Throughout the month of November, VirginiaPreps.com will begin previewing the upcoming 2016-17 High School Basketball season. As part of our comprehensive coverage, we will be counting down the Top Ten rankings for each classification.
#10 - Fort Chiswell Pioneers
The Skinny: Coming off an 18-7 season, the Pioneers are looking to get back to the 1A-West Region Tournament, despite graduating six seniors from a year ago and their starting point guard Bryson Booher. In Booher, a First Team All-Region performer who is now at Division II Concord in West Virginia playing College Baseball, Fort Chiswell had a go-to guy and playmaker to turn to in crucial situations. They’ve got capable pieces back in the fold, but the first month of the season will probably be spent finding who their main scoring threats are.
Defensively, the Pioneers are usually rock solid, limiting foes to 40.9 points per game last season and generally give teams fits in their 2-3 zone. Coach Derrick Jackson, who is in his 11th year at the helm, has his top three guys playing football, including three-sport athlete and 6’1” junior wing Tanner Bailey as well as senior Colby Rider, a 6’4” 235-pound post player. Junior 6’5” wing Isaiah Ramsey could potentially be a next-level player, while 5’10” senior shooting guard Andrew Stoots should see an increase in his production also. The Pioneers should see quite a few tests on their schedule with Mountain Conference 46 foes Chilhowie, Galax and George Wythe as well as 2A contender Graham.
Final 1A Rankings for 2015-16:
#1 – Radford (29-1)
#2 – George Wythe (25-4)
#3 – Lancaster (23-5)
#4 – Eastside (19-9)
#5 – Altavista (21-5)
#6 – Honaker (27-3)
#7 – Surry (15-9)
#8 – Northumberland (20-8)
#9 – Middlesex (16-9)
#10 – Fort Chiswell (18-7)
Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a staff writer for Tar Heel Illustrated. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10AM on ESPN Radio 94.1.
