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basketball

At 5:55 p.m. Thursday, I took a call from sports correspondent Lloyd Combs, who’s in Castlewood tonight working the Region D, Division 1 girls semifinals.
“There’s not 100 people here,” he said of the scene 35 minutes before tipoff.
Used to be that for a Region D Tournament, you’d have to get there early—as in an hour or so before tipoff—or risk not finding a parking space or seat.
Not these days, which is yet another example of why basketball fans in southwest Virginia aren’t fooled by the Virginia High School League’s new divisional format for Group A basketball playoffs.
Since postseason started almost two weeks ago, I’ve covered three district tournament (Clinch Mountain girls, Lonesome Pine boys, Southwest boys) and regional quarterfinals in Abingdon and Gate City.
At only two of those events—the LPD boys, in part because of Pound’s small gym—and Gate City was the attendance and atmosphere worthy of a postseason event. At the others, particularly the Clinch Mountain girls semifinals at spacious Virginia High, it was like watching a game in a library at times.
The apologists will take the VHSL’s side and say it creates more state champions and gives schools with a smaller enrollment (like Ervinton and Twin Valley) a chance to better compete at this level. In theory, yes, in reality, not automatically.
Do you think the powerful Council teams of the mid-90s or the early 2000s needed divisional play to make their stamp on the state? Considering the 142-student school won a Group A title and reached the state semifinals three other times in seven years, I think you know the answer.
And if the Ervinton girls (and perhaps the Twin Valley boys and girls) reach the Division 1 semifinals in two weeks, it’s possible they could play schools with two or three times the enrollment. So that argument about playing schools your size is already a falsehood.
Look, the cat’s ran out of this bag permanently. Divisional playoffs are coming to Group AA as soon as next year and they’ll be in every sport within five years.
But if the last couple of weeks is any indication, prep basketball fans—at least the ones in southwest Virginia—have cast their vote for divisional playoffs.
By staying away from the gyms. 

Posted by Bucky Dent
High School Sports Basketball

The Virginia High School League’s PC Era begins tonight with newly-expanded playoff formats in boys and girls basketball.
Congratulations, VHSL. Now you can crown twice as many state champions in Group A. And while you’re at it, you can also give us a Region C, Division 1 girls field in which the bottom four seeds (as colleague Tim Hayes pointed out) combined for a 1-85 record.
One and 85! Again, I repeat, 1 and 85!
This is postseason basketball, where only the best teams are supposed to survive? Or at least teams which are playing their best now? Something tells me the Holston girls aren’t peaking. Nor for that matter is 5-19 Gate City, which somehow drew the No. 8 seed in Region D, Division 2.
Blame the good old VHSL for this new format, which is worse than Zima. What’s next—certificates of participation for everyone like in Little League?
Here’s a novel concept for executive director Ken Tilley and the folks up in Charlottesville: How about going with the regular season champ and tournament champ (or tournament runner-up if the regular season champ takes the tournament)? You know, like the format you used to have—the one which made some sense?
Instead, the PC Era is only going to grow like kudzu. Group AA will probably go to it as early as next year. Group A might expand it to all other sports besides football. Do we really need to see a Region D, Division 1 baseball tournament in two years?
There will be 16 regional games Tuesday, including eight in Region IV. Of those 16, probably 4 or 5—tops—will be competitive. The rest won’t be watchable.
But in the world of the VHSL, where money talks and common sense takes a back seat, they’ll be laughing all the way to the bank. Even if the average basketball fan won’t find much about which to smile. 

Posted by Bucky Dent
High School Sports Basketball

A left-handed version of Allen Iverson. The best point guard in Oak Hill Academy history.
Both tags have been heaped on senior Brandon Jennings, who will appear in Bristol Friday night as the Warriors meet The Miller School of Charlottesville in an 8 p.m. game at Virginia High.
While this edition of Oak Hill basketball won’t win a national championship, Jennings isn’t the reason why.
The 6-foot-2 Jennings, who will play at Arizona next year, is averaging a staggering 35.3 points and 7.1 assists per game for the 20-3 Warriors, who have needed all his production.
Coach Steve Smith tossed senior wings Malik Story and Willie Warren off the team just before the season started, leaving Jennings to carry most of the load.
Although losses to former No. 1 St. Benedict’s (N.J.), Richmond Benedictine and Houston Yates dropped Oak Hill from No. 1 to No. 19 in USA Today’s prep top 25, Jennings has played as well as any player in the school’s history.
That’s saying a lot, considering the program can boast of alums the caliber of Carmelo Anthony, Rod Strickland, Calvin Duncan, Jeff McInnis and Josh Smith—just to name five. Oak Hill has won seven national championships since 1992 for coach Steve Smith.
Yet Smith, who just this decade can claim to have coached point guards like Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics) and Ty Lawson (North Carolina), has no qualms about Jennings’ talent.
“For us, the two years he’s been here, he’s been as good as anybody,” Smith told the Roanoke Times on Jan. 12. “Maybe better.”
Jennings and the Warriors usually put on shows at VHS, where they have never lost, dating back to 1992. The Miller School owns an 11-2 record, meaning Oak Hill will have to play well.
If recent history is any guide, Bristol fans can count on the Warriors’ No. 3 playing like the No. 3 he’s said to emulate. 

