“If we win and also defeat Highland on Friday, that will force a play-off with the Cougars for the regular season championship,” said River coach Dan Bowser. “This is a big game for us. One of our goals at the begining of the season was to be district champions and now we have the opportunity to make that happen. We are looking forward to the challenge and hope that our fans will come out to support us.”

River comes into the game at 16-3 overall and 7-1 in the district, having lost only at Covington in Pioneer District play. Last week the Knights had little trouble with Craig County and Bath County as they beat both to set up the big game with Covington tonight.

The Knights beat Craig in Buchanan, 57-30. River was up 29-13 at the half and coasted to the win, with everyone on the team contributing.

“It was good to get everyone some playing time,” said Bowser. “Reanna Hamm got back into the lineup with a little playing time after being sidelined with an ankle sprain.”

Taylor England led River with 13 points and Morgan Hufford had 12 points, and six steals. Ashley King had nine points, Hamm had six, Ceira Webb had five and Cassandra Shaffer and Kaye Woods both had four points. Kaitlyn Barger and Libby Rhodes each had a bucket.

Last Friday at Bath the Knights won 45-30.

“We knew going in this would be a tough game,” said Bowser. “It was a close game until about halfway through the fourth quarter. We got several stops on defense and then converted from the foul line. We have been saying that sooner or later we would win a game at the foul line and that is what happened.”

The Knights were 13-for-16 from the foul line in the fourth quarter and 20-for-27 for the game. Hufford led River in scoring with 15 points and also had five steals and five assists. King had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Hamm just missed a double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds. England and Shaffer each had 4 points and Woods had three.

At 17-3 the Knights are now tied for sixth in the state poll of sportswriters and broadcasters among all Group A girls’ teams. Floyd County, at 19-1, is the top-ranked team in the state.

The one-day tournament, featuring eight of the leading basketball teams in the Roanoke Valley and state, will build on the Member One Shootout the Salem Kiwanis have showcased for several years. The event will be held on Saturday, February 4, at the Salem Civic Center, and Comcast has signed on as the presenting sponsor.

Roy Stanley, a friend and a fixture in the Roanoke Valley, died when a sudden illness claimed his life in April of 2002. He was one of the first African American broadcasters in the south. For almost 30 years he was on the air on WDBJ with an emphasis on high school athletics.

“This is a wonderful joint venture for the Salem Kiwanis Club,” says Brenda Giles, club president. “Roy was such an icon in the valley and we’re most appreciative for the opportunity to be associated with his memory.”

Since Stanley’s death, WDBJ through, the RSM Charitable Foundation, has awarded more than 50 scholarships to deserving high school seniors in the WDBJ viewing area. Following the completion of a successful tournament, the Salem Kiwanis Club hopes to join the RSM Charitable Foundation list of scholarship donors.

 “The shootout is a good fit for us in that it provides an opportunity for a civic club to make some money that can be applied right back into the community through charitable funding,” said Mike Bell, WDBJ programming and public service director. “The Kiwanis Club has a hefty list of organizations it supports that could benefit from this project and we’re going to do our part to promote the cause.”

Each year Salem Kiwanians raise thousands of dollars to give back to those in need in the Salem/Roanoke Valley. The club has supported such projects as Snack Buddies, a program that provides more than 4,000 mid-morning snacks to under-privileged students in elementary schools in Salem and Roanoke County; Challenger Little League, that gives physically and mentally challenged kids the joy of play the game of baseball; and scholarships for disadvantaged students to attend camp at Apple Ridge Farm and 4-H.

The tournament lineup features Salem versus Rockbridge(1 pm), Patrick Henry versus Waynesboro(3 pm), William Fleming versus Virginia Episcopal(5 pm) and Oak Hill versus Christ School(7 pm).

Tickets are $8 and are available through Ticketmaster or the Salem Civic Center box office. Tickets will be $10 the day of the event.

