The James River boys were an even 11-11 with one game to go as they prepare for the Region 2C basketball tournament. The tournament is scheduled to open this Friday while sites and opponents will be finalized this week.
River was scheduled to play at Carroll County on Tuesday to wrap up the regular season. The Knights had four games in five days against strong Three Rivers District teams last week as they made up games that were postponed by two weeks of inclement weather.
After falling to 18-3 Martinsville on Feb. 10 the Knights were home for the second game of a back-to-back against 17-3 Floyd County on Tuesday. The visiting Buffaloes won that one, 46-30, as River was led by Maddox Pichay with 10 points.
“Our guys executed well in their last home game,” said coach Ethan Humphries. “We ended up losing every quarter by two to six points, which is about as expected against a top ranked team like Floyd, but it showed the nature in which our guys competed.”
After a day off Wednesday the Knights traveled to 14-5 Radford on Thursday. River trailed by just two points at the half but lost a low-scoring game, 36-29. Ryder Ward had nine points.
Photos by Bryant Altizer
“A one point game with a minute left and we get the short end of a whistle,” said Humphries. “I’m not sure we can ask more of our guys. We’re extremely proud of how they executed the game plan where we dictated the pace and style of the game to give ourselves a chance. We make another shot and we walk away with a road win against a really good team. The growth these guys are making every week is admirable.”
The Knights were back on the bus for a trip to Stuart and the second game of a back-to-back against Patrick County on Friday the 13th. River was able to pull out a win by two points, 56-54, as Riley Carlisle had 18 points, five rebounds and four assists. Ward had 10 points and Mark Voight had nine points and seven boards.
“On a night where we had four guys foul out we somehow found a way to win,” said Humphries. “Our bench really stepped up to close out an intense game.”
River ended the game with four juniors on the court.
“Hopefully they’ll find themselves in that situation many times to come next year,” said Humphries. “This is our first sweep of a district opponent since the ’21-22 season.”