Posted by Bucky Dent
High School Sports Basketball

Four Dobyns-Bennett players hit double-figures in victory

BY BRIAN T. SMITH
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Bristol, Tenn. – Indians senior center Bronson Flack stood tall and proud.
Flack’s 13 points, three rebounds and strong defensive play had just helped push Dobyns-Bennett to a convincing 77-50 victory over Gate City on Friday morning in an Arby’s Classic second round loser’s bracket game at Viking Hall.
And considering that the Indians had been dealt a 24-point defeat by Columbia (Decatur, Ga.) on Wednesday – a loss that knocked Dobyns-Bennett out of the winner’s bracket – Flack was ready to enjoy a nice, relaxing win.
“We were able to come out and play our game how we wanted,” Flack said. “It’s nice to do this in a big tournament where there are so many good teams playing. It builds confidence, and it should help give us a lift as we head into conference play.”
Jamel Williams (game-high 19 points), Justin Sylvester (13 points) and Jordan Edwards (12 points) backed Flack, as four Indians (11-2) hit double-figures.
Tihlee Anderson led Gate City (4-3) with 13 points, five assists and seven steals, while Cody Salyer added 12 points and Jamie Hackney had 11.
The Blue Devils shot well – they hit 43.2 percent (16 of 37) of their field goal attempts and 92.8 percent (13 of 14) of their free throws. Yet D-B took 18 more field goal attempts than Gate City and outrebounded the Blue Devils 26-17.
“They really exposed some our weaknesses out there,” said Gate City coach Scott Vermillion. “A lot of it is possessions. We turned the ball over a lot. And a lot of it is rebounding. We are not rebounding the ball well right now, and that’s my fault for not communicating it.”
Up 14-12 after the first quarter, the Indians held a 34-23 lead at halftime and then outscored the Blue Devils 43-27 in the final two quarters. D-B controlled momentum and the paint, had six more assists than Gate City and forced the Blue Devils into 27 turnovers. And strong outside shooting from Williams and Dustin McConnell – both hit two 3-pointers, with McConnell’s coming during a 12-0 second-quarter run – prevented Gate City from fully focusing on D-B’s inside game.
“I thought how we started out was really good. The intensity was there,” said Indians coach Charlie Morgan. “We made some shots. And I think our penetration by our guards, finding the open person … they switched a lot and pressured us a lot, and we made shots.”
D-B moves on to face Northview at 9 a.m. today.
DOBYNS-BENNETT (77)
Jamel Williams 6-7 5-8 19, Justin Sylvester 5-10 3-5 13, Bronson Flack 6-9 1-1 13, Jordan Edwards 5-8 2-4 12, McConnell 3-7 0-1 8, Hardy 2-5 0-0 4, Riggs 2-5 0-0 4, Halvorsen 2-3 0-0 4, McGue 0-0 0-0 0, King 0-1 0-0 0, Lyttle 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Long 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-55 11-19 77.
GATE CITY (50)
Tihlee Anderson 4-7 5-6 13, Cody Salyer 4-9 0-0 12, Josh Hackney 4-12 2-2 11, Johnson 2-2 4-4 8, Smith 0-0 2-2 2, Williams 1-2 0-0 2, Potts 1-3 0-0 2, Parks 0-1 0-0 0, Bays 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Arwood 0-0 0-0 0, Herron 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-37 13-14 50.
Dobyns-Bennett 14 20 21 22—77
Gate City 12 11 14 13—50
3-point goals—GC 5-12 (Salyer 4, Hackney), D-B 4-7 (Williams 2, McConnell 2). Rebounds—GC 17, D-B 26. Assists—GC 9, D-B 15. Steals—GC 14, D-B 11. Blocks—GC 0, D-B 2. Turnovers—GC 27, D-B 18. Technical Fouls—GC (Hackney).
| (276) 645-2569

