It’s not uncommon for a newspaper create a game story off of nothing else then looking at a score book but I try to stay away from doing that but its hard to know what actually happened just off the numbers.

I was clearly reporting on the Girls JV contest in the smaller Gym and walked into the Main Gym at the exact second that the game ended which allowed me to capture the photos above.

Linda was in the Gym and was able to walk me through the contest. Over the opening 7:00 minutes the Cavaliers played solid defense and five players scored points during the quarter which ended with CCHS leading 17-12.

Isaiah Easter scored seven points in that seven minutes but also picked up two fouls. Easter had plenty of assistance as Hayden Jackson connected on a 3-pointer and Dane Leonard also finished the frame with 3 points.

The second quarter proved to be the downfall for the Cavaliers on both ends of the court. The team committed seven fouls which helped FCHS take the period by a 23-12 margin. Easter was limited by the fouls and the team went into the locker room trailing 35-29.

Easter and Leonard each added five points in the third quarter and Paul Marshall added a 3-pointer to help the Cavs win the frame 13-12. Down five to start the final quarter gave CCHS a shot to win heading down the stretch and that’s what all Coaches ask of their team – a chance to win at the end.

FCHS started to pull away but Carroll County trimmed the lead down to just three at the 3:30 mark and then again with 0:05.8 on the clock but just get over the hump.

Both of the JV contests went well for the Cavaliers with one exception. For the Girls in was a few minutes in the first and for the Boys a few minutes in the second quarter.

CCHS Boys return to the court Monday night at Home versus Blacksburg. They will play again on Thursday night at Galax while awaiting word on whether or not they finish in the Top Four which will allow the team to compete in the District tournament.

Scoring – Dane Leonard 14, Hayden Jackson 13, Isaiah Easter 12, Paul Marshall 8, Landon Puckett 2, Jay Burnette 2. (51).

In a preview of next week’s Girls JV District Championship game Floyd County raced out to an early lead (14-2) and held on for a 41-28 victory over the visiting Carroll County Cavaliers.

CCHS could have shared the regular season District title with the Buffaloes if they could have avenged a narrow loss to FCHS last month. But the first five minutesof action put the Cavs in too deep of a hole to climb out of.

While the 12 point disadvantage was overwhelming it did not keep Head Coach Kayla Nester’s squad from trimming the margin down to four points early in the second half.

Trailing by 10 (23-13) at the break Carroll County went on an 8-2 run 🏃‍♂️ to cut ✂️ the lead down to 25-21. Laiken Burnett and Carrie Delp took turns leading the offense during the opening minutes of the third quarter but FCHS righted the ship, much to the joy of a highly supported home crowd.

CCHS had an energetic crowd as well and they moaned everytime a layup would hang on the rim before falling harmlessly to the floor. The Cavaliers ran the floor well throughout the game but just couldn’t finish on a number of drives to the basket.

Burnett led the team in scoring with 14 points and Delp joined in her in double figures with 10. Both Jocie Dalton and Faith Clontz added a basket for the Cavaliers to round out the scoring.

It’s my understanding that the JV Girls 👧are going to be hosting Galax on Thursday night for a final regular season contest.

Next Saturday they will return to Floyd County to play for the Post Season Championship against the same Buffaloes squad.

Everyone knows that the Third time is a Charm!

Jump ball at 4:30 in the Little Gym

JV Girls 👧 fell behind early 14-2 but quickly righted the ship 🚢. Cavaliers outscored the Buffs by 11-9 after the slow start. The defense has been playing well and the offense has been to the rim on a number of possessions but the bounces have not went our way.

There’s still time for our Cavs to crawl back into this one in the second half. Here’s hoping !

Cavs start the 3rd on a 8-2 run. Pulling within four points at 25-21. FCHS answered with a 6-0 spurt but the Cavs still take the frame 10-8.

Final Score – BCHS 41, Cavaliers 28

Much more to come later !

Time to head over to be Main Gym now.

JV Boys fall just short, 54-51. Linda had the score sheet and Mr.Easter helped make sure we could verify the numbers. Cavs played them tough all the way to the final horn but fell just short.

