The Bulldogs beat the top girls basketball team in Group A — Shenandoah District mate Stonewall Jackson — 48-41. So what does that do for Buffalo Gap tonight?
It makes things very interesting. That’s what it does. The Bison travel to Quicksburg and, with a win against a bruised Generals squad, can force a one-game playoff for the Shenandoah regular-season title.
Funny how it works. The Shenandoah boys race flames out with Page County rising to the top and, suddenly in one night, the girls race in the same district — while it’s only a two-team race and not the four-team fun the boys side gave us — gets red hot.
And another thing: With Wilson Memorial’s win over Riverheads on the boys side Wednesday night, the Hornets pushed themselves up to the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Remember, the same Wilson Memorial team that played terribly, for the second year in a row, to start the season. You know, the team that came alive in the second half, for the second year in a row.
Now let us wait and see what they can do in the tournament?
Of course, this is the new-look Group A basketball that has split into two division ala football so more Jimmies and Susies can get trophies. So does it really matter what happens in the tournament? I mean, isn’t almost every team scoring a Region B bid? Right? Now remind me again how this is a good idea.
The Waynesboro boys will face Rockbridge on Tuesday in the first round of the Southern Valley District tournament. The same Wildcats team the Little Giants lost to earlier this week. Coach C. Jay DeWitt said his team is looking forward to playing the Wildcats again.
“We felt like we didn’t play as well as we could up at Rockbridge,” he said.
OK, should Nick Gore just start driving the lane this weekend?
Posted by Jim Sacco on 02/15 at 02:24 PM
Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Daily Pooch Punt: 2/14/08
When the media approached Waynesboro’s Nick Gore after his 16-point performance in the Little Giants’ win over Stuarts Draft on Wednesday, he rolled his eyes and had a feeling he was going to be asked about that first quarter.
With locking up the No. 2 seed in the Southern Valley District tournament on the line, Gore opened up the game with an 0-for-4 shooting performance that looked nothing like the Nick Gore Waynesboro fans are used to seeing. Then, with 6:31 left in the second quarter, Gore hit his first jumper, after that he started to play his game and followed with nine straight points.
What is Gore’s game, you ask?
It’s driving the lane.
Three of the points came from the free-throw line after he was fouled going to the basket and four points came off layups — including a sweet up-and-under move on Cougars big man and AAU teammate Quincy Diggs.
“I just needed to come out and get in a rhythm,” Gore said. “Once I hit the first one it kind of gets me going and I can usually hit the rest. Usually.”
He did push in a jumper during his personal nine-point run, but it wasn’t until he started driving the lane that any of this happened.
Nick Gore is big.
Nick Gore is getting some college looks.
Nick Gore, yes, has a nice jumper for a big guy.
But isn’t it more fun, and doesn’t it pay more dividends for the Little Giants when Nick Gore is driving the lane?
“We preach going inside out,” said Waynesboro coach C. Jay DeWitt. “And when he touches it inside and then we kick it out, we do a lot better.”
If you were at the game you saw it too. After Gore’s nine-point second quarter the Cougars defense went to a zone and began to collapse when he got his hands on the ball in the lane and look at what it did for the Little Giants:
Two long 3-point shots from the always deadly Andy Sherrill. (Don’t believe he’s deadly? Ask Wilson Memorial .)
Two 3-pointers from Tim Brown.
So, my questions is, what is Gore’s favorite food and how can the Waynesboro student section duct tape what he likes to the backboard so he drives the lane?
Because, like it or not, Gore is the key to any Waynesboro run this postseason and we’re not talking about scoring (though it does help), we’re just talking about driving the lane to open everything else up. You know, the inside-out game DeWitt preaches.
And another thing: Waynesboro junior Sebastian Sease must put butter on his shoes, the guard doesn’t look like he runs up and down the court, it looks more like he glides. (Oh, and he scored 10 points whilst gliding.)
