Crawford Co. Ready To Go
Top 100 Basketball Players-Boys `04
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People know all about Tyler
Crawford.
The R.E. Lee High School senior, who
is Georgetown bound, has dazzled and frustrated basketball opponents in the
Valley District for the past three seasons.
Many of his foils, though, have
graduated, filling this preseason with story lines based on uncertainty.
Which teams will emerge as the
Leemen’s challengers? Which stars will shine? Will anybody be able to stop
Crawford?
From the 2002-03 all-district first
and second teams, only Crawford and Lee guard Daryl Taylor are back.
"I think you’re going to see
some things develop later in the season then you do early because some guys that
were not recognized are going to step up and make a name for themselves,"
said Broadway coach Mark Gorby, who lost all five starters, including
all-district guard Chris Ropp. "I think you’ll see some kids emerge late
in the district. … It’s the time for the young kids to make their mark on
the district."
Practice started Nov. 10 and the
teams open the season in two weeks.
Harrisonburg and Spotswood return
the most players and may pose Lee’s biggest threat.
Last year’s second-place team,
Stuarts Draft, lost four starters, while third-place Turner Ashby graduated all
of its starters.
The Knights captured the 2003 Region
II title and advanced to the Group AA tournament for the second straight season.
Their big three are gone – guards Brian Bocock and Brandon Shields, and center
Nick Marshman.
Now, TA has to rebuild after a 20-8
season and a 61-20 record in the past four years.
Harrisonburg, just 8-14 a year ago,
returns third-team all-district pick Justin German (11 points and 8 rebounds per
game), a junior forward. It also has 6-8 senior center Patrick Johnson and a
potentially strong backcourt.
"It looks like they’ll have a
balanced team," Rockbridge County coach Richard Whitesell said. "That
will enable them to do a lot of different things, I think, and they have some
small guys that are pretty quick."
Spotswood lost all-district center
Kendal Swartzentruber, who is now at Eastern Mennonite University. But it
returns senior forward Josh Jones (14 ppg and 6 rpg).
The one constant is Lee. The
Staunton school always seems to contend, no matter who it has returning. Last
season, the Leemen returned two starters and four varsity players but finished
22-5 and won their 27th regular-season title in Paul Hatcher’s 35th year as
coach.
The man, of course, is the 6-foot-4
Crawford, who plays every position for Lee. He averaged 22.9 points and 12.6
rebounds per game a year ago.
"He’s a special player and I
guess if you sign to go to play at Georgetown you have to be special,"
Whitesell said. "He’s going to be their leader. He’s not only a scorer,
he does it all."
(reprinted with permission)
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