Gamer Later

Next up – Varsity Girls 👧

17-6 in the 3rd quarter with five different Cavaliers accounting for the points.

Teams play to a 7-7 tie across the 4th quarter, capping off a 66-31 District clinching victory – Game story later.

Lin asked me what it would take for the Cavs to upset the Buffs in Game 4?

I told her two things would have to happen for us to have a chance…

Key 🔑 #1 – Keep our front court out of foul trouble

Key 🔑 #2 – Don’t get Dumptrucked right out of the gate.

When Mario Meza Campbell drilled a corner 3- pointer the Cavs led 10-2. We certainly avoided getting beat in the first four minutes !!!

Elijah Cox has two fouls but the rest are evenly spread out across the team. Cavs have drained eight three pointers and had a few more that went half way down. Bryce Smoot leads a balanced attack with 9 points and Mario Meza Campbell follows with eight more.

Cavs didn’t trail until 30-29 and are in a position to earn the “W”

Cox with 4 fouls, Davis Reitzel with 3 at the end of the third. Smoot with a 3-pointer buzzer beater to keep the Cavs within reach at 58-51.

4 hours and 34 minutes of Cavaliers Hoops has officially concluded.

Four gamers to come and two Columns between now and 2pm tomorrow.

As I make my second round through the High School Sports cycle as a Fan of the Cavaliers I have wondering about the Ultimate Sports Question 🤔

Who’s the team the Cavaliers players and fans most enjoy playing against ? Does CCHS have a true to form rival ?

Option #1 – Galax

Early thoughts would have leaned towards Galax but the deeper I go in my thoughts it doesn’t seem that way. Different classifications and different Districts make it tough to develop a true rivalry plus the amount of things the two schools have in common might begin and end with the County we share.

Option #2 – Grayson County Blue Devils 😈

Our neighbors to the West of the County Line present a fun name game item with the Blue Devils vs the Cavaliers (see Duke vs UVA). But again the different Districts keep the schools from battling for a Championship on a regular basis. Having attended a number of events at both schools there wasn’t a extra feel of excitement in the crowd or between the athletes.

Option #3 – Fort Chiswell

This one had some serious potential with the possibility of the Clash on US-52 trophy 🏆 being a fun thought but once again the lack of games against each other would be a bit of an issue. But I do like their Rep the Fort shirts 👕

Let’s immediately eliminate both Alleghany and James River from consideration because while we play them in eve ry sport the only thing we have in common with both of them is the thought process when its time for a road game to their place.

Next off the list is Glenvar because the distance and type of people gap. Carroll County is pretty far removed from the hustle and bustle of a City the size of Roanoke and the Greater Roanoke Valley. You could try the City vs Country angle but I don’t think that on a Saturday morning they will be hunting in the same Woods.

It’s even easier to dismiss Radford because at this point I’m not sure that Radford has a lot in common with any one else in the Three Rivers District. They also lose points for not having a JV Girls basketball team. I add this only because it costs our team two games to play.

Simple Math brings us to Floyd County High School 🏫. Certainly on the basketball 🏀 court, where its easy to see the level of competition between the teams. The 🐃 might have been the only team in the State of Virginia that came right at our Girls Varsity team. They weren’t playing to not get run over but playing to win a basketball game.

Now we know that they came up short that night on the Hill but I would like to think that our Ladies enjoyed the change of pace. Another sign that it might be Floyd County is we had our bleachers fully extended the night of the game and the crowd over at the Middle School was as large as I’ve seen at a JV Boys game.

Sitting here in Floyd at Casey’s Pizza 🍕 having lunch while waiting for the games to begin, I am already imaging the size of the crowds tonight.

I will also admit that the atmosphere here in Floyd is rather enjoyable but its no Hillsville! A rivalry needs some good natured humor, intelligent fans and Athletes with just a smidgen of extra fire 🔥 burning inside.

I’m not sure so I will ask the question to the people that will read this post…..does it mean more to you when its Floyd County ?????

Hopefully some folks will share their thoughts, either way !

As for tonight – its Go Cavaliers X 4