Hard to believe that the month of January is winding down and the playoffs are approaching. Although Mother Nature in the form of snow forced the cancellation of Day 2 of the 13th Annual VirginiaPreps Classic, some important results have come in the past two weeks on the hardwood for this latest rankings change.
Just six unbeaten squads remain with the likes of Northern Virginia contenders Hayfield and Patriot out of Class 6, Tidewater teams Maury and Kempsville in Class 5 (irony there being that Kempsville Head Coach Darren Sanderlin coached Maury Head Coach Brandon Plummer when the Bookers of Booker T. Washington won a AAA state title in 2005-06), and two that could be on a collision course in the State Semis in Class 4 with King's Fork out of Suffolk and Varina from Richmond.
There are also plenty of teams on win streak going into this week as Albemarle has reeled off 11 consecutive victories under veteran sideline boss Greg Maynard. Ditto for Kecoughtan, which avenged its lone regular season defeat from the opener by beating Woodside. Over in Class 4, Courtland has won nine in a row and suddenly popped in the rankings.
A huge matchup on Monday night in Class 3 features Northside, winners of 10 in a row, taking on a Cave Spring team who suffered its only loss of the campaign to the Vikings back in December. Petersburg is starting to rev things up in that division, too, with five wins in a row.
Over in Class 2, Radford has played stifling defense as they've become known for under Head Coach Rick Cormany. James River-Buchanan avenged a loss earlier in the season to Lord Botetourt with a 69-54 triumph on January 22nd and they figure to be a team to watch out for come playoff time.
Regional play is slated to start on Friday, February 18th. As for the State Quarterfinals, they are listed to take place on March 4-5, followed by the State Semis from March 7-8 with the State Finals scheduled to return to VCU on March 10-12 after a hiatus because of COVID.
Check out more in the latest rankings below...
* Indicates record including Eastern District Tournament games
Honorable Mention:
James River-Midlothian (11-2)
South County (9-4)
Battlefield (9-3)
Potomac (8-3)
Langley (8-3)
Honorable Mention:
Patrick Henry-Roanoke (12-3)
William Fleming (10-2)
Salem-VB (9-2)
Green Run (7-4)
Norview (10-7; 9-6)
Honorable Mention:
Orange County (11-2)
Grafton (10-3)
Hanover (10-3)
Manor (7-5; 7-4)
Sherando (10-6)
Honorable Mention:
Caroline (9-3)
Broadway (10-6)
Skyline (8-5)
Honorable Mention:
Martinsville (7-4)
Greensville (3-1)
Alleghany (9-3)
Honorable Mention:
Middlesex (7-3)
Narrows (8-4)
Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a regular contributor to the ACC Sports Journal. 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 from 10 AM to Noon on 757 Saturday Sports Talk on ESPN Radio 94.1.
