The Cregger Center at Roanoke College will be the site of the Region 2C basketball semifinals and finals this week. The James River boys were the top seed in the tournament at 17-3 but the Knight girls were eliminated by Nelson County last Friday.
The boys were scheduled to host Alleghany on Tuesday after the Mountaineers defeated Glenvar in last Friday’s opening round. River got a first round bye as the top seed and the Knights have beaten fifth seeded Alleghany twice during the regular season but coach Ethan Humphries was taking nothing for granted, as these two teams have had a heated rivalry.
If River prevailed on Tuesday the boys would advance to the region semifinal on Thursday at Roanoke College at 6 p.m. They would play the winner of a Tuesday game between Floyd County and Chatham. The championship game is Friday at 8 p.m., and the top two teams advance to the state tournament.
The girls’ championship is at 6 p.m. Friday at RC but the River girls were eliminated last Friday at Nelson County, 54-41.
“It was a great experience for everyone,” said River coach Ryan Firebaugh. “We struggled at first, being on the road in a region game, I believe both teams had some jitters early in the game. Once both teams settled down it became a really good basketball game.”
River fell behind early and trailed 27-13 at the half. However, the Knights battled back and outscored Nelson in the second half, 28-27, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
“We played well in the second half, the girls did not quit and they fought until the end of the game,” said Firebaugh. “I was so proud of the way we battled back and fought. It hard to be down by double figures, because you had to exert so much energy on both sides of the ball to get back into the game.”
Caitlin Canada led River with 17 points and Honesty Liming had 11 points and eight rebounds. The loss, along with a 50-28 loss to Radford in the last game of the regular season, gave the Knights a final record of 7-13.
“We competed from day one to the end,” said Firebaugh. “The girls battled from game to game. It was a learning experience not only to the girls but to me as well. I was so proud of the way the girls grew up from game to game, how they battled through adversity and anything that was thrown our way.”
River will graduate four seniors but the Knights have a good nucleus returning. The jayvee team finished second in the Three Rivers tournament.
“With a strong core coming back and our JV team competing for the Three Rivers championship, I cannot wait to get started with the off-season program,” said Firebaugh. “The future is very bright for the James River Lady Knights basketball program.”