Gretna 67 Martinsville 66 final

[pdfan]

Bulldogs took a 2 point lead with 17 seconds to go. The Hawks worked it around to get a good shot and M'ville stole the ball and in for a easy layup but the player decided to try and dunk it and missed and then fouled on the rebound with 3.5 seconds to go. Gretna makes the first ft but missed the second. The Martinsville player missed timed his jump and the big Logan kid from Gretna got the rebound and scored at the buzzer. Exciting game, had a near fight in the 2nd half and 2 Gretna fans were kicked out of the gym, then had a altercation after the game between a Bulldog player and the Hawks head coach, can't beat Friday nights at the gym. Good luck to everybody left in the tournament.

[Gridiron60]

Post by Martinsville Coach Gary Hall
 

🏀🐾Scoreboards don’t determine true winners

We lost, but the final score only determines who gets to keep playing, it doesn’t define who and what winners really are. 

12 Martinsville High School basketball players played their final game of the season tonight & it did not end the way they wanted. But, the scoreboard doesn’t define who they are. 

It doesn’t take away from what they already accomplished. I’ve heard over and over again how this group of young men became a team, how they became a family. How proud everyone was of these young men. 

These 12 players inspired a school, a community and even an entire region. 

They never gave up, never splintered, even when the odds were against them tonight. That’s the one thing they should take from this season. 

Tonight was a hard hit, but the sun will come out tomorrow. 

Life will go on and I take great comfort knowing these outstanding young men will keep moving forward. 

They are winners! They are coached by winners and they are loved and supported by winners. 

Like the most famous underdog of all time, Rocky Balboa once told his son-“This world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are, it will bring you to your knees. You, me or nobody is going to hit you as hard as life. But, it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward. How much can you take and keep moving forward? That’s how winning is done.”

It has been a privilege and a honor to coach these young men. 

They have taught me much more than I could ever begin to teach them. 

Our season may be over, but our relationship and friendship is just beginning. 

I AM PROUD TO BE A BULLDOG, especially tonight. 

Martinsville, I hope we made you proud. 

GO DAWGS!

[Stelley]

7 hours ago, Gridiron60 said:

Post by Martinsville Coach Gary Hall
 

🏀🐾Scoreboards don’t determine true winners

We lost, but the final score only determines who gets to keep playing, it doesn’t define who and what winners really are. 

12 Martinsville High School basketball players played their final game of the season tonight & it did not end the way they wanted. But, the scoreboard doesn’t define who they are. 

It doesn’t take away from what they already accomplished. I’ve heard over and over again how this group of young men became a team, how they became a family. How proud everyone was of these young men. 

These 12 players inspired a school, a community and even an entire region. 

They never gave up, never splintered, even when the odds were against them tonight. That’s the one thing they should take from this season. 

Tonight was a hard hit, but the sun will come out tomorrow. 

Life will go on and I take great comfort knowing these outstanding young men will keep moving forward. 

They are winners! They are coached by winners and they are loved and supported by winners. 

Like the most famous underdog of all time, Rocky Balboa once told his son-“This world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are, it will bring you to your knees. You, me or nobody is going to hit you as hard as life. But, it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward. How much can you take and keep moving forward? That’s how winning is done.”

It has been a privilege and a honor to coach these young men. 

They have taught me much more than I could ever begin to teach them. 

Our season may be over, but our relationship and friendship is just beginning. 

I AM PROUD TO BE A BULLDOG, especially tonight. 

Martinsville, I hope we made you proud. 

GO DAWGS!

Dang how do you even have 12 seniors on a team. Even when I see a team with 12 players that’s impressive much less 12 SENIORS

[Fairlawncat]

Still trying to wrap my head around how Nelson County was the 4 seed in the region tournament. 

Region 2C Boys remaining brackets 

1- Liberty Bedford vs 4-Nelson County 

3- Floyd County vs 7-Gretna

The best two teams remaining and all year long are at the top, but one will not advance. If you are region D, you want Bedford to beat Nelson County. Bedford is very good, but Bedford, Floyd, and Gretna are all games a Graham, Union, and possibly GC would have at minimum a 50-50 chance or better in some cases like Graham vs Gretna, etc. Nelson County would be a problem and the favs over 2D. If you are D, you want them out of the tournament and Bedford has the ability to do that for one game.

[Stelley]

52 minutes ago, Fairlawncat said:

Still trying to wrap my head around how Nelson County was the 4 seed in the region tournament. 

