Preseason Region D Top 10

[Stelley]

Wanted to wait until Lebanons benefit game was over with Central. With the Pioneers taking the win 67-59.

1. Lebanon- most athletic team I’ve seen Lebanon have in a long long time. The best player in the region finally has an exceptional supporting class of basically all underclassmen. The least athletic guy they will have on the floor the whole game will be Jessee, who will likely be the strongest

2. Central- As the season goes on they will just keep getting scarier and scarier thanks to Damron figuring out how to use Hayes and Horne to their most potential

3. Graham- Best shooter in the region in Dissibio and Martin is great to be an underclassmen but don’t know how effective they will be if either have an off night.

Obviously 1-3 are the favorites for region and any could beat the other on any given night. 
 

4. Gate City- Reed Carpenter and Jenkins are great players and expect them to be just a tick above Union 

5. Union- Outside of Bostic and Anderson not very familiar with who they have but that’s enough to have a chance against anyone

4 and 5 might be able to sneak one from 1-3 but they’d have to play their best games of the season. 6-8 I do not expect to have a chance against 1-3 but slightly against 4/5

 

6. Abingdon- I know Pomrenke transferred out but I know they have some great overall athletes 

7. Virginia High- They lost everyone from last year with Lee transferring out but Gallishaw is a good coach and I’d be surprised if he didn’t figure out a way to win

 

8. Patrick Henry- lost the best player in 1D with the older caywood but the younger one returns

9. Eastside- I know Damron was their best weapon but I know they still have athletes. Little to know knowledge about 1a team as well

10. Chilhowie- Just going off of their scrimmage with Lebanon, and they did not look too shabby.

 

Excited to finally hear about teams on the other side of the state with White leaving JM, Lebanon/Graham/ Central all have a chance to win it all.

 

Edited Thursday at 05:46 PM by Stelley
Updated after seeing some scores from last night and 1inStripes post. Totally forgot about Ridgeview but I’d throw them in the 6/7 range

[1inStripes]

Watched PH/TS last night and PH looked in midseason form.  Shot it well and their length/quickness forced TS to play faster than they would like.  Will miss the Cawood who graduated but the other Cawood, Stewart and others will be tough to beat.

[Stelley]

3 hours ago, 1inStripes said:

Watched PH/TS last night and PH looked in midseason form.  Shot it well and their length/quickness forced TS to play faster than they would like.  Will miss the Cawood who graduated but the other Cawood, Stewart and others will be tough to beat.

Totally forgot about the other caywood. Thought they were both seniors. They are definitely top 10

[Gridiron60]

Lebanon is going to be a force to be reckoned with this season. I’m not sure about Graham without Ray out there. He was a good leader on the court as well as a talented player. They’ll still be good but I wonder who will step into that leadership role. I’m not sure Virginia High figures it out or not. It will be interesting to see how they fair without any of their 5 starters back. I think Lebanon wins SWD , Graham 2nd, & the rest a toss up. 

[Stelley]

2 hours ago, Gridiron60 said:

Lebanon is going to be a force to be reckoned with this season. I’m not sure about Graham without Ray out there. He was a good leader on the court as well as a talented player. They’ll still be good but I wonder who will step into that leadership role. I’m not sure Virginia High figures it out or not. It will be interesting to see how they fair without any of their 5 starters back. I think Lebanon wins SWD , Graham 2nd, & the rest a toss up. 

Will fix be fully healthy?

[Gridiron60]

8 minutes ago, Stelley said:

Will fix be fully healthy?

Not really sure, he wasn’t near 100% in the game against Union. He battled high ankle sprain part of the season and turf toe. Graham definitely needs him healthy. He’s a phenomenal all around athlete. 

[Stelley]

40 minutes ago, Gridiron60 said:

Not really sure, he wasn’t near 100% in the game against Union. He battled high ankle sprain part of the season and turf toe. Graham definitely needs him healthy. He’s a phenomenal all around athlete. 

I’d say if he is then the Lebanon game would be a 50/50 flip if not, Lebanon looks to be too athletic for graham to keep up and would have to get into the fire three after three after three mode, and if Dissibio is having an off night it could get ugly

[Sixcat Adjacent]

Not Region D but thought I'd share. Galax has a freshman girl that is every ounce Alyssa Ervin's equal at this stage of her young career. Her name is Rylee Hawks and she's smooth, super talented, and has great court awareness. She had a triple-double (23 pts/15 reb/11 ast) in her first career high school basketball game last night. Her dad was a standout at Tusculum in the early 00's. Rylee plays on an AAU team that travels the country. She's seasoned to be a freshman.

[1inStripes]

Galax and GW should be fun to watch.  Both are loaded from what I hear.  Is the MED the best 1A girls basketball district in the state?

[Sixcat Adjacent]

The MED might be. GW will be hard to top. Galax is very young. Started 3 freshmen and 2 juniors last night. But as I stated earlier, those 3 freshmen play on an AAU team that literally plays all over the country. So, are they really freshmen at this point?

