1/31/2022 basketball Edit

VHSL Hoops Top Tens - Entering 1-31-22 Games

Matthew Hatfield • VirginiaPreps

Publisher

Matthew Hatfield has been with VirginiaPreps.com since 2004, officially taking over as Publisher in 2016. Hatfield hosts 757 Saturday Sports Talk every Saturday, 10 AM to Noon, on ESPN Radio 94.1.

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There are still six unbeaten teams remaining in Virginia High School Basketball on the public front as the calendar turns from January to February. Three hail from the Tidewater area with Maury, Kempsville and King's Fork. Two reside in Northern Virginia with Hayfield and Patriot, both at the Class 6 level. There's one in Richmond with Varina, which sits atop the Class 4 rankings, just ahead of King's Fork.

Some of that could change with Hayfield set to play John Marshall, the top-ranked team in Class 2, on the first weekend of February. Plus, Kempsville has three tricky Beach District games awaiting them with Princess Anne, Green Run and Landstown - a collective 24-12. Kempsville used a 15-0 run to overcome a 14-point deficit against Green Run back in December to end a 26-game losing streak in the head-to-head series.

Varina, which has scored 80-plus points on four occasions, is slated to play L.C. Bird on February 5th and the Skyhawks are a prime Class 5 title contender whose only loss came to John Marshall.

So far, only one change at the top and that comes in Class 3, where Cave Spring avenged a loss to Northside from earlier in the season with a 61-39 rout of the Vikings behind 23 points from junior guard Stark Jones, who scored 19 before half-time.

Not only are there some dominant level teams, but also outstanding individual performances being turned in as of late. A trio of players from around the Commonwealth - UNC signee Tyler Nickel of East Rockingham, Woodside junior guard Trevor Smith, and King's Fork guard George Beale - have scored 50-plus points in a game in the past week.

Check out more in the latest rankings below...

* Indicates record including Eastern District Tournament games

Sherman Rivers has the Patriots Pioneers enjoying their best start in program history and doing so with just three seniors on the roster (Bob Lanum (BobLimages.com))

Class 6 Top Ten:

Rank	Last Week	School	Record (entering 1/31)
1	1	Hayfield	16-0
2	2	Patriot	15-0
3	4	Landstown	9-4
4	6	Madison	13-3
5	7	South Lakes	11-2
6	8	Oscar Smith	12-3
7	HM	South County	12-2
8	5	W.T. Woodson	8-3
9	9	Woodbridge	11-3
10	3	Fairfax	12-2

Dropped Out: #10 Manchester (14-3)

Honorable Mention:
George Marshall (13-2)
James River-Midlothian (12-3)
Lake Braddock (12-3)
Battlefield (11-3)
John Champe (10-4)

Yuri Manns has been a consistent performer for the Skyhawks, dropping 61 points in wins over James River (Midlothian) and George Wythe (Richmond) as his team closes in on a No. 1 seed for the Region 5C Tournament (Rob's DigiPix)

Class 5 Top Ten:

Rank	Last Week	School	Record (entering 1/31)
1	1	Maury	15-0; 12-0*
2	2	L.C. Bird	13-1
3	4	Kecoughtan	13-1
4	5	Kempsville	9-0
5	7	Potomac Falls	14-3
6	3	Stone Bridge	11-3
7	6	Menchville	11-4
8	8	Independence	12-3
9	9	Douglas Freeman	15-2
10	10	Albemarle	14-1

Dropped Out: #5 Bethel (8-2) and #6 Woodside (8-3)

Honorable Mention:
William Fleming (13-2)
Woodside (9-3)
Patrick Henry-Roanoke (13-4)
Salem-VB (9-3)
Bethel (9-3)

Class 4 Top Ten:

Rank	Last Week	School	Record (entering 1/31)
1	1	Varina	15-0
2	2	King's Fork	12-0
3	3	Western Albemarle	13-1
4	4	Eastern View	11-1
5	5	Jamestown	11-2
6	6	Loudoun Valley	14-3
7	7	Courtland	14-2
8	8	E.C. Glass	13-3
9	10	Blacksburg	11-3
10	HM	Orange County	12-2

Dropped Out: #9 Loudoun County (11-5)

Honorable Mention:
GW-Danville (10-5)
Grafton (12-3)
Hanover (10-3)
Manor (7-5; 7-4)
Sherando (12-6)

Stark Jones erupted in a big way for Cave Spring in its win over Northside (CrunchMVP.com)

Class 3 Top Ten:

Rank	Last Week	School	Record (entering 1/31)
1	2	Cave Spring	15-1
2	1	Northside	15-2
3	3	Liberty Christian	13-1
4	4	Hopewell	12-3
5	5	Petersburg	11-3
6	6	Tunstall	15-2
7	7	William Monroe	11-1
8	9	Spotswood	10-6
9	8	Lord Botetourt	11-5
10	10	Wilson Memorial	11-3

Dropped Out: #9 Abingdon (8-6)

Honorable Mention:
Abingdon (10-6)
Skyline (10-5)
Fluvanna (10-5)
Broadway (10-7)

Class 2 Top Ten:

Rank	Last Week	School	Record (entering 1/31)
1	1	John Marshall	11-4
2	2	Radford	9-2
3	3	James River-Buchanan	11-3
4	4	East Rockingham	14-4
5	5	Union	12-4
6	8	Central-Woodstock	13-5
7	6	Ridgeview	14-3
8	7	Glenvar	12-4
9	9	Virginia High	11-4
10	HM	Greensville	4-1

Dropped Out: #10 Thomas Jefferson-Richmond (6-3)

Honorable Mention:
Alleghany (12-3)
Nelson County (10-2)
Martinsville (8-6)

Class 1 Top Ten:

Rank	Last Week	School	Record (entering 1/31)
1	1	Parry McCluer	12-2
2	2	Lancaster	13-1
3	3	Altavista	9-2
4	5	Buffalo Gap	12-2
5	4	Rye Cove	14-3
6	6	Twin Springs	11-6
7	7	West Point	11-4
8	8	Rappahannock County	11-4
9	10	Auburn	9-6
10	NR	Fort Chiswell	14-3

Dropped Out: #9 Washington & Lee (9-5)

Honorable Mention:
J.I. Burton (9-7)
Middlesex (9-3)
Essex (6-2)
Narrows (9-5)

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.