The Bruins (5-7, 0-2 RRD) staked out to an 18-10 lead after the opening quarter. The Spartans (8-4, 1-1 RRD) went on a 15-1 run the second quarter to take a 25-19 lead at the half.

Salem continued to hold the upper-hand in the third quarter as they extended its advantage to 39-29. In the fourth quarter, the Bruins outscored the Spartans 17-9 to make the final margin 48-46, Salem.

Photo by Wendell Jones Blacksburg's Destiny Etuk(22) and Salem's Matt Hill (14) battle for a rebound

Destiny Etuk and Eric Krurich had 12 points each to lead Blacksburg. Eric James finished with 10 points.

Tyler Treski led Salem with a game-high 15 points and Matt Hill added 12 points.

Blacksburg  18  1  10  17- 46

Salem  10  15  14  9- 48

Christiansburg runs past Hidden Valley

After falling behind early, Christiansburg came storming back to knock off Hidden Valley 58-43 in a River Ridge District boys’ basketball game last Friday night in Roanoke.

The Titans (5-6, 1-1 RRD) took a 14-11 lead after the first quarter. The Blue Demons (9-0, 2-0 RRD) rallied back in the second quarter to a take a slim 27-26 lead at the break.

Christiansburg outscored its hosts 12-5 in the third quarter to extend its advantage to 39-31 heading into the fourth quarter. The Demons continued to hold the Titans at bay in the final quarter, as they claimed the 15-point win.

Brenden Motley led Christiansburg with a game-high 17 points and Kam Johnson added 12 points.

Malik Williams paced Hidden Valley with 12 points.

Christiansburg  11  16  12  19  – 58

Hidden Valley  14  12  5  12  – 43

Alexander leads Radford over Auburn

Jordan Alexander scored a game-high 27 points including five 3-pointers, as he helped lead Radford to a 76-55 Three Rivers District boys’ basketball win over Auburn last Thursday night in Riner.

The Bobcats (5-4, 1-0 TRD) jumped out to a 24-19 lead after the first quarter and increased their advantage to 43-26 at the break.

The Eagles (4-8, 0-2 TRD) mounted a small comeback in the third quarter, as they cut their deficit to 52-40 heading into the final quarter. Radford outscored Auburn 24-15 in the fourth quarter to claim the 21-point road win.

Paul Parcell and Isaiah Phillips added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Radford.

Jesse Rutledge led Auburn with 15 points. Marshall Jones and Jake Shelburne chipped in with 12 points each, while Dustin Simpkins added 10 points.

Radford  24  19  9  24-76

Auburn  19  7  14  15-55

Floyd County cruises past East Mont

Floyd County placed four players in double-figures as the Buffaloes ran away with an 85-43 Three Rivers District boys’ basketball win over Eastern Montgomery last Thursday night in Floyd.

The Mustangs (3-11, 0-3) staked out to an 11-10 lead after the initial quarter. The Buffaloes (10-1, 1-0 TRD) came back in the second quarter to take a 34-22 halftime advantage. Floyd County outscored East Mont 21-10 in the third quarter and 30-11 in the fourth quarter to cruise to the 42-point win.

J.T. Shrader paced East Mont with 13 points and Kendall Sisson finished with 10 points.

Brandon Lemon led Floyd County with a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds. Caleb Tanner tossed in 17 points, Preston Neukirch scored 13 points and Danny Velasquez added 12 points and 16 rebounds.

East Mont  11  11  10  11- 43

Floyd County  10  24  21  30- 85

Photo by Wendell Jones Blacksburg's Micheal Ayers (15) and Salem's Sam St. Fleur (34) battle for a rebound

Floyd was 13-1 after beating Salem for a second time on Monday and Glenvar went into the game at 13-2. The Buffaloes were the top rated team in the area, regardless of division, by the local daily and Glenvar was sixth.