The Cougars are a pretty good team: Yep, they sure are. Coty Randolph has a nice shooting touch (evident by his game-high 20 against the Little Giants on Wednesday), Jeremy Fitzgerald is a hard-nosed ball player and then, of course, there’s the inside presence of Quincy Diggs and the outside shooting of Jordan Thacker — four guys who produced 6-of-9 shooting and a 17-11 first-quarter lead for Stuarts Draft.
Then, the Cougars started taking shots that had coach Mike Gale questioning his team’s patience and Stuarts Draft’s lead slowly went away.
Actually, it went away with a bang during an 18-0 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters and turned a 36-35 Cougar lead into a 53-36 Waynesboro advantage.
The run started with a long 3 from Sherrill and ended when Gore put in a free throw. A free throw he was given because he drove the lane. You know, Gore played his game.
“That’s what he does to a lot of teams,” Gale said. “[Nick’s] a heck of a ball player.”
Of course this is the Southern Valley District so if you saw all this happen at the boys game then you didn’t see the following at the girls game: Stuarts Draft point guard Kerby Hatter and Waynesboro phenom Devon Brown exchanging gifts, smiles and hugs in the final regular-season game the two will play against each other.
Monday was Senior Night at Waynesboro and Hatter, with Draft off that night, showed up to watch her pal, playing partner and competitor for a decade play her final home game.
“We played together when we were eight,” Brown said. “It’s always fun to play against Kerby. We’re best friends off the court.”
They’ll miss each other when they’re gone. Don’t worry, you’ll miss them too.
Everything you wanted in a game: The Fracas in Fishersville may have lost some luster after Wilson couldn’t hang on against Page County on Monday. But the battle between the Green Hornets and Riverheads on Wednesday was as good as advertised. It went to overtime where Wilson picked up a two-point win and the No. 2 slot in the upcoming Shenandoah District tournament.
The win had Wilson coach Rodney Cullen smiling after his team’s early-season struggles and had Riverheads coach John Corbett lamenting the play of his veterans.
“We have veterans players making dumb plays and that’s what’s killing us and it’s been killing us all year long,” Corbett said.
It’s proof that sure, Corbett would like to have the four players back that were kicked off the team but, just like he said, “players have to honor the tradition of those that came before them.” But a coach has to do the right thing and what Corbett did was right, even if it saddles any hope the Gladiators had of advancing out of districts.
Look, Gore just the drove the lane again.
Good. Good.
Posted by Jim Sacco on 02/14 at 01:47 PM
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
A few random thoughts: 2/13/08
Someone e-mailed me to ask when this week’s “The Sports Desk” was going to be posted.
We won’t have one this week, but will be back in action next Tuesday when our new sports writer joins the cast.
And another thing: NBC29 is going to debut “The Valley Sports Reporters” on its Web site in the coming weeks. It will feature myself and NBC29 Sports’ Joe Downs relaxing and talking about sports. You’ll be able to watch it at NBC29.comand on NewsVirginian.com’s homepage. We filmed a trial run earlier this week and it appears that it’s going to be pretty fun and informative. I’ll keep you posted.
More cancellations: Page County won’t be hosting Wilson Memorial’s girls tonight, instead pushing it to Friday in Shenandoah.
So that leaves us for tonight: Riverheads at Wilson Memorial boys; Stuarts Draft at Waynesboro boys and Waynesboro at Stuarts Draft girls.
And finally: If you know somebody who was born on Feb. 29th, please e-mail me.
Posted by Jim Sacco on 02/13 at 04:19 PM
The Daily Pooch Punt: 2/13/08
Two coaches e-mailed me this morning inquiring about my job switch come Monday.
Allow me to clarify a bit. I’m not going anywhere and, actually, the new job will allow me to write more about sports than I did in my previous five years and seven months as sports editor here at The News Virginian.
