On the Boys side, we have Ethan Richardson in the Top Spot and Davis Reitzel as his Assistant Coach.
This pairing gives us Richardson vs Richardson…
Having Reitzel on the Bench is our equivalent of a Cash 💸 grab as this young Man 👨 was quite possibly the most popular Student Athlete on The Hill in recent years, The fact that they are former teammates and lifelong friends will lead to chemistry ⚗ on the bench.
Coaching the Girls 👧 Staff simply has to be Kaylee Easter. Easter would Coach to win and her understanding of the game is legendary n The Hill. She would get the best out of her players, possibly even through intimidating them.
Her Assistant Coach would have to be fellow Basketball / Softball star 🌟, Lauren Alley. Alley would be the perfect candidate for someone who can get Brandi Cochran Mitchell in game mode.
The match-up between Howard Mayo and Anthony Barnes would be something for a Time Capsule.
Jason Stockner versus Kris Richardson would require both long time friends to be miked up…
Both Howard Mayo and Anthony Barnes will return to their spots atop the Girls and Boys Basketball programs, respectively but there have been a number of changes this off season.
Kris Richardson has crossed the isle, going from the #2 spot on the Boys side over to filling the spot vacated by the passing of the late, Jeff Tobler. The future of Girls Middle School Basketball is in the hands ✋of the Basketball Whisperer!
Marc Motley is returning to the stands after one season of Coaching the Middle School Boys. This will give our friend, Bill Gallimore, someone else to visit with on Basketball game nights.
Jason Stockner now sits in the Co-Pilot seat previously occupied by Richardson. The fact that Stockner and Richardson are life long friends will add to the good natured ribbing that is bound to take place between the two.
Ryan Largen is set to remain part of the program and will assist the new Boys Junior Varsity Coach, Ryan Phillips. If you haven’t had the opportunity to read that story yet, please do.
Jabin Talley, Ryan Phillips and Cody Reece.
Barnes has added a pair of Assistant Coaches in Jabin Talley (Class of 2024) and Cody Reece (2025). Both of the former Cavaliers are entering this process with their eyes 👀 wide open and feel that they will have an impact on the coming season.
Kayla Nester is set to return to work alongside Coach Mayo, once she has finished up with the Volleyball 🏐 season in which she is helping Head Coach Cindy Edwards.
Brandi Cochran Mitchell is still playing a major role in things, including running the AAU portion of Cavalier Basketball.
Boys Middle School will have Coach Brown at the helm and while I haven’t met him yet, a number of people are excited about his role in things.
After Richardson would note that Barnes needed Stockner, Talley and Reece to replace him, we have an opportunity of a lifetime in front of us.
The game of games….
Howard Mayo at Center, Kris Richardson at the 4, Brandi at the 3, Nester at the 2 ( I need to confirm with Coach Mayo about how many of the Ladies that teamed up to Coach JV are returning) to finish up the starting five.
For the other side, Barnes playing the Post, Stockner the 4, Reece at Small forward with Ryan, Ryan and Jabin playing the 💂♂️💂♀️💂♂️ spots.
How many career Scoring points would be on display ? You fill out the event with Meet the Cavaliers and then you get Greg Bolen and Mr Bunn to be the referees
The fun in writing ✍ a story that is designed for this site only, comes in the form of creativity. I will say this though, I would buy a ticket 🎟 to that game ! Even if it was played in slow 🐌 motion…
Not to be confused with an Alumni Game but an actual Staff versus Staff 5 on 5…
Quick update from Coach Mayo – he is excited about having both Coach Payne and Coach Lineberry back in the fold this season !!
Listing all of the contributions of Assistant Coach Ralph Viafora during his lengthy time working with Alan Knight and the Lady Panthers Softball program will be a challenge. But one thing that sticks out is a sign that hangs on the Press Box at Alan Knight Field that has the team motto, if you will.
” Tradition never Graduates “
Even today, Viafora is a busy, busy Man so I’m not sure how much of his time I will get on this but one simply can’t tell the story about the facility or the program itself without a heavy dose of Ralph Viafora.
The three daughters that played in the program would be enough on its own but the fact that he stayed on after the youngest one graduated 🎓, says a great deal about the Man.
Viafora also spent time as the Head Coach for the Girls Basketball team during his stay in Shenandoah. Knight is quick to credit his former Assistant for stepping in and taking the program to another level, both in game planning and the Park.
The most impressive thing about Viafora is the love that he has for his Family. The youngest of his three daughters, Caitlin, was as tough as the day is long and after graduation she headed over to nearby James Madison University to continue her education and worked her way onto the Softball roster as a Freshman.