Posted by Brian T. Smith
High School Sports Basketball

Future Gopher helps Northview shut down Tennessee High

BY BRIAN T. SMITH
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Bristol, Tenn. – The 25th annual Arby’s Classic was not kind to Tennessee High.
After dropping their first round game to Archbishop Carroll (Washington, D.C.), the Vikings endured a nine-minute scoreless drought, committed 17 turnovers and scored just six second-half points before falling to Northview (Duluth, Ga.) 42-29 on Friday morning in a second round loser’s bracket game at Viking Hall.
Adding to Tennessee High’s woes, the Vikings shot 19.4 percent (8 of 42) from the field and connected on 18.8 percent (3 of 16) of their 3-point attempts.
Tennessee High coach Roby Witcher kept the Vikings’ locker room door closed for nearly 25 minutes following the loss. But when Witcher emerged, he didn’t paint a dark picture of frustration and defeat. Instead, Witcher saw Tennessee High’s losses as a lesson learned.
“We told them, ‘Hey, we could’ve gone somewhere else and played in a tournament, or not even played in a Christmas tournament and tried to get a few wins,’ ” Witcher said. “But we didn’t do that. We tried to play against good teams. [Dobyns-Bennett] got blown out. [Sullivan] East got blown out. It’s the same scenario. So we talked about let’s take a couple days off here, not think about this tournament, come in on Monday, and get ready for [David] Crockett on Friday night.”
The main factor in the Vikings’ (7-8) loss wasn’t their poor overall shooting or lack of scoring in the second half. It was the return of Titans (9-2) senior center Ralph Sampson III.
Sampson, 6-foot-11 and heading to the University of Minnesota, emerged with 19 points (7-of-9 shooting), eight rebounds, seven blocks and one steal after sitting out of Northview’s first-round loss to Science Hill on Wednesday due to bronchitis.
“Coming off the sickness, I had to adjust to how the game went and how it flowed,” Sampson said. “In the first half, I came out and tested the waters to see how the defense played. In the second half, I played a little more aggressively and was able to attack more.”
What didn’t show up in Sampson’s impressive stats, though, was his ability to completely shut down the Vikings’ game plan of penetrating the paint and then dishing out to open shooters on the perimeter. Sampson was a one-man show in the lane, and he prevented any traffic from moving through freely.
For Tennessee High, Sampson was poison.
“We couldn’t get anything to go in,” said Vikings senior forward Thomas Turnbull, who scored four points and grabbed five rebounds. “And with their big guy, he was just blocking shots everywhere and making it so our guards really couldn’t get good looks at the basket. It was just frustrating.”
Senior forward Dan Stryzinski added eight points (4-of-5 shooting), five rebounds and two steals for the Titans.
Tre Webb scored seven points and grabbed three rebounds and two steals for the Vikings.
The Vikings found early success by exploiting the Titans’ lack of height on the perimeter, and Tennessee High took an early 8-6 lead when Jeff Baker followed up a 3-pointer from teammate Taylor Harmon with one of his own.
The Vikings then jumped ahead 13-10 when Webb knocked down a 3 with 46.4 seconds left in the first quarter.
Yet Northview pulled within 23-21 just before halftime, thanks to a late second-quarter rally that was punctuated by a hard dunk from Stryzinski with 47 seconds remaining in the half.
A slow third quarter then came to life when Sampson converted on a reverse layup, and consecutive Tennessee High turnovers resulted in close, easy baskets for Northview senior guard Najja Nicholson and sophomore forward Robert Sampson.
The Titans closed out the quarter with a 9-0 run and outscored the Vikings 21-6 in the second half.
Tennessee High shot a combined 28.4 percent (27 of 95) from the field in their two recent losses, and hit just 15.4 percent (6 of 39) of their 3-point attempts.
When Witcher was asked after the game if he and his team were still on the same page, he smiled and replied, “Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. They understand this is a good team. They’re frustrated, but they also understand that there were some pretty good players out there. And when you go against them, sometimes you come up on the short end of the stick.”
Northview moves on to face Dobyns-Bennett at 9 a.m. today.
NORTHVIEW (42)
Ralph Sampson III 7-9 5-7 19, Stryzinski 4-5 0-0 8, Nicholson 2-6 2-2 6, Davidson 2-4 0-1 5, Robert Sampson 1-4 0-0 2, Rainford 1-5 0-0 2, Joseph 0-0 0-0 0, Patterson 0-1 0-0 0, Kubandi 0-0 0-0 0, Kim 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-38 7-10 42.
TENNESSEE HIGH (29)
Harmon 3-9 2-4 9, Webb 3-8 0-0 7, Turnbull 0-1 4-4 4, Baker 1-7 0-0 3, Cook 0-0 2-2 2, Canty 0-1 2-2 2, Young 1-12 0-0 2, Gilmore 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 8-42 10-12 29.
Northview 12 9 11 10—42
Tennessee High 15 8 4 2—29
3-point goals—N 1-12 (Davidson), TH 3-16 (Harmon, Webb, Baker). Rebounds—N 24, TH 26. Assists—N 6, TH 3. Steals—N 12, TH 11. Turnovers—N 14, TH 17.
| (276) 645-2569

Posted by Brian T. Smith
High School Sports Basketball