Volume 5 Issue 12

05 NEW SPRING COACHES ALL OVER

07 STAB’S ILANG FINISHES UP

scrımmageplay THE CENTRAL VIRGINIA SPORTS AUTHORITY

VOL 5 . ISSUE 12 :: MARCH 20, 2014

Change in Plan How a rash of injuries completely changed the WAHS girls soccer season before it ever began PAGE 13

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x’s and o’s 21 07 13

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COACHING CAROUSEL Massive turnover in the spring sports

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THE IRON PRICE STAB’s Ilang wraps up long journey

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RE-ROUTING Western girls soccer making changes

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GAME TIME Miller girls win state title

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GETTING THE JOB DONE A new HOF option on the horizon

07 STAB’S illANg fiNiSHeS uP

scrımmageplay vol 5 . issue 12 :: March 18, 2014

Change in Plan VOL 5 . ISSUE 12 :: JMARCH 20, 2014

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05 NeW CoACHeS All over

How an injury bug completely changed the WAHS girls soccer season before it ever began page 13

S TA F F Bart Isley, Creative Director Bob Isley, Infrastructure Director Ryan Yemen, Creative Editor O N T H E COV E R The 2013 JD champions, the Western Albemarle girls soccer team M I S S I O N S TAT E M E N T Local sports are the lifeblood of every community in America, and we’re here to reach beyond the basics and give compelling accounts about Central Virginia athletes to our readers.

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PREGAME

To the very end

Arguably no other sport has its athletes carry around battle scars quite like it happens in wrestling. Here a bangaded and bruised Wade Kammauff gets ready for his final high school wrestling match. The Charlottesville senior managed to place sixth in the state athe 4A level at 170. A number of locals placed as high as third in the 1A-4A VHSL championships, with Louisa’s Gavin Tingen and Jeffrey Sisk as well as Madison’s Derek Rakes and Jacob Welch all taking third place. ✖ (Photo by Bart Isley)

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Family

Corner PRESENTED BY

ABOVE » Albemarle baseball coach Jimmy Bibb and his staff are touted for their work with their players on and off the field, both by school administrators and parents.

The surroundings matter Navigating high school is an immense challenge — or at least it was for me. I was never the best athlete on any team, I went to two high schools with highly competitive academic environments and it was difficult for me to carve out a real identity for myself. I think it’s hard in different ways for most everyone.

What helped me through that span in my life was my support system. They provided guidance, support and honest advice when I needed it. I kind of eventually found that group naturally, but I wish I’d taken the time to seek them out more actively and build a network of support that would’ve helped jumpstart work on issues that took me years to get a handle on like focus, organization and time management.

Your support system has to start at home with your family. If you’re lucky enough to have a supportive parent or parents, don’t ignore or take for granted that resource. As a parent, I now see that I know a lot about my

kids. I can often predict exactly how they’re going to react to a situation before they do.

Just before an impromptu foot race with another child the other day at a birthday party I said to a parent that my son Jack was “really competitive and doesn’t handle losing all that well yet, but we’re working on it.” Predictably, he lost the race and started to flip out. So listen when your parents want to talk. They know you much better than you think they do, as hard as that is to believe.

Look for advice, thoughts and support from siblings and extended family members too. My grandmother was and remains a major part of my support system. Like my parents she knows what’s important to me and how to help encourage during times of frustration.

Beyond your home, a member of your support system could be most anyone you look to for guidance or mentorship. Find those people that make you a better person or at least inspire a desire to be better. As a high school junior, I

enrolled in the school’s journalism class and found Mrs. Susan Buchanan, a teacher who expected, demanded and got a great deal out of me in my two years as her student.

I remember getting my first college acceptance letter, and going out of my way to find her before school started the next day. Her response was matter-of-fact.

“Good. I knew you would, that’s no surprise.”

