Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Updates on "The Sports Buffet"

Just a few updates on "The Sports Buffet Podcast", the page should be seeing some major updates in the next week or two. Hopefully, there will be new blogs, and the page will be updated on hopefully a more daily basis. The podcasts part of the page however will probably not be consistently updated until August. Features that will be on the website (eventually) will include (but not be limited to)

* High School Sports
* College Sports
* Professional Sports
* Podcasts
* Blogs
* Links
* Historical Info on High School and College Sports
* Schedules
* Standings
and much more.

Stay tuned to "The Sports Buffet Podcast" to fill your sports hunger.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Region B Hoops Fans

Somewhat obsolete now, but there is a great site done by Tom Horn, Athletic Director at George Mason High School, that outlines the Region B Basketball Tournament.

Check it out by clicking on Region B Basketball Tournament and you can follow the tournament online with the updated brackets.

Previewing Tonight's Matchups

I asked several coaches what worries them about their respective opponent's tonight. Here's what I heard.

- What worries you about your opponent tonight?
James Carter (Buffalo Gap Boys Head Coach; Faces Altavista)
The big man inside. If we help they have great shooters that will make you pay. If we don't help Jordan can really hurt us inside.

Chris Young (Brookville Boys Head Coach; Faces Lord Botetourt)
They are a mirror image of us. They are big and athletic at their big positions.

Warner Dyke (Brookville Girls Head Coach; Faces Lord Botetourt)
They press and trap, both full and half court, we need to take care of the ball. On offense, we need to defend the three point line especially Grace Blaylock- she can flat out stroke it and has very good range.

Jeff Monroe (Liberty Boys Head Coach; Faces Northside)
Northside is very well coached. They are fundementally sound on offense and defense.

- What do you feel as a team, you have been doing well lately?
James Carter (Buffalo Gap Boys Head Coach; Faces Altavista)
We have been playing better half court defense.

Chris Young (Brookville Boys Head Coach; Faces Lord Botetourt)
We have a lot of resiliency. Our guys don't quit.

Warner Dyke (Brookville Girls Head Coach; Faces Lord Botetourt)
I feel like we have been doing a very nice job at the defensive end of making teams work for points.

Jeff Monroe (Liberty Boys Head Coach; Faces Northside)
I think our team defense has gotten better.

- Who has impressed you, or stepped up lately from your group around the end of the season or since postseason has started? What have they done lately, to where you would classify them as the player that has stepped up?
Chris Young (Brookville Boys Head Coach; Faces Lord Botetourt)
Logan (Thomas) has put us on his shoulders. He has led in all areas. His teammates have responded to his leadership and have given consistent team effort.

Warner Dyke (Brookville Girls Head Coach; Faces Lord Botetourt)
Talisha Watts has really stepped up. She has been averaging a double double over the last six games.

Jeff Monroe (Liberty Boys Head Coach; Faces Northside)
Carlton Payne has really stepped his game up to another level. He has been more vocal as a leader, and has been working really hard to to get the ball.

- What did you think you did well in your last game, and what do you want to improve on from last game?
James Carter (Buffalo Gap Boys Head Coach; Faces Altavista)
We were able to control the tempo, and play solid half court defense. We can always improve on the defensive end of the floor. We need to be more efficient on the offensive end of the floor.

Chris Young (Brookville Boys Head Coach; Faces Lord Botetourt)
We rebounded the ball well and executed on the offensive end. We must do both tonight against Lord Botetourt.

Warner Dyke (Brookville Girls Head Coach; Faces Lord Botetourt)
Again, I thought we did a nice job at the defensive end making them earn points. We need to do a better job of taking care of the ball and make fewer turnovers.

Jeff Monroe (Liberty Boys Head Coach; Faces Northside)
I thought we played well against Brookville in the tournament game, we just didn't finish it.

Tonight's Games

Listed below are just some of tonight's Regional basketball games.

Boys
Region B Division 1 at Eastern Mennonite
6:00 (2) Riverheads vs. (3) Cumberland
8:00 (1) Buffalo Gap vs. (5) Altavista

Region B Division 2
7:00 (4) Buckingham at (1) Madison County
7:00 (3) Goochland vs. (2) Dan River at Amherst

Boys Region III Division 3
7:00 at Jefferson Forest: Liberty vs. Northside
7:00 at Brookville: Brookville vs. Lord Botetourt

Region IV Division 3 Final
Cave Spring vs. Marion 6:30 at Graham Middle School

Girls
Region III Division 3
7:45 at Northside: Brookville vs. Lord Botetourt
7:30 at Stuarts Draft: Rustburg vs. Robert E. Lee

Region IV Division 3 Final
Patrick County vs. Graham 8:15 at Graham Middle School

Look for more analysis and matchups to be posted later on today.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Are Spring Sports Teams Hurt By Winter Team's Success

Some teams have made the Regional Tournaments that wouldn't have made it under the "old" system. I asked two coaches their thoughts on the success of their boys basketball teams.