Region 2C Boys remaining brackets 

1- Liberty Bedford vs 4-Nelson County 

3- Floyd County vs 7-Gretna

The best two teams remaining and all year long are at the top, but one will not advance. If you are region D, you want Bedford to beat Nelson County. Bedford is very good, but Bedford, Floyd, and Gretna are all games a Graham, Union, and possibly GC would have at minimum a 50-50 chance or better in some cases like Graham vs Gretna, etc. Nelson County would be a problem and the favs over 2D. If you are D, you want them out of the tournament and Bedford has the ability to do that for one game.

The only team that matches up well with Nelson is Lebanon. Jessee is probably one of if not the strongest defender in the entire state. Lebanon has only played two really good big men all year and Jessee has stepped up to the task. Caywood is probably averaging 20-23 points a game and in the two games Jesse held him to 18 and 13. The Big from Floyd Central was a freshman and a lot more athletically gifted than caywood and he only had 6 against Jessee. Not saying that he will totally shut the kid from Nelson down but he probably has the best shot of anyone from D.

[RichlandsAlum]

1 hour ago, Fairlawncat said:

Still trying to wrap my head around how Nelson County was the 4 seed in the region tournament. 

Region 2C Boys remaining brackets 

1- Liberty Bedford vs 4-Nelson County 

3- Floyd County vs 7-Gretna

The best two teams remaining and all year long are at the top, but one will not advance. If you are region D, you want Bedford to beat Nelson County. Bedford is very good, but Bedford, Floyd, and Gretna are all games a Graham, Union, and possibly GC would have at minimum a 50-50 chance or better in some cases like Graham vs Gretna, etc. Nelson County would be a problem and the favs over 2D. If you are D, you want them out of the tournament and Bedford has the ability to do that for one game.

It's all about points.  Liberty punched above its weight class in the Seminole District (Minutemen are a Division 2 team playing mostly against D3 and D4 competition).  Nelson County's record is impressive, but it was built against a schedule of inferior competition.  The statistical significance of those observations will be fully evident in the upcoming semifinal matchup.  I would expect Nelson to win -- not so much because they are a better team but due to the fact that Liberty is moving forward without a legitimate head coach.  (Very hard to advance against tough competition in that situation, which was evident last night against Glenvar.  Liberty overcame a 14 point deficit based purely on talent.)

I don't know as much about Lebanon but I don't see anyone in 2C being a threat to Graham.  If Nelson were to make it that far, I think the 2D runner-up would beat them in what may be a competitive game.  Graham would dispatch them fairly easily.

It's trite and inappropriate to speculate, but if John McSweeney were still alive and well I think Liberty would be the favorite in 2C out of the remaining teams.  But then the Minutemen would still struggle against the best 2D teams.

Just my two cents.  Obviously anything can happen on any given night.

[Gridiron60]

4 hours ago, Stelley said:

Dang how do you even have 12 seniors on a team. Even when I see a team with 12 players that’s impressive much less 12 SENIORS

12 Seniors is definitely crazy if that’s what he meant. I hate to be the kid that tried to dunk. He’d made the easy layup, they’d won. No foul shot, not enough time to put up 4 points. In a close game with little time left, maybe don’t try to showboat. 

[Stelley]

20 minutes ago, Gridiron60 said:

12 Seniors is definitely crazy. I hate to be the kid that tried to dunk. He’d made the easy layup, they’d won. No foul shot, not enough time to put up 4 points. In a close game with little time left, maybe don’t try to showboat. 

And honestly I hate to be that guy but the foul they called on him after he missed it I don’t know how the official could blow his whistle on that, looked like he hit the ball but the official called a reach despite both players backs being turned to him

[Stelley]

31 minutes ago, RichlandsAlum said:

It's all about points.  Liberty punched above its weight class in the Seminole District (Minutemen are a Division 2 team playing mostly against D3 and D4 competition).  Nelson County's record is impressive, but it was built against a schedule of inferior competition.  The statistical significance of those observations will be fully evident in the upcoming semifinal matchup.  I would expect Nelson to win -- not so much because they are a better team but due to the fact that Liberty is moving forward without a legitimate head coach.  (Very hard to advance against tough competition in that situation, which was evident last night against Glenvar.  Liberty overcame a 14 point deficit based purely on talent.)

I don't know as much about Lebanon but I don't see anyone in 2C being a threat to Graham.  If Nelson were to make it that far, I think the 2D runner-up would beat them in what may be a competitive game.  Graham would dispatch them fairly easily.

