We might have lost the game but we were victorious in the end of the 3rd quarter Mimmick the Mascot Dance off !
For her efforts, Lin received a $25.00 Mastercard Gift 🎁 Card and lifetime memory for her Husband…
I did manage to go 5 of 5 and won 🏆 some bling but it didn’t happen center court !
Once a person steps 🚶♂️forward and participates in one of our efforts they are a part of who we are going forward. So the ever so long odds of Ethan and Kris Richardson walking through the front door 🚪 of Spotswood High School at the exact moment, were magnified by the fact that both of us ended up by the side of Chris Dodson.
Kris and I will have a bond for eternity as we spent what felt like ten years compiling our Girls 👧 Basketball book 📖 and when it was time to legitimize out efforts I sought out the most respected person I could find to write ✍ the Book Foreword.
Chris Dodson has been coaching High School 🏫 Basketball 🏀 here in the Commonwealth for a long time. Over the years he has a collection of Championship rings 💍 that takes both hands to display. I’m not sure he wouldn’t have one or two more if not for Carroll County and CCHS might have one more if not for Spotswood.
Dodson attended Page County High School 🏫 and if that sounds familiar to some folks, it because I spent a decade ➕ trying hard to add sparkle to PCHS. Alan Knight is also a graduate 🎓 of the school and is in his fifth decade Coaching there.
When our Boys drew Spotswood as an opponent for Tuesday night at 7:45, I smiled when I realized that Dodson’s group was playing before hand.
Getting a twofer out of the night was a bonus and having Allen Worrell sitting on the gym floor next to me was icing on the cake 🎂 because he would be using his time adjusting his camera 📷 during the opener so I could end up with a few nice pictures.
During the game itself, Staunton River bolted out to a 9-0 lead and it felt like it might be over before the end of the first quarter. Dodson remained calm and his team pulled within 11-9 by the end of the quarter.
By halftime, the Trail Blazers led 25-22
A roster with just two Senior players, expanded the lead to 36-31 with 8:00 to play after Alana Taylor went 2 of 2 from the charity stripe.
Just as Spotswood looked to put game away and advance to the State Semi-final, Staunton River connected on consecutive 3-pointers in which the shooter didn’t call Glass before hand. It turned out that Dodson needed Taylor to go 5 of 8 from the free throw line to finally advance, 47-44.
One last photo, this one without Dodson in it.
Tomorrow night 🌙, Dodson and his team will try and punch 👊 another ticket 🎟 to the Championship Game. Once again they will do it inside of the Trail Blazers gym. The difference between Tuesday and Friday being I won’t be pulling with all of my being for the Boys team to fall in their game.
Northside HS vs Spotswood should be a barn burner of a game and both Kris and I will be pulling for the winner 🏆 of the contest to bring home the State Championship so our amazing Boys run will have included the eventual Title holder.
While I won’t be off US-33 Friday night, I will certainly be pulling for Dodson and his Trail Blazers.
Staunton River 11. 11. 9. 13 – 44
Spotswood High 9 16 11 11- 47
First full day….
UNC 36, Boston College 30 (Halftime)
Tar Heels 👠 advance 78-71.
Solid trip to the Tar Heel State for the BC Eagles as they win one game and hang tough in the next one.
Battle of the Tech’s tied at 32 – 32 heading into the break.
Georgia Tech 72, Virginia Tech 57 in the #8 vs #9 game.
This concludes the Day session – tonight it will be Virginia and California(#7) at 5 ➕ Louisville (#6) and Clemson at 730
California 24, UVA 13 after 1st quarter
5:46 – Halftime score, Cal Bears 🐻 41, Hoos 25….
California opens the 3rd quarter on an 8-0 run 🏃♂️ in the first 1:51 of the 3rd quarter.
Wayne is visiting with the Louisville Coach and his Family 👪…
UVA pulls to within 69-56 !!