The fun part -- it’s a dream job for any certified sports watcher. I’ll be the paper’s full-time sports columnist and daily sports blogger (you know, this thing you’re reading right now). I’ll be writing up to four columns a week including my usual Sunday sports column.
What does this do for our sports section? Heck, it does an awful lot, actually. It allows us to double and triple cover the big games (like we did for Waynesboro boys basketball’s run to the state Final Four last year, the same with the Little Giants baseball team and, of course, just like we did for Buffalo Gap football’s run to an undefeated season and school’s first football title.)
My other responsibilities will be behind-the-scene stuff that, unless you’re paying really close attention, you won’t notice.
So, to summarize: Yes, I’m still here. Yes, I’ll still be writing.
And another thing: Hey, let’s hope we get some games in tonight, as of 1:30 today the only games that have been postponed are Buffalo Gap girls at Stonewall Jackson and Stonewall Jackson boys at Buffalo Gap. We’ll try to keep you updated.
Still on the fence on which Stuarts Draft/Waynesboro basketball game to go to tonight?: Not trying to take anything away from the boys game, which should be a good one and, for that matter, could lock up the No. 2 slot in the district tournament for Waynesboro, but I’d personally would take the girls game.
Here’s why? Last time the Waynesboro and Stuarts Draft girls met we were a bouncing ball away from overtime when Sabrina Desper’s 3-pointer at the buzzer rattled around the inside of the rim before popping out.
Stuarts Draft had a game plan for Devon Brown (kind of like the one Rockbridge had against her) and forced another Little Giant to take control. Against the Cougars in Waynesboro it was Kiawna Berry. Against Rockbridge it was Shawnte Woodson.
So, the question is: If Draft’s plan works again and Brown is held under her usual 30 points a game, who is going to take over for Waynesboro this time?
Or, will the Cougars get the win.
Also, if you go to the girls game you get to see longtime friends and rivals Kerby Hatter (Draft’s PG) and Brown (Waynesboro beast) on the same court for the last time in the regular season.
Or, if you’re really sick of the Southern Valley’s scheduling abomination: You can take the time to e-mail all the Southern Valley ADs and make sure you don’t have to deal with this next year. They haven’t listened to slack-jawed sports columnists (and bloggers for that matter), they haven’t listened to the head of the Valley Officials so maybe, just maybe, they’ll listen to the fans. Or, as one Shenandoah boys coach told me, they could just not want to admit they’re wrong and dig their heels in even harder.
Here’s a list of the ADs, e-mail away.
Waynesboro—Mel Morris
Fort Defiance—Jack Tucker
R.E. Lee – Kaye Roberts
Stuarts Draft – Steve Hartley
Rockbridge County – David Miller
Posted by Jim Sacco on 02/13 at 01:53 PM
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The (Not-quite) Daily Pooch Punt: 2/12/08
Tucker Kirby’s bloody No. 44 jersey told the whole story.
So did Rodney Cullen’s weary glances toward the end the bench, waiting for his big man to get cleaned up and back out on the court. (Though, in his absence, Ben Hopewell traded in his gotta-be-Division-I boot for banging the boards and did it well, Cullen said.)
The look on the faces of the Green Hornets that turned back on their way off the court to watch Page County celebrate clinching at least a tie in the Shenandoah Scurry hammered the point home. In a game they needed to win, the Hornets couldn’t defend the brand-spanking-new Hive.
“It was like a shot through the heart,” Kirby said.
The Green Hornets don’t need a miracle quite yet, but they do need some major help from an old friend – Buffalo Gap.
So, here’s the deal: Unable to deal a death blow Monday to the dangerous Panthers and allowing them to claw back in to win the game 53-50, Wilson has to bounce back with a win Wednesday against Riverheads on Senior Night.
Here’s where Buffalo Gap comes in: If the Hornets win the Fracas in Fishersville, the Bison need to beat the Panthers in Page on Thursday to turn it into a three-way tie for first with Gap, Wilson and Page.