“I’m hoping our momentum from last week carries over into that game,” said Glenvar coach Nick Stewart on Tuesday. “I’m expecting it to be a dog-fight for 32 minutes.”

Last week the Highlanders returned from the holiday break with wins over Alleghany, Auburn, Giles, and Staunton River. On Friday at Giles they scored 46 points in the first half on their way to a 75-44 win. Jessi Strom had 17 points, Kayla Dehart had 14, Maggie Wilbourne had 13, and Kelsey Meador had 11.

“We forced turnovers and dominated the game,” said Stewart. “We were able to get everyone in the game and rest some starters.”

The Highlanders were right back in action Saturday at Staunton River as they tried to avenge one of just two losses to date. They were pumped up for the game, but Eagles standout Jodi Salyer, a Division I recruit headed to the University of Delaware, sat out with a back injury and Glenvar eased to a 55-33 win.

“That was a little misleading,” said Stewart. “We would have liked to have beaten them at full strength, but we’ll still take the win. The girls played well.”

Strom led Glenvar with 19 points and scored her 1,000^th career point during the game. Dehart had 10 and Meador scored nine.

The Floyd game was Wednesday, and on Friday Glenvar will play host to Radford to complete the first trip through the Three Rivers District.

The win comes just a week and a day after the Cavaliers hammered River, 58-35, in Daleville. That broke a string of five straight River wins and appeared the mantel of county supremacy was being passed to the Cavaliers. Well, let’s put that on hold for the time being.

“We’d beaten them so many times the law of averages was bound to catch up with us,” said River coach Mike Goad. “They came after us with enthusiasm and pride last week and they beat us so badly, maybe they were a little overconfident this time. They found out we have pride ourselves, and we focused a little better in our gym. Let’s call it a ‘Tale of Two Towns’.”

Botetourt jumped off to an 18-12 lead after one quarter but the Knights cut the lead in half by intermission at 32-29. LB held on to a one point lead, 48-47, after three quarters and River passed them down the stretch.

“Give them credit, they attacked us off the dribble,” said LB coach Chad Conner. “They played zone and we didn’t do a good job of attacking it.”

River won the game at the line, hitting 16 of 21 free throws while visiting LB was five for seven.

“They attacked the basket and we didn’t,” said Conner. “We’ll learn from it. They were out to get us and they played with a lot of pride.”

John Bennett led the Knights with 19 points, Caleb Lythgoe had a season-high 12, and JT Sandidge had 11. Justin Goode led LB with 17 points and Zack Kelly hit three threes and had 11 for the Cavs.

It was a good week for the Knights, who lost their first five games before winning at Glenvar last Tuesday, 63-49. Sandidge had 20, Bennett had 17, and Bryan Hoppe had 10 for the Knights in that game.

A night later the Knights were back home to host Rockbridge on Saturday and dropped a 67-35 game, as Andrew Rowsey scored 23 for the Wildcats. Sandidge had 14 to lead River.

A busy schedule continued on Monday of this week as River dropped a 41-36 game to Cave Spring in Buchanan. River jumped off to a 10-2 lead but Cave Spring bounced back to go up two by the half, 19-17. Sandidge had 10 to lead River.

Now 2-7, River is 1-1 against Group A schools and 1-6 against Group AA teams. They continue a brutal schedule with a trip to Alleghany tonight.

“We play over half our schedule in December,” said Goad. “We have our 10^th game this week and some teams have only played five or six.”

Lord Botetourt fell to 2-4 with the loss to River, and the Cavaliers were scheduled to play at Blacksburg on Tuesday of this week. Glenvar is at LB on Thursday for the final game before the holiday break.

“We’re getting better every game,” said Conner. “Every game we see something we need to do to get better and we’re working on it.”

Glenvar was 5-1 after winning at Blacksburg Monday, their fourth win against a Group AA team in this young season. Jessi Strom had 18 points and Kayla Dehart had 10 against the Bruins as Glenvar beat Blacksburg for the second time this year.

