The game between the two county schools was postponed due to COVID concerns, as was the Lord Botetourt girls home game with Abingdon on the same night. No makeup dates had been announced as of press time.
With the postponements, the Lord Botetourt boys and girls and the James River boys will have no games this week. All three are scheduled to return to action next Tuesday, January 4, with the Lord Botetourt boys hosting Northside in a big Blue Ridge District game, the LB girls at Northside and the James River boys heading to Floyd County for their Three Rivers District opener.
The James River girls will have two games this week. The Knights are scheduled to host Rockbridge County on Wednesday and then travel to Bassett for a game on Thursday.
The River girls are off to a good start under new head coach Ryan Firebaugh despite missing some games due to health protocols. The Knights won two games last week to improve to 3-1 after going 0-7 in last year’s COVID-ravaged season.
Last week in Buchanan the girls took a 46-32 win over visiting Craig County. The Knights jumped off to a 17-5 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Freshman Caitlin Canada led the team with 25 points and sophomore Honesty Liming had a dozen.
Last Wednesday in Hot Springs the girls defeated Bath County, 40-19. Canada had 22 in this one and Liming had 11. Next week the girls are at Rockbridge County on Monday and at Floyd County for their district opener on Wednesday, January 5.
Both the LB and River boys had games last week before breaking for Christmas. The Cavaliers lost to Blacksburg, 64-58, despite 25 points from Jackson Crawford. Tyler Meade had 15 in the loss as LB fell to 5-2.
The River boys improved to 6-2 with a 69-23 win over Class 3 Staunton River in Buchanan. River had a 52-14 lead by the half. The Knights had 10 different players score, led by Patrick Clevenger with 17. Also in double figures were Ryan Steger with 13, Jayson Easton with a dozen and George Toliver with 11.