Your argument is that Gate City can win a state title...and I agree.  If they can get their minds out of "we'll just offensively overwhelm you" mode, and defend just a tiny little bit, I think they could be dangerous.  

 

And yes, there is a great state of closed-mindedness that pervades much of deep SWVA.

[Jason 299]

Didn't George Wythe win it in 08?

[Great City 210]

George Wythe won it in '08 as a Group A - Division 2 school.

They beat Gate City 58-53.

 

 

[Great City 210]

UVAO.........I can assure you the vast majority of GC fans are not "patently delusional" about the upcoming basketball season. Believe most of us are saying that we COULD win a state championship this season.........a point that you seem to agree with. Looks like we are all on the same delusional page. :)

I will agree that there is a lot of closed-mindedness in SWVA. Just like in all parts of the state, and our great nation. Is really just a matter of what that particular region's minds are closed toward.

I'm curious. How many times did you see GC play last year?

[Leatherhead Larry 530]

I think we can win it. And I think we should win it. 2 D1 players with the possibility of another. The sky is the limit. The bar is set high for this coming season, we want the state title. Simple as that. GC sets a high standard. We want to win state titles, not to just be like everyone else in SWVA. We could have won it last season, but I believe if we just do some things s bit different this coming year, we are bringing the bad boy home!