It didn’t have to come to this because, and let’s be honest here folks; the Hornets had that game won and couldn’t close. Against Page, you need to slam it shut as soon as the Panthers peek in.
“We had it laid out for us,” Tucker said, “and let it slip away.”
Indeed it was as Wilson could only watch two eight-point leads disappear thanks to, “too many bad decisions,” said Cullen, and “some stupid fouls which hurt.”
Having Chris Demarchi on the bench with a bum ankle and Hunter Cullen strapped to his seat with four fouls didn’t help matters either.
But, hey, how about Josh Miller. The junior guard was all over the place, scoring seven first-quarter points and finishing off a beautiful steal-and-save by Dylan Hudson with a layup that pulled the Hornets to within one at 42-41 early in the fourth.
Until he fouled out with 2:17 left to play with Wilson down by two.
And another thing: Kirby said there’s a certain way they do things at Wilson, “We take it one game and a time.” But you gotta believe they wouldn’t like another shot against Page in the district tournament.
First things first. It’s Riverheads at home Wednesday.
Speaking of which: Riverheads’ Lyndon Humphries, Cutter Chisnell, assistant coach Joe O’Donnell and head coach John Corbettt were there hoping for a Wilson win. (“I’m here for the Green,” Corbett said before the start of the game.)
Oh, and Jeremy Heizer was there too.
“He’s a great ballplayer,” Kirby said of the inevitable interior battle with the Grinner from Greenville. “It’s fun playing against him.”
After the game, the two Shenandoah big men greeted each other with a smile and a shoulder bump.
Let me help you make the decision here: OK, you’re on the fence. You got a couple of bucks to spare on a Tuesday night and, sadly, you happen to be a fan of Southern Valley District basketball. Sure, you could watch Waynesboro boys hosting Stuarts Draft as the Little Giants try to clinch the No. 2 spot in the district. Or, you could go watch the end of a decade at Stuarts Draft.
When Draft’s Kerby Hatter and Waynesboro’s Devon Brown take the court it will be the last time (at least in the regular season) that they’ll face each other in an organized game.
They’re friends. They played AAU ball together one and off for 10 years and, chances are, you’ve seen them shooting hoops together at the YMCA.
Don’t worry, you’ll miss them when they’re gone too.
And one last thing: Wondering how the Wilson locker room was after the loss to Page?
“It was quiet,” Kirby said.
Posted by Jim Sacco on 02/12 at 03:32 AM
Friday, February 08, 2008
(Almost) Daily Pooch Punt: 2/8/08
Oh, daddy.
Stuarts Draft and Waynesboro girls gave you a doozy last night, which has become the status quo in a Southern Valley District that, yeah, lost some punch with the Valley split, but has added some great drama (Why no No. 5 seed in the tournament? Give Fort one last shot at Waynesboro) and sparked the quote of 2007 courtesy of R.E. Lee coach Jeremy Hartman - “You know what they say, familiarity breeds contempt.”
OK, so there you are, sitting in the stands and you’re watching yet another edition of the “Devin Dilemma” teams face every night against the Little Giants.
But, you see, Draft coach Marc Sweigert has a plan and, without even asking him, you figure out that it involves: double- and triple-teaming Devon Brown, and stepping in front of her when’s she’s barreling down the lane.
You’re watching a defense collapse around her and you’re watching Devon Brown get frustrated. (But that’s nothing draining a 3 from the same spot Kobe Bryant has to earn them from can’t cure, you know, like she did in the third quarter Thursday.)
Then you’re watching Kiawna Berry put in 12, grab four steals and yell out with her play – “Um, hey. Remember me.”
Or how about Talisha Spencer scoring eight points off 4-for-4 shooting?
OMG: Did you see what Draft’s Kerby Hatter just did? Really? She didn’t just spin around Brown, slice through two more Little Giants and put in a layup? How the heck did she do that?
RUKID’NGME: She just cut through the lane again, looking like a pixie on truckstop-grade pep pills.