What's scary for Galax, they have a handful of 8th graders that would start on varsity right now if they could. Young, extremely athletic, great size, with last names most on this football-centric board will recognize. The Galax coaching staff is impressive as well. A young head coach with assistants such as the incomparable Verl Brown and former Carroll County boys head coach Brad Hawks. Rylee is his daughter. Brad stands 6'-8" and Rylee's mom is over 6'-0" tall so, it stands to reason, Rylee will be very tall. She's already approaching 6'-0".

I have to imagine, Galax will be contenders for the next several years.

[1inStripes]

Is the 6-4 girl still at Bland?  Stiltner maybe?

[Bcats]

On 12/1/2025 at 9:59 PM, Stelley said:

Wanted to wait until Lebanons benefit game was over with Central. With the Pioneers taking the win 67-59.

1. Lebanon- most athletic team I’ve seen Lebanon have in a long long time. The best player in the region finally has an exceptional supporting class of basically all underclassmen. The least athletic guy they will have on the floor the whole game will be Jessee, who will likely be the strongest

2. Central- As the season goes on they will just keep getting scarier and scarier thanks to Damron figuring out how to use Hayes and Horne to their most potential

3. Graham- Best shooter in the region in Dissibio and Martin is great to be an underclassmen but don’t know how effective they will be if either have an off night.

Obviously 1-3 are the favorites for region and any could beat the other on any given night. 
 

4. Gate City- Reed Carpenter and Jenkins are great players and expect them to be just a tick above Union 

5. Union- Outside of Bostic and Anderson not very familiar with who they have but that’s enough to have a chance against anyone

4 and 5 might be able to sneak one from 1-3 but they’d have to play their best games of the season. 6-8 I do not expect to have a chance against 1-3 but slightly against 4/5

 

6. Abingdon- I know Pomrenke transferred out but I know they have some great overall athletes 

7. Virginia High- They lost everyone from last year with Lee transferring out but Gallishaw is a good coach and I’d be surprised if he didn’t figure out a way to win

 

8. Patrick Henry- lost the best player in 1D with the older caywood but the younger one returns

9. Eastside- I know Damron was their best weapon but I know they still have athletes. Little to know knowledge about 1a team as well

10. Chilhowie- Just going off of their scrimmage with Lebanon, and they did not look too shabby.

 

Excited to finally hear about teams on the other side of the state with White leaving JM, Lebanon/Graham/ Central all have a chance to win it all.

 

I wouldn't put Va High anywhere near the top 10, this could potentially be Va High worst team ever. I'm not 100% sure but I don't think Va High best player is even playing in Davy Woolen, I seen pictures on Facebook from last night game against battle which they lost an i didn't see him in any of the photos taken.  He could be hurt or just wasn't in the pictures. Gallishaw is a good coach but he can't even help this bunch out

[Stelley]

3 minutes ago, Bcats said:

I wouldn't put Va High anywhere near the top 10, this could potentially be Va High worst team ever. I'm not 100% sure but I don't think Va High best player is even playing in Davy Woolen, I seen pictures on Facebook from last night game against battle which they lost an i didn't see him in any of the photos taken.  He could be hurt or just wasn't in the pictures. Gallishaw is a good coach but he can't even help this bunch out

He was playing. An okay 2d team is usually just as good as top 1d teams. You could put PH or another 2d team in front of them. But I’m okay with where I put them, still see them being better than Lee Marion Tazewell and Richlands and the 1d teams outside of PH and maybe eastside depending on how their new coach does.

[Bcats]

9 hours ago, Gridiron60 said:

Lebanon is going to be a force to be reckoned with this season. I’m not sure about Graham without Ray out there. He was a good leader on the court as well as a talented player. They’ll still be good but I wonder who will step into that leadership role. I’m not sure Virginia High figures it out or not. It will be interesting to see how they fair without any of their 5 starters back. I think Lebanon wins SWD , Graham 2nd, & the rest a toss up. 

Ray was the best pure basketball player on the team, I think Blake was the most important player on the team, to me that's the biggest loss. He would shut down the other team best player, he had that it factor in him that you just can't teach. I remember talking to him after the state semi game at Lebanon, two straight possession he would blow by the Va High defense for an easy lay-up and then go stand at the 3pt line and allow himself to be guarded. I told him he could have done that all game long and there's nothing we could have done to stop him, at that time I had no ideal that Jennings was going to leave and Blake had to convert to center. Against John Marshall he held his own against their center 

[Stelley]

8 minutes ago, Bcats said:

Ray was the best pure basketball player on the team, I think Blake was the most important player on the team, to me that's the biggest loss. He would shut down the other team best player, he had that it factor in him that you just can't teach. I remember talking to him after the state semi game at Lebanon, two straight possession he would blow by the Va High defense for an easy lay-up and then go stand at the 3pt line and allow himself to be guarded. I told him he could have done that all game long and there's nothing we could have done to stop him, at that time I had no ideal that Jennings was going to leave and Blake had to convert to center. Against John Marshall he held his own against their center 

I agree. If they didn’t have Graham I don’t know if they beat Va High or Lebanon. He played great against Lee and Reece.