It's trite and inappropriate to speculate, but if John McSweeney were still alive and well I think Liberty would be the favorite in 2C out of the remaining teams.  But then the Minutemen would still struggle against the best 2D teams.

Just my two cents.  Obviously anything can happen on any given night.

Lebanon and Graham definitely aren’t shoe ins for the region d bids. They are definitely the favorites but every team that’s made the tourney in D has a chance to beat anyone they play in the tourney (outside of probably battle despite their torrid performances in the middle of the season, they’ve seemed to lose some traction as of late)

[Fairlawncat]

37 minutes ago, RichlandsAlum said:

It's all about points.  Liberty punched above its weight class in the Seminole District (Minutemen are a Division 2 team playing mostly against D3 and D4 competition).  Nelson County's record is impressive, but it was built against a schedule of inferior competition.  The statistical significance of those observations will be fully evident in the upcoming semifinal matchup.  I would expect Nelson to win -- not so much because they are a better team but due to the fact that Liberty is moving forward without a legitimate head coach.  (Very hard to advance against tough competition in that situation, which was evident last night against Glenvar.  Liberty overcame a 14 point deficit based purely on talent.)

I don't know as much about Lebanon but I don't see anyone in 2C being a threat to Graham.  If Nelson were to make it that far, I think the 2D runner-up would beat them in what may be a competitive game.  Graham would dispatch them fairly easily.

It's trite and inappropriate to speculate, but if John McSweeney were still alive and well I think Liberty would be the favorite in 2C out of the remaining teams.  But then the Minutemen would still struggle against the best 2D teams.

Just my two cents.  Obviously anything can happen on any given night.

I agree with everything you wrote except whether Nelson/Liberty is a threat to Graham. I think it's the opposite. Is Graham a threat to Nelson or Liberty? Graham is a threat to both, but I favor 2C over 2D. Graham is solid again, but they are not as good as last year. Inside, under the basket defensively, they have a nightmare matchup if Graham and Nelson advanced that far. Graham, last year had Blake Graham who was athletic and long enough to get Graham over the hump against Nelson's not 1, but 2 big men. Graham doesn't have that this year and it's Graham's biggest difference from last year in that its not Graham's O that is a step down, but it's their inside defensive presence that is not as good. Offensively this year, Graham can still light it up from outside, but does not quite have the one on one create your own shot/drive/penetrate presence with the graduation of the point guard. 

I wouldn't count Union out yet. Union can win 2D. 

[Gridiron60]

23 minutes ago, Stelley said:

And honestly I hate to be that guy but the foul they called on him after he missed it I don’t know how the official could blow his whistle on that, looked like he hit the ball but the official called a reach despite both players backs being turned to him

Tough whistle to blow in that moment but I haven’t seen the clip. I may watch the game today if it’s on NFHS because it sounds like it was a heck of a game. 

[Bcats]

9 minutes ago, Stelley said:

Lebanon and Graham definitely aren’t shoe ins for the region d bids. They are definitely the favorites but every team that’s made the tourney in D has a chance to beat anyone they play in the tourney (outside of probably battle despite their torrid performances in the middle of the season, they’ve seemed to lose some traction as of late)

You're right anything can happen nothing guaranteed, still Lebanon and Graham are the favorites but no disrespect to Gate City but it's better for GC to lose the M7 championship game for Lebanon to avoid a Wise Central 1st round match-up, that's a championship worthy match-up in the 1st round 

[Stelley]

13 minutes ago, Gridiron60 said:

Tough whistle to blow in that moment but I haven’t seen the clip. I may watch the game today if it’s on NFHS because it sounds like it was a heck of a game. 

It is on nfhs

[Stelley]

14 minutes ago, Bcats said:

You're right anything can happen nothing guaranteed, still Lebanon and Graham are the favorites but no disrespect to Gate City but it's better for GC to lose the M7 championship game for Lebanon to avoid a Wise Central 1st round match-up, that's a championship worthy match-up in the 1st round 

Yep I know myself along with other Lebanon people will be rooting for Union and Central to win their games

[Bcats]

13 minutes ago, Fairlawncat said:

I agree with everything you wrote except whether Nelson/Liberty is a threat to Graham. I think it's the opposite. Is Graham a threat to Nelson or Liberty? Graham is a threat to both, but I favor 2C over 2D. Grahamnis solid again, but they are not as good as last year. Inside, under the basket defensively, they have a nightmare matchup if Graham and Nelson advanced that far. Graham, last year had Blake Graham who was athletic and long enough to get Graham over the hump against Nelson's not 1, but 2 big men. Graham doesn't have that this year and it's Grahsms biggest difference from last year in that item not Graham O that is a step down, but its their inside defensive presence. 