NOTKDDN: Who cares if Kerby Hatter goes on to play college ball somewhere? Man, this girl is just have fun playing high school sports and happens to be pretty good at them. She laughs (after she was called for a charge on Brown), she seems concerned if someone gets hurt (in the fourth quarter she inadvertently hit Shanda Brown in the face and was the first one over to pat her on the back and see if she was OK) oh, and we did we mention she has fun. We’re gonna miss watching her play at Draft. Don’t worry, you will too when she’s gone.
OK, TTYL.
Oh, look: Brown just hit a trey from college range. And looked as smooth as silk whilst doing so.
Anyway: So, as we were saying, yeah, Sweigert had a game plan and it looked like it worked. The Cougars get another shot Tuesday at their place. You might not want to miss this one folks.
And another thing: Wilson loses to Luray and suddenly things look just a little bit clearer in the Shenandoah Scurry.
Riverheads, you’re up. Can you hold?
Posted by Jim Sacco on 02/08 at 12:54 AM
Thursday, February 07, 2008
The Sports Desk: 2/7/08
A special guest from across the pond joins Sports Editor Jim Sacco. Guess what? He loves local high school basketball!
Posted by Jim Sacco on 02/07 at 06:25 PM
Cleaning the Sports Desk: 2/7/08
You know the drill. The desk is dirty. The desk needs to be cleaned.
Posted by Jim Sacco on 02/07 at 06:17 PM
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Daily Pooch Punt: 2/6/08
Honestly, did you expect anything less?
With the hopes and dreams of staying in the Shenandoah Scurry at stake, Riverheads and Buffalo Gap beat the absolute stuffing out of each other on the basketball court Tuesday in Swoope.
When you look at it, that’s the only way to describe a game that finished regulation tied at 31. A score that might have had you thinking you walked in on some scrimmage between undefeated Kate Collins Middle School and the just-as-undefeated Wilson Memorial freshmen girls basketball teams.
Nah, this was varsity.
This was Riverheads boys.
This was Buffalo Gap boys.
This was a whole lotta big bodies trying to knock each other around in a not-big-enough lane.
A whole lotta heart and pride jammed onto one small basketball court.
This was two local teams.
Two ravenous sides stuffed in one rollicking gym located in a spot on the map you could cover with a piece of belly-button lint.
It was one suffocating defense by Buffalo Gap, coupled with one sick player and few new ones on the court for Riverheads, holding the Gladiators to just 11 first-half points.
It was Chad Cauley hitting a trey from the wing in the final minute of regulation to give his Bison a 31-30 lead in a game they needed as badly as the visitors from Greenville.
It was Riverheads’ Lewis Douglass doing his usual thing --- following up a free throw Saturday that helped nail the coffin on Luray with a free throw Tuesday against Gap that dug the Gladiators out of the grave.
(Uh, oh: Somebody’s got a new nickname --- Lewis “The Undertaker” Douglass.)
It gave us an extra round to this basketball game we would prefer to call a boxing match.
Then Boone Jones fouled out seconds into the second overtime. (Yep, there was a second. Think these kids didn’t know what was at stake out there? Think either one of these teams wanted to fall out of the race to their neighbors to north or to the south, depending on what side of the gym you were sitting on?)
With the bruising Boone on the bench, Riverheads Jeremy Heizer quickly went to work.
It was Heizer pouring in 10 points over that span, securing the win, keeping Riverheads in the Shenandoah race and making sure nobody that dons a Red Pride jersey will forget the Grinner From Greenville anytime soon.
Heck, you know you have a good game when your performance forces Bison coach James Carter to say: “When Jeremy Heizer wants to take over a ball game there is no one in this league that can stop him.”
Darn skippy, coach.
And when your coach says: “He might have even sold a few hot dogs at halftime,” like John Corbett did Tuesday. Well, good on you Jeremy Heizer. How much did you make?
