Anthony Barnes with Assistant Coach Kris Richardson to his left and 1,000 point scorer Bryce Smoot.

The Hill – The pride for one’s program is no greater than the love that Cavaliers Basketball Coach Anthony Barnes has for his program.

We know that the season is getting closer because it is Camp Week for the Boys Basketball 🏀 team. Day One was today and Coach Barnes checked in with great news. Once again the program drew over 40 campers but that’s only half the joy for the head of the program. The biggest difference in Coaching at the High School 🏫 level is some folks Coach a team while others try to build a program.

One of the easiest ways to tell the difference between the two categories is the number of former Student Athletes that return each year in hopes of keeping in touch with their former program. While the 40+ campers delight Barnes he draws equal pride from the number of former players that are in place to assist with the up and coming Cavaliers.

Each year has been another step up the ladder despite losing key pieces from the previous years squad. Two years ago Elijah Cox was the unquestionable team leader and the team claimed a long-term goal of both hosting and winning a Regional tournament game.

Cox then moved on to become the first Cavalier to sign a College Letter of Intent under the regime of Barnes and Assistant Coach Kris Richardson. Barnes challenged his next team to collectively step up to the challenge.

This past season was one of the greatest in recent years and without a doubt the squad that played an unselfish brand of team first basketball 🏀. The season was derailed a bit in the post season after an untimely knee njury to star Davis Reitzel.

Now the challenge for Barnes and Company is to replace three Seniors, including Reitzel. Reitzel has graduated 🎓 and will be missed for a number of reasons. Reitzel might have left The Hill as one of the Most Popular Student Athletes in recent history.

Also gone are Jabin Talley and Noah Manning. Talley was in the starting lineup from beginning to end and brought a level of defense intensity and leadership when on the floor. Manning saw less floor time then his classmates but played Barnes style of ball whenever he was on the floor.

This season stands to have eight rising Seniors and Isiah Easter from the Junior class. Here they are pictured by class prior to last season.

Barnes and Richardson will have to fill in the balance of the roster and then turn Bryce Smoot and Ethan Richardson loose on both ends of the floor. Smoot broke the 1,000 point threshold late last season and then this season he figures to be joined in the starting lineup by his twin brother Brayden Smoot. Richardson plays the game with an impressive Basketball 🏀 IQ.

Cody Reece will need to continue his rise up the food chain. Reece went from an afterthought during his Sophomore season to a main cog during his junior campaign. In his Senior campaign he needs to lead the front court.

The team will remain undersized so they will continue to rely on speed and durability to wear down their opponents.

Easter could very well be the key component to the teams success if the Junior to be continues his rate of improvement on both ends of the floor.

. The team will have plenty of time to build on their chemistry ⚗ between now and opening night 🌙. This week their focus is on being Camp Councilors along with a few of their former teammates.

The camp continues through Thursday, running 9-3 each day in the High School 🏫 Gymnasium. Barnes has the Camp tournament slated for Thursday afternoon.

Whether you prefer the original version by the band Thin Lizzy or the cover years later by Huey Lewis and the News, the Boys 👦 are Back in Town !

Photo 📷 Top – Adrienne Harris alongside Ben Tickle

Photo 📷 Bottom – Marion Harris (Father), Adrienne Harris and boyfriend Brandon McGuire.

It was been a whirlwind couple of months for the oldest of the three daughters belonging to Marion and Shelia Harris, Adrienne. Playing her final collegiate Soccer match, graduating from Emory and Henry, accepting the offer to become a teacher in your hometown and then being named Head Soccer Coach of a program your Father help create (JV portion) from scratch and until just recently, was the All-Time scoring leader.

Parts of this story will sound familiar to the paths that both Brandi Cochran – Mitchell and Kayla Nester followed. Both of these impressive young Ladies starred as Lady Cavaliers on the basketball 🏀 court, earned their way to playing College ball while earning their Degrees before immediately returning to their Hometown to help teach and Coach the next generation.

The difference this time around from my perspective is Harris is doing this in live time for me to have been able to witness. Harris is as impressive as she is competitive, enough so that it was fun to tag her as “Our Future”.

Looking to give Harris any advantage that I can, I set out to create a memorable way for her to express herself to anyone that is not familiar with her or her mind set.

Sunday afternoon we set out at Olde Mill Golf ⛳ Resort to play 18 holes of Golf while asking one question per hole along the way. I gathered questions from a handful of different people to add to the collection that I created myself so that they would come from a number of different perspectives.

I would also like to say Thank You to Bo Goins and Olde Mill and my neighbor Brenda for helping make this happen without a hitch.

The story itself will be laid out in parts, six or nine holes at a time in hopes of making it more enjoyable for all.

Mr and Mrs Harris raised an exceptional daughter and now she has returned to her roots in hopes of being a presence in the lives of both her students and her Soccer ⚽️ players.

I will get the first part of the feature out there as quickly as possible !

Editors Note 📝 :

The Girls Varsity program started in 1998 and Jv Girls started when Adrienne was in 6th grade (2013).

Its now 10:30 pm and there a stories to write ✍. Softball was played again in South Hill, Tennis 🎾 was played again in Blacksburg, Vickey Ritchie was at her best over at Hillsville Elementary and we had our 18 questions with Adrienne Harris out here in The Village.

Each of these stores deserve full intention so I will get started first thing in the morning 🌄.

Meanwhile, I do want to sneak in our Photo 📷 of The Day :

Happy (8th) Birthday 🎂 to Miss Richardson!!

The next step will be to make arrangements with each of the four families to get these gems 💎 delivered !

One more opportunity 🙏 to say Thank You to Mrs. Velvet Creed Leonard for her efforts with this project.

The goal with this project was to let Jabin Talley, Ashlyn Newman and Emma Leath stand in the spotlight alongside our Alyssa Ervin. Ervin broke her record in front of a packed Gymnasium while the other three accomplished their in the midst of an 11 team Spring season.

Like everything else we chase its about equality and inclusion.

While it might be a generation or two before another talented Student Athlete like Ervin roams The Hill, I feel pretty sure it might be a spell before we forget Talley, Newman and Leath!

On a personal note 📝 I throughly enjoyed getting to meet the Newman Family 👪 for the first time.