The 2022-23 Virginia High School League Basketball season is underway, much to the delight of fans, athletes and coaches all over the Commonwealth.

There are plenty of storylines across the board to follow.

At the top, can Hayfield - led by returning starters in American signee Greg Jones, D.J. Holloway and David King - repeat as State Champs after a 32-0 season to remember? Right out of the gate, Carlos Poindexter's Hawks get a test from one of the top contenders on December 1st in a home tilt with Patriot, which has beefed up its non-district schedule and continues to grow under Head Coach Sherman Rivers.

Class 5 features Highland Springs, with prolific scorer in junior guard Danzelle Coles, trying to make it back to the Siegel Center. Yet, Region 5B is loaded with squads that can make a deep run in Peninsula District members Woodside, Menchville, Kecoughtan and Bethel as well as Norfolk schools Norview and Maury, which had a fourth quarter lead on the Springers in the State Final last March.

Another showdown could be looming between King's Fork and Varina, the reigning State Champs, in Class 4 come tourney time in March. Nonetheless, there are teams looking to crash that party in E.C. Glass, Western Albemarle and Loudon County, all of whom were in the State Playoffs last winter, among others.

Cave Spring welcomes back key ingredients from its state title team in Fairleigh Dickinson signee Dylan Saunders, guard Stark Jones and wing Kameron Tinsley as they try to repeat in Class 3. Challenging them will be usual nemesis Northside in 3D as well as Richmond area contenders Petersburg - with State Player of the Year Christopher Fields Jr. back - and Hopewell.

John Marshall is a heavy favorite to repeat in Class 2 behind NC State signee Dennis Parker Jr. and freshman phenom Latrell Allmond. With 750 wins, longtime Radford sideline boss Rick Cormany is six victories shy of passing the late great Bill Littlepage of Hopewell fame for second most in VHSL history.

The Class 1 race will be an interesting one as Lancaster, with sharp shooting sophomore Troy Henderson and his older brother Tyson Henderson, will look to take that next step after falling to Northern Neck district rival Washington & Lee - now Westmoreland - in the State Semis a season ago. Twin Springs, Northampton, Altavista and George Wythe are part of the contingency with their nucleus from 2021-22 intact, ready to make a run as well.

*** See Final VHSL Hoops Top Tens from 2021-22 season here ***

Without further ado, here's the Top Tens for each classification, and we plan to provide a closer look at these teams in the coming days, weeks and months...

1. Hayfield

2. South County

3. Patriot

4. Oscar Smith

5. Battlefield

6. Madison

7. Washington-Liberty

8. W.T. Woodson

9. Landstown

10. South Lakes

Honorable Mention:
Potomac
Manchester
Colgan
Fairfax
Western Branch
Alexandria City

1. Maury

2. Woodside

3. Highland Springs

4. Menchville

5. Patrick Henry-Roanoke

6. L.C. Bird

7. Kecoughtan

8. Stone Bridge

9. Albemarle

10. Green Run

Honorable Mention:
Kempsville
Bethel
Potomac Falls
Norview
Riverside
William Fleming

1. King's Fork

2. Varina

3. E.C. Glass

4. Western Albemarle

5. Tuscarora

6. Courtland

7. Loudoun County

8. Eastern View

9. GW-Danville

10. Huguenot

Honorable Mention:
Henrico
Smithfield
Loudoun Valley
Monacan
Grafton

1. Cave Spring

2. Hopewell

3. Petersburg

4. Northside

5. Lake Taylor

6. Spotswood

7. Abingdon

8. Phoebus

9. William Monroe

10. Wilson Memorial

Honorable Mention:
Tunstall
Fluvanna
Liberty Christian
Lord Botetourt
Skyline

1. John Marshall

2. Radford

3. Strasburg

4. Floyd County

5. James River-Buchanan

6. Greensville

7. Brunswick

8. Virginia High

9. Gate City

10. Graham

Honorable Mention:
Ridgeview
East Rockingham
Martinsville
Union
Central-Woodstock

1. Lancaster

2. Twin Springs

3. Northampton

4. Altavista

5. George Wythe

6. Buffalo Gap

7. Auburn

8. Narrows

9. Westmoreland

10. Eastside

Honorable Mention:
Fort Chiswell
Franklin
Lebanon
Chilhowie
Grundy

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.