Or how about, with the week this team has had, to hear Corbett say: “This is the proudest I’ve been of a group of guys in a while.”
Yep, the same Corbett: Who watched a Josh Fox and Josh LaPorte-led team beat Glenvar handedly during the duo’s senior season, and had nothing good to say about his squad after the win.
And another thing: So now Buffalo Gap has to go on the road to Luray (Friday) and Page County – one of the Other Three (Feb. 14) – win both games and then hope that either: Wilson Memorial loses tonight at Luray or Friday against Stonewall Jackson or Feb. 13 against Riverheads.
Or hope that: Riverheads heads to Page on Friday and gets beat or they’re knocked off in Fishersville.
Or they can pray that: Page gets beat by either Wilson or Riverheads.
Somebody tell me: Did I get that right? To be honest, I confused myself just typing it.
You know you’re at a huge Shenandoah District basketball game when: The girls team shows up to cheer because, well, they can. Wow, that small-town country, stack-em-six-high district knows how to schedule games and those rootin-tootin big-city folk in the Southern Valley just like to show off what an abomination their scheduling prowess is.
Someone, get these Southern Valley ADs and principals and mayors and school-resource officers, janitors. Heck, whoever, man. Just get them in one big room to fix this mess.
If this schedule still exists next season, well, you got another thing coming. Huh? What was that? Don’t make me pull this car over. Don’t you … hey … don’t you give me that look. Why you little! That’s it, get in the bad corner.
Meanwhile, in the Shenandoah: Wilson Memorial, you’re up tonight.
Meanwhile, in the Southern Valley: Huge game Thursday when Waynesboro girls host surprising Stuarts Draft. You know, the Little Giants’ team that hasn’t lost a game in the district and the one-district-loss Cougar team that’s been a tear since beating R.E. Lee on Jan. 25. I would expect the same crowd at that game … oh man, the boys play that night too at Stuarts Draft.
AARRGGHHHH!!!!!
Meanwhile, back in the Shenandoah: Don’t take your basketball-watching hats off just yet, folks.
Posted by Jim Sacco on 02/06 at 04:57 AM
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
2/5/08: Pooch Punt
Blame it on being a Monday. Blame it on the day-after-the-Super-Bowl Blues. Or blame it on the complete and utter debacle known as the abomination of now having to pay extra for the NFL Network.
Whatever it is, my bad. I forgot to blog Monday. And, to top it off, after a great Saturday in the Shenandoah District boys basketball race.
Look, it ices up on Friday night a few games get cancelled and Riverheads, Draft, Fort and Luray all play the all-to-rare, but oh-so-much-fun Saturday afternoon game. (Riverheads girls couldn’t partake, they lost at Luray later that evening.)
Nothing was normal. It should have been just a good old regular-season home game for Riverheads. It turned into a scrappy eye-opening victory by the Gladiators in their final scheduled home game of the year.
Scrappy because the Bulldogs fought all day long.
Eye-opening because Riverheads varsity is now down to nine players. Amid Internet speculation, coach John Corbett said only that four players were no longer with the team due to “internal issues.”
A victory because they kept pace with the Other Three in the Shenandoah District race for first place (Wilson Memorial, Buffalo Gap, Page County).
As is usually the story in Greenville, the Red Pride were out in full force.
They gave the team a standing ovation when they ran out and swayed at half court to start warm-ups. The fans were on their feet 10 minutes later when they announced the seniors (it was Senior Day) and then, once more when they gave the starting lineups.
Seriously, do I really need to tell you that they were back on their feet when Jeremy Heizer grabbed his second huge steal with under a minute left in a game tighter than Joan Rivers’ face? Of course I don’t. Because you know they were.
“It’s just going to be whoever can play the hardest and win out. It’s pretty indescribable how much fun it is,” Hezier said of the final-week in the Shenandoah Scurry.
And fans walked by and patted his back as Heizer towered among them in the gym lobby, the 6-foot-5 inside guy sporting that class-clown smile the whole time.