The Highlanders were at Covington Wednesday night in a game that was too late for press deadlines. Last Friday at GHS the Highlanders thumped the Cougars, 55-25, in a game Glenvar coach Nick Stewart was expecting to be much closer.

“Kanisha Wiley played great,” said Stewart. “She only had 10 points but she had five assists, five steals, and only two turnovers. When we get that kind of production from our point guard, we’ll be tough to beat.”

Jessi Strom led Glenvar with 13 points and the Highlanders got a great defensive job by Dehart, who held Pioneer District Player of the Year SaMone Moore to just five points, well below her average.

“Give a lot of credit to Kayla,” said Stewart. “She was primarily on Moore and she was all over her. And when Kayla went out with two fouls Logan Bixby did a good job on her. Moore was the main focus of our scouting report and we did a good job on her.”

The Highlanders will play two more Group AA teams next week before the holiday break. Glenvar will host Staunton River on Monday and then travel to Alleghany a week from tonight.

“Those Group AA games are big the way the VHSL is doing the playoffs,” said Stewart. “It will really help us to beat those teams.”

“We still have a spot open,” said Crowder. “I’d love to have that 10^th player, that would make it a lot easier to practice.”

Andrew McCarty will be a force in the middle for the Rockets.

The Rockets will have two returning seniors. Derek Persinger is the leading scorer from last year and he’ll be counted on to fill the bucket again. He was second team all-district last year.

“If he has a good night, we’ll have a good night,” said Crowder. “He has a good shot.”

The other senior is big Andy McCarty, who will fill up the lane. At 6’8” McCarty will be one of the tallest players in the area and he has a soft touch around the bucket. His only concern is endurance, but if he can keep pace in an up tempo game he’ll be a real force.

Matt Ouellette returns at point guard for the Rockets, and he can get the ball down the floor quickly. He’s been working on his shot in early morning practice sessions, and if he can consistently knock down the outside shot that will open up more drives to the basket, which is his strength.

Forrest Morris returns as a swing man, filling a guard or forward role, and other juniors are Zach Towers, Matthew Bryant, and Josh Looney. Levi Helm is the only sophomore and freshman Trevor Edwards made the varsity after an impressive preseason. He’s played quite a bit in Craig’s scrimmages.

Former head coach John Looney returns to coach the junior varsity team as Craig looks to increase last year’s varsity win total. The Rockets were 5-15 last year but were snowed out of a couple games they could have won, and were close to making the regional tournament.

“I think what hurt us was that our district already had two in the region and the Hogoheegee District only had one, so they put Holston in there to even it up even though they were 5-16,” said Crowder. “I was a little disappointed. This year we’re shooting for 10 wins, and that would get us in for sure. That would be a good season for Craig County.”

As for the Pioneer District, Parry McCluer should be the favorite after James River, who went to the state the past two years, suffered heavy losses due to graduation.

Last year Salem went to the state semifinal round, and with most of the team back hopes are high at SHS. Lord Botetourt is expected to be a contender in their district as well, so this was a good opener for both teams. And, LB coach Chuck Pound does a good job on the bench for the Cavaliers.

Maddie Price of Salem looks inside in Tuesday's season opening win. Photo by Brian Hoffman

“It was a good win to open the season,” said Salem coach DeWayne Harrell. “We played pretty good team ball. We had too many turnovers(18), but I think the girls got a little too excited and wanted to blow them out.”

Salem led 28-24 at the half. The Spartans opened a double digit lead early in the fourth quarter, and although the Cavs cut it to five at one point Salem remained in control down the stretch.

Tay Taylor led Salem with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Maddie Price had 11 points and, in a balanced attack, Carlye Garst had nine on three-of-five from behind the arc and Kim Migliarese and Tessa Foley had eight each. Taylor Hudson chipped in five off the bench.

The Spartans will be back in action Friday with a game at William Byrd, and next week the Spartans are home against Northside on Tuesday.

