The James River boys’ basketball team was preparing to play in a holiday tournament at Riverheads High School as the paper went to press this week. The Knights were scheduled to play Buffalo Gap on Monday, Dec. 29, with the championship game a day later.
River was 4-1 overall after losing for the first time on Dec. 23. The Knights dropped a 67-61 decision to Parry McCluer in their last game before Christmas to fall from the ranks of the unbeaten.
A day prior, at Faith Christian, River took a 67-35 win as Maddox Pichay scored 17 points and Riley Carlisle had 16. That followed a 51-37 win at Craig County on Dec. 19 with Ryder Ward scoring 21 to go with six rebounds and five steals.
“It’s been a fun week for us,” said River coach Ethan Humphries. “We’ve learned a lot about ourselves the last several weeks of practice. We are just trying to stay grounded and be where our feet are as we move through our schedule.”
The Knights will open the 2026 portion of their schedule with an 11 a.m. game at Roanoke Valley Christian on Saturday, Jan. 3.
