The James River and Lord Botetourt basketball teams will be in action this week as the Virginia High School League winter sports season officially begins. Both boys and girls teams at both schools are scheduled to open this week.
On Tuesday the LB girls were scheduled to open with a game at Blacksburg, while the River girls had a game at home game with Bassett. Tonight, Wednesday, the Botetourt girls will host Hidden Valley. On Thursday the River girls are home against Covington and on Friday the LB girls host Cave Spring and the boys open their season at Floyd County. The Cavalier boys had two games postponed this week due to the football season continuing to the region finals.
One of the teams getting a lot of attention this winter will be the James River boys team. They had a busy schedule during the summer and fared well against much larger schools. River will play a challenging schedule, including games with Northside and GW-Danville, but coach Ethan Humphries feels his team can compete with anyone.
“I may be a little biased, but I believe our group should come to everyone’s mind,” he said when asked who will be good in the area. “The good thing is we will have a chance to prove our mentioning.”
The Knights have a great group of guys returning and the core of the team from last year. Patrick Clevenger and Jayson Easton, two seniors who were first and second team All-State selections last year, are back. Jayson is about 30 some points shy of 1,000 for his career and has recently committed to the University of Lynchburg to play basketball. Senior Corey Easton, junior Ryan Steger and junior Heath Andrews are three others who have been selected as All-Region either last year or the year before. Other returners include George Toliver, Sam Bell, Ben Bailey, and Landon Tolley.
“Our goal is pretty simple,” said Humphries. “We just want to find out what our ceiling is for this very special group. Wins and losses are a dime a dozen so we went out and got one of, if not the, toughest schedules in the state. Obviously winning is nice but, more importantly, we want to know how good we can be, win or lose, and so our schedule is a little outside of the box.”
Lord Botetourt also has a good group of returnees, including three-point sharpshooter Conner Tilley. A senior, he was an All-State selection last year.
“Jackson will be the engine of our team at the point-guard position,” said coach Andrew Hart. “He is really going to open some eyes around the Roanoke Valley. We are excited for what he can do for our team and program.”
Sophomores Evan Bannwart and DJ Toliver are expected to see time as well. The Cavs are off to somewhat of a late start due to football but Hart expects his team to hit the ground running.
“Our goals are to compete with the best teams on our schedule and win a district and region championship,” he said. “We have a group that works hard and is committed to doing what it takes to win. Our chemistry and ability to shoot from the perimeter will hopefully be the x-factors that help us reach our goals.”
The LB girls have two returning starters, Ally Spangler and Jada Morgan. Brianna Wissemann returns after missing last season due to an ACL injury and will make a big impact on the team. All three are five-year members of the program, and coach Renee Favaro is looking for some other girls to step up this winter.
“I think some impact players you will see that are not new but saw limited action as freshmen in our shortened season last year are Taylor Orange, Ainsley Anderson, and Grayson Alfano,” she said. “All three put in a lot of work in the off season and will see a lot of minutes this year. We also have a new sophomore, Gracie Huffard, who is 6’2 and will provide length and depth inside.
James River has a new girls head coach in Ryan Firebaugh. The Knights have struggled in recent years but Ryan is hoping to turn things around in Springwood.
“We have a determined and hard working group of girls that will stop at nothing until they succeed,” he said. “We want to work hard and be competitive in every game we play this season.”
Returning seniors include guards Rachel Harless and Meradith Brogan. Juniors with experience are guards Lexi McCullough, Lacey Kessler and Emily Ballard and forward Rachel Crowder. Sophomore guard Honesty Liming and freshman forward Caitlin Canada are also expected to contribute.
“With this solid core of girls returning, they all will contribute to the team in many different ways,” said Firebaugh.