Scott McGarry (Nelson County Baseball Coach)
We are missing 5 guys. That makes it hard to complete tryouts in terms of final cuts and early roster decisions. It also causes us to shuffle guys defensively which limits time at what will be their primary position once everyone is here. It does hurt the basketball players who pitch as they are not throwing early season bullpens. Since this is just the second year and basketball won the state title last year, things seem “normal” right now because we went through it last season; although, it just involved 2 players then. Despite the difficulties, I certainly support the basketball program. It would be nice to continue to deal with the problem another week.

Jason Kilbourne (Altavista Baseball Coach)
Divisional play has not affected our start at all. Our basketball team has such a strong tradition of advancing to post-season play, that our coaching staff understands that the basketball players that want to play baseball will be out late. I don't mind these prospective players getting out there late. I love the fact that they are participating in other sports.

I then asked both coaches do they think that their sport should have divisional play, and why or why not.
Scott McGarry (Nelson Baseball Coach)
I would love to have divisional play in baseball. The excitement that postseason play provides along with the increase in fan support and awareness is an experience you want for all high school athletes. While I acknowledge the problems that can surface with win-loss records those years some teams in some of the regions struggle, the split divisions provides championship opportunities for twice as many teams/schools/communities. Having witnessed the first team state championship outside of track in school history last year, that opportunity can do amazing things. While we have qualified for regionals in the past in our baseball program, we could become a perennial playoff team under the divisional system. That could be great.

Jason Kilbourne (Altavista Baseball Coach)
I feel like I understand all sides (VHSL, AD's, coaches) of our current situation. From our program's perspective, I would love to have divisional play but I am not going to be consumed by something that is out of my control. We will continue to compete with who is on our schedule and see where that takes us.

Just an interesting take from two coaches who are dealing with not having their kids at practice due to expanded regional play.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

High School Basketball Scores

Courtesy of the Message Boards at Virginia Preps.com

Region III Division 3 Boys
Brookville defeated Robert E. Lee, 48-43 in OT in Staunton. The Bees will now play in the 2nd Region III Division 3 Semi at Brookville on Friday, when they take on Lord Botetourt.

Northside defeated Fort Defiance, 37-36 in OT in Roanoke. Northside will now play in the first Region III Division 3 Semi at Brookville on Firday, when they take on Liberty.

Region III Division 4 Boys
Broadway defeated Jefferson Forest, 40-38. Broadway will take on Spotswood on Friday at Northside.

Amherst defeated Harrisonburg, 61-54. Amherst will take on William Byrd on Friday at Northside.

Region B Girls Division 1
Altavista defeated William Campbell, 54-53 at Altavista. Generals led most of the way. William Campbell missed the front end of 3 1 and 1's in the last 1:30. Altavista will play the winner of Amelia and Manassas Park on Thursday at Amherst.

Buffalo Gap defeated Riverheads, 51-33 at Swoope. The Lady Bison will continue their quest of defending their state title on Thursday, when they play the winner of Central Lunenberg and Stonewall Jackson at Eastern Mennonite.

Region B Girls Division 2
George Mason defeated Appomattox, 66-22 at Falls Church. The Lady Mustangs will play Dan River on Thursday at Eastern Mennonite.

Dan River defeated Buckingham, 62-42 at Ringgold. The Lady Wildcats will travel to Eastern Mennonite on Thursday to take on George Mason.

Strasburg defeated Wilson Memorial, 66-43 at Strasburg. The Lady Rams will make the trip down to Amherst on Thursday to take on Randolph Henry or Clarke County.

Region III Division 4 Girls Basketball Tournament

Tournament begins tonight with higher seeds hosting. Quarterfinals game time's are 7:00

Jefferson Forest at William Byrd
Spotswood at Harrisonburg

Semifinals are Friday at Spotswood High School
Turner Ashby vs. Jefferson Forest-William Byrd winner (6:00)
Staunton River vs. Spotswood-Harrisonburg winner (8:00)

Finals will be Saturday night either at Spotswood High School or at Northside