Mainly used as a pinch runner do to her speed and Father like understanding of how the game is meant to be played, Ralph added her games to his daily calendar. JMU traveled a great deal and if at all possible, Mom and Dad were in the stands.
Back to ” Tradition never Graduates “, I could sit here for years and couldn’t sniff a better way to describe the Softball program at Page County High School !
Thank You Ralph, for your time, your sacrifice, your Daughters and your commitment to Page County High School!
Its not uncommon for a High School community to have a Coach that sets the standard for Excellence that will stand for decades to come. In the Shenandoah Valley, there have been a few that have become known across the Commonwealth and even across the Nation.
The fact that Alan Knight is closing in on 1,100 victories, all at the same School should be a Stand Alone kind of a number but there are two things that slow 🐌 down that fact. First, Knight coached Softball and Volleyball and while those sports are rather important to me, that’s not necessarily the case with mainstream media. Football 🏈 and Basketball 🏀 rule the World, even at the High School level.
Secondly, if you draw a circle around Page County High School, you will run into a number of sensational Coaches and programs.
Chris Dodson, a fellow Page County High School graduate 🎓 operates at Spotswood High School as the Girls Basketball coach and is seeking his eighth State Championship, same number as Knight.
Turner Ashby High School in Dayton is and has been a Baseball ⚾️ factory 🏭.
Jerry Walters at Central High School is the Gold standard for both Coaching and leading a Community.
R.E Lee High School is now called Staunton High School. Paul Hatcher once led his program ( Boys Basketball) to 80+ straight victories.
The Head Coach that has the largest amount of similarly to Knight is legendary Robert Casto of Riverheads High School in Greeneville. Casto has a dump truck full of State Championship 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆and had a winning streak that led the Country at one point.
As the two programs featured in this book, Carroll County and Page County, have very little connection, the folks that live in Galax might have double digit State Championship hardware if not for Casto.
My history with Casto is that while serving as color commentator for ESPN Radio 📻 in Augusta County, we featured a number of their games each season. The next time our paths crossed was in Charlottesville in 2024 when both Knight and Casto were enshrined in to the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame.
My favorite memory of Casto was his first retirement in I believe it was 2016. Coach was talked into returning the following season and then went 39-0, adding three more State Championships.
Now let’s get to the similarities between Knight and Casto, other than being neighbors. Casto was Coaching at a Class 1 school ( smallest size in Virginia) and over his career he built an absolute Dynasty. The centerpiece was just one thing, doing the same thing over and over again, then doing it some more.
There was no long line of star players that ended up at Alabama or Southern California. Casto was only interested in throwing the football as a last resort, which didn’t happen very often and this led to extremely fast games as the clock ⏰ wasn’t stopping for incomplete passes.
From the time that a student reached the third grade the Boys knew that when the got older they were going to play football for Casto. There was no recruiting needed for the Coach and by the fourth grade the Pee Wee coaches were teaching them the Varsity teams playbook. By the time they reached High School they were ready to hit the ground running and run they did.
Lady Panthers Softball
I can still remember blogging at one of the recent Galax – Riverheads State Finals on a rainy day in Salem. Galax, who for a long time had the distinction of being the last team to beat Riverheads, put up a fight that day but couldn’t slow down the Riverheads Express.
The Segway from Riverheads High School football to Page County High School Softball is an easy one. Everything that Knight and his staff does is based on the basic fundamentals of flawless defense, aggressive base running and the ability to bunt the ball. Sounds a bit familiar when you look at the Riverheads game plan.
We are going to work on things until we can make the plays in our sleep 💤 and then challenge the opponent to outplay us.
Casto wasn’t a one man band all of those years and neither was Knight or actually I should say, neither is Knight as he prepares for yet another season.
Coach Roy taught them how to pitch, long time lead Assistant Coach, Ralph Viafora taught them how to execute and believe in themselves. Now the torch 🔦 has been passed to Lori Mongold and Big Daddy. Its very simple, practice what you need to practice and do it until it becomes second nature.
It’s a shame that the value of a Softball victory is less than a Football victory but such is life.
Note 📝 – Bill ” Pappy ” Meade is now enjoying his latest role as a Grandfather but its worth noting that Pappy has a direct tie 👔 to Hatcher, Casto and Knight. Meade attended High School at R.E Lee while Hatcher was Coaching, covered Knight for a decade and when we relocated to Stuarts Draft, spent time covering Casto. Quite the trio !
A.S.P.N on The Hill 