With the win Moir now has 370 career wins as an ODAC coach, all with Roanoke College. It was the first win of the season for the Maroons, who opened with three straight defeats, as Adam Kessler hit a pair of three-point baskets in overtime to highlight the RC victory.

RC Coach Page Moir with guard Kwasi Amponsah

Both teams entered the contest looking for their first victory of the season. The game was even through the first four minutes, where the teams were tied, 11-11.  Over the next three minutes, the Maroons fired off an 8-0 run, including six points from Kwasi Amponsah, that gave them a 19-11 lead at the 13:25 mark. The Gophers did not back down at that point as they came back with a 10-3 run of their own to tie the game at 21-21.

With seven minutes remaining in the first half Goucher started to pull away but Kessler and Jack Hamilton hit a pair of baskets to pull the Maroons close. Hamilton, the Maroon’s leader in field goal percentage at 49.5 percent, knocked down two more baskets befor a Goucher time out to give the Maroons a 36-33 lead with four minutes until halftime.

The Maroons entered the locker room with a 43-37 lead after a Clay Lacy put-back as time expired.  Lacy and Amposah led Roanoke after the first half with 11 points while  Logan Singleton led with seven rebounds to go with six points.

Both teams caught fire late in the second half, hitting 11 consecutive baskets between the two teams over a two minute period.  Kessler hit the final basket of the run to tie the game at 69-69.  The two teams were scoreless for the next two minutes until Hamilton knocked down a three to end that run and earn a 72-69 lead.  Goucher answered when Marcus Cotton drained a jumper for a tie at 75-75. With 26.5 seconds left the Maroons held the ball for the final shot of the game, but lost the ball and the game headed to overtime.

Kessler opened the overtime period knocking down a three-pointer.  Hamilton extended the lead to five with a put-back off a Maroon miss, pushing the score to 82-77.  Kessler drained another three at 2:46 to extend the lead to eight.  Goucher rallied to cut the lead to two at 88-86 with six tenths of a second remaining, but Singleton hit both free throws and put the game out of reach as the Maroons won, 90-86.

Five Maroons finished in double figures, with Amponsah leading the charge with a career-high 24 points.  He also tied his career-high in assists with six.

Singleton followed with 20 points, Hamilton had 16, Lacy 14, and Kessler had career-highs with 14 points and six field goals made.  Hamilton also ended the game with a team-high 11 rebounds, earning his second consecutive double-double after a 20 point, 16 rebound effort at Bluefield State.

At 1-3 the Maroons were scheduled to return to action on Wednesday at Washington & Lee. On Saturday Roanoke will host Lynchburg College at 1 pm at the C. Homer Bast Center in Salem, and that will be followed by a game between the RC women and Emory & Henry.

Caitlyn Long winds up for a jump shot. -Photo by Brian Hoffman

Long, a local product from Cave Spring High School, led the Maroons as a tri-captain to a 24-4 record and the ODAC regular season title. She led her squad in three-pointers made (55), percentage (37.9%) and free-throws made (65).

She was second in scoring (11.7 ppg) and field goals made (104). Long finished among the ODAC leaders in free-throw percentage (3rd) and three-pointers made (T-2nd).

The First-Team All-ODAC selection finished her career ninth on the all-time scoring list (1,190), ninth in career free-throws made (238), 13th in career field goals made (382), second in career three-pointers (188), seventh in free-throw percentage (76.5%) and fifth in three-point percentage (35.5%). Her 55 three-pointers tied her career-best from last season, ranked seventh on the single-season list at Roanoke.

In her final collegiate game, Long scored a career-best 28 points and tied a career-high with five three-pointers. She was also five-of-six from the free-throw line and pulled down five rebounds. She finished with a four-year record of 79-30 and claimed two ODAC regular season titles.

The two-sport star helped lead the Maroons to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years and back-to-back 20-win seasons.