[Bcats]

3 hours ago, Sixcat Adjacent said:

The MED might be. GW will be hard to top. Galax is very young. Started 3 freshmen and 2 juniors last night. But as I stated earlier, those 3 freshmen play on an AAU team that literally plays all over the country. So, are they really freshmen at this point?

What's scary for Galax, they have a handful of 8th graders that would start on varsity right now if they could. Young, extremely athletic, great size, with last names most on this football-centric board will recognize. The Galax coaching staff is impressive as well. A young head coach with assistants such as the incomparable Verl Brown and former Carroll County boys head coach Brad Hawks. Rylee is his daughter. Brad stands 6'-8" and Rylee's mom is over 6'-0" tall so, it stands to reason, Rylee will be very tall. She's already approaching 6'-0".

I have to imagine, Galax will be contenders for the next several years.

That's Va High too, that's why I wasnt going to mention it because for this season it's irrelevant but they have 3 kids in 8th grade that's going to be a force. As far as I know Adrian sensabaugh is the only d1 basketball player to ever come out Va High, Leo Gemmel age for age is steps way ahead of him, Leo is special and will be the next big thing coming out of SWVA in basketball. Tucker is just as good not quite Leo but he's good and then Kaiden Berry last time I seen him he was 6'6 in the 7th grade, I don't know how tall he is now, but I call him baby shaq. He's already making posters on kids down low

[Bcats]

2 minutes ago, Stelley said:

I agree. If they didn’t have Graham I don’t know if they beat Va High or Lebanon. He played great against Lee and Reece.

He had that in him that you couldn't teach, even though he was on the opposing team i love watching him compete 

[Gridiron60]

1 hour ago, Bcats said:

Ray was the best pure basketball player on the team, I think Blake was the most important player on the team, to me that's the biggest loss. He would shut down the other team best player, he had that it factor in him that you just can't teach. I remember talking to him after the state semi game at Lebanon, two straight possession he would blow by the Va High defense for an easy lay-up and then go stand at the 3pt line and allow himself to be guarded. I told him he could have done that all game long and there's nothing we could have done to stop him, at that time I had no ideal that Jennings was going to leave and Blake had to convert to center. Against John Marshall he held his own against their center 

Blake was dynamic no matter the sport. He was missed on football field and will be missed in basketball as well. As far as I know he’s not playing anything at collegiate level which is a shame. 

[Real Sasquatch]

Graham will be fine, some talent coming up from JV and a couple of guys that didnt play last year bringing some physicality and size.  Graham will be in the mix for the region D title.....bank on it.

Both Palmers, Martin, Disibbio, Fix, Kennard, Bailey, Graves, Lilly, Shupe looks like on varsity....pretty solid looking crew.  Some talent on jv to call upon, if needed.

[Stelley]

5 minutes ago, Real Sasquatch said:

Graham will be fine.  A some talent coming up from JV and a couple of guys that didnt play last year bringing some physicality and size.  Graham will be in the mix for the region D title.....bank on it.

No one’s said they won’t be. Just that losing Ray and Graham is pretty unfortunate 

[Comegetsum]

11 hours ago, Gridiron60 said:

Lebanon is going to be a force to be reckoned with this season. I’m not sure about Graham without Ray out there. He was a good leader on the court as well as a talented player. They’ll still be good but I wonder who will step into that leadership role. I’m not sure Virginia High figures it out or not. It will be interesting to see how they fair without any of their 5 starters back. I think Lebanon wins SWD , Graham 2nd, & the rest a toss up. 

I think graham scrimmaged Lebanon few weeks ago, course  Lebanon didn’t have Reese and Graham only had 2 Varsity players in Disibbio and Martin. And Graham won pretty big least 20 sum or more 

[Stelley]

1 hour ago, Comegetsum said:

I think graham scrimmaged Lebanon few weeks ago, course  Lebanon didn’t have Reese and Graham only had 2 Varsity players in Disibbio and Martin. And Graham won pretty big least 20 sum or more 

Yes heard they won by a decent margin and Dissibio had 30 and they had Martin and those two guys are grahams best players. Lebanon was also missing three starters with their point guard not playing and Reece and Jessee not playing 

[Gridiron60]

1 hour ago, Comegetsum said:

I think graham scrimmaged Lebanon few weeks ago, course  Lebanon didn’t have Reese and Graham only had 2 Varsity players in Disibbio and Martin. And Graham won pretty big least 20 sum or more 

Should be a good game hopefully when they meet with each team having all their starters in place, it will be interesting to see the margin of victory for the team that wins. 

[Bcats]

On 12/4/2025 at 6:40 PM, Stelley said:

He was playing. An okay 2d team is usually just as good as top 1d teams. You could put PH or another 2d team in front of them. But I’m okay with where I put them, still see them being better than Lee Marion Tazewell and Richlands and the 1d teams outside of PH and maybe eastside depending on how their new coach does.

 

On 12/4/2025 at 8:03 PM, Gridiron60 said:

Blake was dynamic no matter the sport. He was missed on football field and will be missed in basketball as well. As far as I know he’s not playing anything at collegiate level which is a shame. 

80-40 Patrick Henry over Va High, I bet they couldn't beat Lebanon or Graham JV