The number of unblemished teams around the state dropped from six to five in VHSL basketball by virtue of King's Fork's 59-38 rout of Oscar Smith. Still unbeaten as the month nears a close are Menchville, Northside. Skyline, nationally-ranked John Marshall and Lancaster.
Besides the undefeated teams, there are a host of squads riding win streaks, some of which may be considered relatively unexpected.
Madison County at the Class 2 level has won eight in a row, looking more formidable as a top contender out of Region 2B. Not quite on the radar with Region 4D favorites E.C. Glass and Western Albemarle before the season, Jefferson Forest has captured eight straight wins as they're finding success against Seminole District foes here in January before a matchup with Liberty Christian on January 26th.
Great Bridge, which held on for a 71-69 win at Southeastern District foe Nansemond River, takes an eight-game winning streak and 11-3 record into a matchup with King's Fork, followed by hosting Western Branch three days later. They might take getting to 12-4 as an accomplishment in trying to better position themselves seeding-wise for the Region 4A Tournament.
Sticking in Tidewater, Norview has won five in a row with quality victories over Cape Henry, Lake Taylor and thumping Norfolk rival Maury to jump into the Class 5 Top Ten rankings. Only six teams make the playoffs in Region 5B, where the likes of those aforementioned Pilots, Commodores from Maury, Woodside, Menchville, Kecoughtan and Nansemond River are all at least five games over the .500 mark.
Then there's Middlesex at the Class 1 level under new Head Coach Curtis Williamson, who took Mathews to the State Playoffs and actually shared the State Championship during the 2019-20 campaign that saw the title games canceled because of the pandemic. Folks aren't expecting Middlesex to win Region 1A because Lancaster handled them by 51 and 32 in two meetings already, but Williamson's team has won ten in a row and not fallen outside of those contests with the Red Devils.
You can see the full rankings below...
* Indicates record including Eastern District Tournament games
Honorable Mention:
Potomac (13-4)
Madison (11-5)
Freedom-PW (9-3)
Gainesville (13-5)
James River-Midlothian (11-3)
Honorable Mention:
William Fleming (12-4)
Riverside (10-5)
Princess Anne (12-5)
Highland Springs (10-5)
Hermitage (10-5)
Honorable Mention:
Sherando (11-5)
King George (12-3)
GW-Danville (11-6)
Broad Run (10-5)
Honorable Mention:
William Monroe (11-4)
Lord Botetourt (11-5)
Liberty Christian (10-5)
Wilson Memorial (10-4)
Staunton (11-3)
Honorable Mention:
Buckingham (11-4)
Nottoway (10-4)
Glenvar (10-7)
Clarke County (10-7)
Honorable Mention:
Chilhowie (13-3)
Bland County (12-5)
Honaker (10-7)
Eastside (8-8)
Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald and The Farmville 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.