Football coach Robert Casto was right Saturday when, in a rare candid moment Saturday as he stood by the football section of the trophy cases, the future Mayor Greenville said, “We’ve got good people here. We’re a different breed.”
He was, of course, speaking of the fans and athletes at this small school that hugs the intersection of I-81 and U.S. 11.
Darn skippy, coach.
And another thing: I wasn’t kidding, Sunday. You don’t realize Jeremy Heizer has a double-double until he makes a huge steal, you mark it down on your notebook and finally notice that, wow, he’s got one.
And then: You also notice that Lyndon Humphries has one, too.
Humphries and Heizer.
“What should be the new definition of silent but deadly, Mr. Trebek.”
Sight seen: Wilson Memorial coach Rodney Cullen watching the game Saturday and providing a slack-jawed local-sports blogger with some great coaches’-view insight during the game.
Hey, big ups to Stuart Roes who picked up his 100th win in the always-exclusive, yet-ever-expanding club of 100-match winners under Terry Waters at Fort Defiance.
He earned the T-shirt against a wrestler from Group AAA T.W. Woodson, a pin that gave the Indians a 36-35 win.
Oh, and he could have gotten it a match earlier when he held his own and lost 19-7 to Millbrook’s Derrick Borlie. You know, the No. 1-ranked 171-pounder in Group AAA.
Oh, and it happened to be Roes’ first loss of the year.
Oh, and when he got his 100th win in the dual-saving match, he joined his brother, Thomas, on the 100-win list.
Oh, and Thomas is Waters’ top assistant right now.
Let me ask: What did you do Saturday?
OK, so mark your calendars:
Tonight: Riverheads at Buffalo Gap.
Feb. 13: Riverheads at Wilson Memorial.
All three local Shenandoah District schools in two games and mean oh, so much.
And you can see them without having to make The Choice.
Kind of makes you get down on your hands and knees and thank the basketball gods that the team you love is in the Shenandoah District.
Can’t remember the last time Rodney Cullen was pumping his fist on the sideline or jumping up from his usual crouched-down position from which he watches his Wilson Memorial Green Hornets basketball team play.
Heck, thinking back to his Fishburne days when he was graced with big talented guys from foreign lands, it’s tough to remember seeing Cullen smile.
That all changed Wednesday when his once-struggling Green Hornets turned a huge corner, pulling together after an early season string of injuries and mediocre play, and blasted away an ice-cold Buffalo Gap team to join the four-way fracas on top of the Shenandoah District (Gap, Riverheads and Page are the Other Three).
Don’t expect the Bison to have many more of those poor shooting nights, but you best expect the Hornets to continue playing the way they did Wednesday.
And, while your at it, you can keep on thinking that Cullen, who smiled (just a bit) after the win, plans on keeping his Hornets emotionally high during the final two weeks of what is always the best race in the area — Shenandoah District boys basketball.
“This is what we expected after last year,” Cullen said, hearkening back to his team’s late-season run in 2007 that raised eyebrows and expectations. “Last year, we took our lumps early.”
And if you ask Tucker Kirby, Wilson’s difference-maker inside, there’s been no magical potion handed out to the players by Cullen.
“Magical potion?” Kirby asked. “Intensity would be that magic potion.”
The intensity Wilson played with Wednesday and hope to carry through the rest of the season.
Intensity spearheaded by their most-of-the-time stone-faced coach that walks along the bench during games.
And another thing: Speaking of Fishburne – yeah that small military school that sits on top of the hill in Waynesboro — the Caissons have quietly run out to a 14-5 record, including 9-2 in the Virginia Independent Conference. Plus, with their 74-60 vengeful win over Eastern Mennonite on Thursday, they’ve secured the No. 2 spot in the VIC.