I wouldn't count Union out yet. Union can win 2D. 

What you're saying is spot on, Blake Graham was that dude for Graham, what he meant to Graham last year you can't put into words. I like many of the Graham players but Blake was my favorite to watch, it's a shame he isn’t playing at the next level in football, soccer or basketball.

Now Fix isn’t 100% the importance to Graham that Blake was, but Fix is the Blake for this team this year. Now this may cause a little controversy what I'm about to say, I'm not saying he's the best basketball player since McClung in SWVA but I think since McClung that Fix when he's hitting his 3's is the most unguardable player since. He's so fast and athletic that you can't play up on him, you have to give him that 3pt shot and hope he misses, playing up on him he'll just blow by you and then the next man steps up and he's so crafty with the euro step that he just maneuvers right by you. Bradley Dean, Zak Irving, Gunner Garrett, Mozell, Dante Worley, Markelle Ray, Landon Lee, Reece, Graves just to name a few are better scorers but I think you can game plan for them they were just good players making tough shots, Fix you're at his mercy when his 3 is falling 

[Stelley]

1 hour ago, Fairlawncat said:

I agree with everything you wrote except whether Nelson/Liberty is a threat to Graham. I think it's the opposite. Is Graham a threat to Nelson or Liberty? Graham is a threat to both, but I favor 2C over 2D. Graham is solid again, but they are not as good as last year. Inside, under the basket defensively, they have a nightmare matchup if Graham and Nelson advanced that far. Graham, last year had Blake Graham who was athletic and long enough to get Graham over the hump against Nelson's not 1, but 2 big men. Graham doesn't have that this year and it's Graham's biggest difference from last year in that its not Graham's O that is a step down, but it's their inside defensive presence that is not as good. Offensively this year, Graham can still light it up from outside, but does not quite have the one on one create your own shot/drive/penetrate presence with the graduation of the point guard. 

I wouldn't count Union out yet. Union can win 2D. 

I also agree with most that you wrote except that I feel that Graham offensively is just as good as they were if not better from last years team. Dissibio has stepped up his penetration game. Martin got a year older and fix has developed more of three point presence. Now obviously they’re missing Blake inside but from a physicality standpoint Palmer is similar if not bigger but Blake was twice as fast. Grahams whole not having a big man weak point is not as drastic as initially thought. They’re only weak point so far is depth. If any starters get in foul trouble early it puts them at a huge disadvantage mainly because they can’t use their biggest advantage over everyone else, their press. Which if matched up with Nelson they will have to be in majority of the game just to limit the big man’s touches inside

[Bcats]

24 minutes ago, Stelley said:

I also agree with most that you wrote except that I feel that Graham offensively is just as good as they were if not better from last years team. Dissibio has stepped up his penetration game. Martin got a year older and fix has developed more of three point presence. Now obviously they’re missing Blake inside but from a physicality standpoint Palmer is similar if not bigger but Blake was twice as fast. Grahams whole not having a big man weak point is not as drastic as initially thought. They’re only weak point so far is depth. If any starters get in foul trouble early it puts them at a huge disadvantage mainly because they can’t use their biggest advantage over everyone else, their press. Which if matched up with Nelson they will have to be in majority of the game just to limit the big man’s touches inside

The Martin kid has made a big jump from freshman to sophomore year and he's only going to keep getting better 

[pdfan]

Mavahi had 5 seniors on this year's roster.

[Gridiron60]

30 minutes ago, pdfan said:

Mavahi had 5 seniors on this year's roster.

How many Seniors were starters? 

[Fairlawncat]

I watched the Dogs and Grenade (Gretna) two times this year. Tough loss for Martinsville. They are a better team 9 out of 10 times against Gretna. Had no business losing. It shows what can happen with one off night. Anything can happen. 

[pdfan]

3 starters. They lost their starting pg right before Christmas ( a freshman), and their starting center played about 2 minutes last night, he reinjured an old knee injury. He was a sr. They have some good pieces coming back, just won't have the experience they had this year. Jv finished something like 17,18 and 2 this year.

[Logan hurww]

Dont yall mean grenade not gretna?

[Real Sasquatch]

What a wild finish.