She was excited for me obviously (she’d written the recommendation for my application) but she was letting me know in her own way that success should be the expectation. It was a valuable lesson in how to set goals and how to handle achievement right before you get back to work. I called her when I got new jobs during my years in the newspaper industry and let her know how I was doing. Even if she didn’t care to hear, it was always great to get her thoughts and perspective.

A support system will naturally ebb and flow over time. My first two years of high school, my ninth grade English teacher who also served as an assistant wrestling coach was one of the most influential people in my life. Now I sometimes have trouble placing his name. If you can manage it, hold on to those mentors.

Mrs. Buchanan attended my wedding seven years after I graduated from high school and I wouldn’t have it any other way. You want to celebrate success and happiness with the people who helped get you there and she definitely played a critical role. ✖ Scrimmage Play and Triple C Camp partner up to cover family issues related to youth and prep sports in our Family Corner.

Bart Isley,

CRE ATIVE DIRECTOR

www.scrimmageplay.com :: 04

First Quarter Coaching carousel

Central Virginia’s busiest season sees the most change

By Bart Isley

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Tara Hohenshelt’s made an immediate impact at TCS as she guided the Eagles to a state title. (Bart Isley)

{ PRECEDENT } Western Albemarle girls lacrosse win totals over the last four years.

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201 2

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ore often than many professions, teachers and coaches make a career move because it’s what’s best for their family. New Western Albemarle girls lacrosse coach Tara Hohenshelt is no exception.

“It was a family move that put me in the same school system that my son was already attending,” Hohenshelt said.

The Warriors’ lacrosse squad, a program that annually competes for district titles and won a state championship in 2010, were the major beneficiary of that move as Hohenshelt brought years of collegiate coaching experience and an awfully impressive one-year stint at the high school level to Crozet. In 2013, the former Penn State assistant took over Covenant’s program after moving to the area when her husband Dennis Hohenshelt became UVa volleyball’s head coach. In that year, Covenant, with a group of just 14 players that occasionally finished games playing mandown due to injuries, put together a miraculous state championship run, beating Foxcroft in Richmond in the final, the first girls lacrosse title in school history. Now she’s running both a varsity and junior varsity program while learning an entirely new set of names.

Hohenshelt’s move to Western set off a small domino effect, with Covenant bringing in Charlottesville coach Lauren Thraves to take over the Eagles’ program. That opened the door for Sally Du Bose to take over CHS’s team.

Spring, by its nature, is a fluid season for high school coaches. This year a number of traditional spring powers have seen changes at the top along with many up and coming programs.

Thraves will be joined at Covenant by new baseball coach Jeff Burton. Western boys tennis, a perennial state powerhouse, is breaking in its third new coach in five seasons with Seth Heller, who took over from Andrew Wymer. Albemarle’s girls soccer program that

was one game away from qualifying for the state tournament and won both the Commonwealth District regular season and tournament titles last year will have a new leader. Former assistant Amy Sherrill takes over after 11 years of Jon Hall’s leadership. She won’t be the lone new Albemarle head coach either, with Charlie Scott taking over a resurgent Albemarle softball program that qualified for the Northwest Region tournament the last two years.

Monticello’s boys and girls lacrosse teams both welcome new leaders with Tucker Tapscott and Lisa Marshall taking the reins from Matt Hicks and Karen Redd respectively.

Orange County shuffled its coaches this spring with former Central Virginia player of the year Ben Freeman taking over the boys soccer program which shifted former boys coach Dwayne Pugh over to the girls program.

Dave Rabe, currently in the midst of rebuilding the girls basketball program, is the Hornets’ new baseball coach as well.

Buckingham softball, usually a big-time contender in the James River District, has a new head coach as well with Sarah McQuiddy taking over. Bruce Parker takes over Madison County girls soccer, who qualified for the state semifinals four years ago. Jennifer Erixon, Goochland’s volleyball coach, is taking over the Bulldogs’ tennis team.