Want to see jump-out-of-the-gym athletes? Then check out Michael Barrett and company. Trust us, it will be worth it if you don’t mind sitting next to a bunch of rowdy and loud cadets in their small sweatbox gym. Don’t worry, it’s a great atmosphere.
“The Waynesboro paper DID NOT report on this girls’ game at all. This blog is the only word said about it. (Unfortunately). Why it’s ok when other teams run up scores (or the boys’ teams for that matter) is beyond me. D. Brown is a superstar. Let her team enjoy it...believe me they are!! Everyone likes to be on top! (Except those who aren’t).” Posted by Supporter.
Yeah, I know we didn’t report on it. Second time this year Waynesboro coach Secrett Stubblefield didn’t call in her score. Not calling has been the status quo for Laura Bowman at Fort Defiance (but I digress).
I agree. What’s the problem here? For years the Little Giants have been the punching bag of the then-Valley District. Suddenly they’re winning and bloggers are whining. Nobody was complaining and opposing team’s parents weren’t rudely interrupting then-Fort Defiance coach Tony Clark when his team was doing the same thing three years ago.
“I just don’t understand what the fuss is all about. Why complain about getting to see someone as talented as Devon Brown throw down 30 points, give 100% and play the whole game. At this point in the season, time on the floor for the first string is valuable and the coach is just taking advantage of this. Come on people this is not T-ball the scoreboard is on the wall for a reason.” Posted by Jimmyd.
There is no fuss. Just someone playing sports writer for a night deciding to question the “classiness” of a team and coach that are winning, believing in themselves, proving a point and having fun whilst doing it. “Come on people this is not T-ball the scoreboard is on the wall for reason” is a line good enough to steal JimmyD.
“Wow is all I can say.
You just don’t get it.
The classless way the Waynesboro coach has been running up the score and running her mouth have taken sports to a new low. I have heard people from just about every school in the area complaining about this and wondering why the “leaders” at Waynesboro High School don’t do anything about this embarrassment.
Blame Devon Brown? That is crazy as she was just playing hard.
It is not her fault her coach had her playing.
100% of this is on the coach. Of course since it is your beloved Waynesboro you make excuses. There are no excuses for lack of class and sportsmanship. Thanks to the Staunton paper for reporting this as it was not the one game of the night that your rag reports on. I await your classless school boy response! Peace!” Posted by Sports Fan.
Who’s blaming Devon Brown here? Once again, I’m with JimmyD on this one, with the tournament right around the corner, don’t you want your starters on the court as much as possible? JimmyD is right, this is the most important time of the year to be doing that.
Who’s making excuses for Waynesboro? (Which, for the record, is the only school we cover that’s banned my staff from a sports team practice back when the volleyball team was struggling. Thus hiding the reason behind its first losing season since the program started behind an iron curtain held up by Athletic Director Mel Morris. That kept us from doing our jobs which doesn’t make any school my “beloved,” as you put it.)
A coach e-mailed me today (not from Waynesboro) and you know what this coach said, Sports Fan? They like Stubblefield’s intensity and is rooting for her. But hey, I guess it doesn’t matter to some (like you) that a coach is intense, celebrates wins with her team and has a group of girls turning around and slapping teams in a district that treated them like a punching bag for years.
But, of course, when you can hide behind the “Sports Fan” handle and besmirch someone by calling them “classless” because a group of kids are doing something positive, is there any use in explaning that to you.
Sorry, if that’s wasn’t the “classless school boy response” you were looking for. Maybe next time I’ll use the word “rag” to get my point across.
Peace!
Posted by Jim Sacco on 02/01 at 04:00 PM
Pooch Punt Update
The 2/1/08 edition of the Daily Pooch Punt will be posted at 2 p.m. today.
We’ll talk about watching a usually-not-animated Rodney Cullen on the sidelines during his Green Hornets’ huge win over Buffalo Gap on Wednesday in boys hoops.
We’ll ask: What is Fishburne thinking, you know, being so good this year and such?
And we’ll check out the comments section in “Say What?”