California 75, Virginia 58 (F) – 6:52
End of 1st quarter – Clemson, 13-11
Halftime (8:16), Louisville 30, Clemson 29
End of the 3rd quarter – Clemson up, 47-43 at 8:56pm
5:07 left, Tigers 🐅 54-52
4:16 – Cardinals by 2, 56-54
TO 0:28.9 – Cards 59-57, 🐅🐯🐅 ball
Clemson runs 🏃♂️ a great play but misses the tying chippy.
0:13.9 left
0:04.3 – Clemson ties it at 60 with a 3-pointer !!!!!
9:30 – Heading to Overtime…..
Cards by 3 with 0:05.4 left in OT
For those of you reading this that aren’t as familiar with what we do when we frame a story, here’s how this works.
We start by establishing the frame, just as a contractor does when building a new house 🏠.
Ethan Richardson is a resident of Laurel Fork, Virginia and is a Student Athlete at Carroll County High School 🏫. Not only does Ethan excel in the classroom, he is a three sport Athlete with Swimming, Basketball and Tennis being where he shines.
Ethan is the Son of Kris and Paula Richardson and has two Sisters, Ashton and Gracie. Ashton also played Basketball 🏀 on The Hill and captured two straight State Championships during her final two seasons as a Cavalier.
Back to Ethan, we are going to focus on one 72 hour window that should show his level of commitment to himself, his craft, his teammates and his School 🏫.
Ethan spent his day Sunday at our Banquet, patiently awaiting his turn to speak about his Love and Respect he has for Paula’s Father, Paul Nester. Sometime after 9pm he delivered a well crafted message about his Grandfather, which was no surprise because he applies himself in that manner in everything he does.
Monday morning it was off to School and once he had met all of his requirements (except Tennis 🎾 practice) he climbed into a Car 🚗 with his teammates, while hisParents and little Sister drove the family car and everyone headed off to Richmond…
As you can see, Richmond is not exactly right around the corner. The State Swim 🏊♂️ meet had been set to take place over a week earlier in nearby Christiansburg but Mother Nature had other plans.
Tuesday Morning begins before the crack of dawn and under the guidance of Head Coach Joi Ogle. Ethan had performed well enough to qualify in a handful of events, including multiple relay races 🏁. Once a team reaches State they aren’t allowed to substitute team members so if Ethan had skipped the event all together, his relay mates would have missed out on their opportunity to participate at the highest level in High School.
[ We will plug in as much of the live time moments during the Swim session here once we can get them in the correct order]
Once the morning Swim 🏊♂️ was over, it was back to the Richardson Family 👪 Bat Mobile.
10:52 was his last event. It was the 400 free relay. They were finished at 10:56. The first half of the meet was over at 11:05.
Final lunch with team at Zaxby’s at 11:45
2nd lunch at Ouback at 12:40.
Stopped in Harrisonburg to let Gracie have some fun at a local park since she has been couped up all day at 3:50. ( Caring Father 👨)
Arrive at Spotswood H.S. at 5:22.
[The four hours and 18 minutes inside of the Penn Laird School will go here]
Left Spotswood at 9:40. Got home at 1:20 am
__________________________________________
Those were some of the notes 📝 that Kris was able to share with me as I had mentioned before hand that I think the effort warranted a Time Line type story.
Going back to the Baseball ⚾️ Alumni game that Casey Burcham and Steve Combs hosted last year, people were still sharing their thoughts two full weeks later and it created the most read two weeks in our 17 years of having our site.
The run 🏃♂️ that the Carroll County High School Boys 👦 Basketball 🏀 team just completed was Magical. The journey wasn’t a 3 month journey, it was a 10 year journey. The ride itself is over but the story telling is just beginning.
This portion of the story is at best 15% complete. The fill in the blanks begin with the two parents, the two Coaches and Ethan Richardson himself.
Maybe we can even talk with his Tennis 🎾 Coach who missed him at practice during that time???
Each member of the group deserves to have their story told, if they want it told. Ethan is just first and we are just scratching the surface on it.
We might even pay tribute to the Coaching staff, Nathan Jones as the Trainer and Samantha Reed as the Score Keeper.
Hopefully, the Easter family 👪 sees this one because the second one will focus on the efforts of their Son.
A.S.P.N on The Hill 