Miller School welcomes in a trio of new coaches with Clay Wawner heading up boys lacrosse, Julie Avery taking over girls tennis and Mary Lofton leading the girls soccer team. ✖

go online »

For more spring sports coverage head over to our website at: www.scrimmageplay.com

College Update

We’ve gone digital

Blue Ridge’s Pace finding form fast at Denver

But you can have it in print too!

By Bart Isley During his three years at Blue Ridge, Tyler Pace just poured it in. He scored 326 points in that span, a school record that included 143 goals and 183 career assists with a high water mark of 152 points last year as a senior. For the effort, he earned All-State, All-American and All-Scrimmage Play honors.

The British Columbia native showed extensive skills as a feeder and a finisher as a Baron before he headed to the University of Denver, including a 14-goal game against Liberty Christian in the Barons’ season finale.

But pouring it in during high school is one thing, doing it for a Denver squad ranked in the national Top 10 coming off of a Final Four appearance that ended with a narrow loss to Syracuse is an entirely different animal.

Apparently not if you’re Pace.

The freshman is off to a roaring start for the Pioneers with 12 points in seven games, starting five times for Denver on attack. He got off on the right foot with a goal and two

assists in the Pioneers season opener and he’s rarely slowed down since.

He exploded with a hat trick on March 10 as the No. 7 Pioneers upset No. 5 Penn State in Denver 15-11. Pace was remarkably accurate in that contest for a freshman, putting six of his nine shot attempts on the cage.

“Today was just my turn I guess,” Pace said in a video interview on the Denver website.

He’s currently Denver’s sixth-leading scorer and has turned the ball over just three times during the early stages of the season.

Along with fellow freshman Zach Miller, Pace gives Denver a dangerous young core that should mean the Pioneers will be national title contenders for years to come.

While Pace may be a ways away from the gaudy statistics of his prep days, he’s already a major contributor for one of the nation’s top squads. Much like he did at Blue Ridge, he’s making himself comfortable right away. ✖

HOW TO GET A PHYSICAL COPY OF SCRIMMAGE PLAY Step 1 :: Click here and head to the MagCloud version of the magazine.

It’s going to look like this below:

BELOW » Now at Denver, Blue Ridge alumnus Tyler Pace is making big strides as his role on the team increases. (Den Hertog, Denver Athletics)

Step 2 :: Click the Buy Print button next to the magazine and follow instructions to order Step 3 :: Wait patiently by your mailbox Step 4 :: When it arrives, take it out and read or stash away to your heart’s delight!

www.scrimmageplay.com :: 06

THE IRON 07 :: @scrimmageplay

PRICE story by Ryan Yemen Photos by ashley Thornton

To play at the next level you have to earn it. Nothing is given. A name means nothing, only your reputation matters. During her time at St. Anne’s-Belfield, NK Ilang did all the gritty things. Points in the paint, drawing fouls, blanketing players on defense and then getting every loose ball imaginable. While her stats show what kind of player she evolved into from when first arrived in Charlottesville, the intangibles, the effort, the little things that are truly daunting on the court didn’t show up in the stats. To see that, you had to watch Ilang play, and more so, you had to watch her play this year because it was truly impressive. And when you put that up against what she’s been through to get to that point, it’s easy to understand why she commands so much respect from her coach, her teammates, opposing coaches and opposing players and anyone else that’s watched her grind it out on the court. www.scrimmageplay.com :: 08

“I loved the way she was just dribbling around so I wanted to start playing. So then I started watching NBA games and just fell in love with it. It was what I wanted to do.” - NK Ilang

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From the moment she stepped into the gym at STAB, it was easy to try and compare Ilang to the player that fit an earily similar profile. Before Sarah Imovbioh was a Parade All-American in 2011 and now a standout at the University of Virginia, she was a gifted athlete trying to learn the game of basketball in her native Nigeria. Imovbioh thrived when she arrived at STAB under the tutelage of Saints coach Phil Stinnie thanks to her natural talent and even more so because of her dedication to staying in the gym. Of course the comparisons don’t end there as Ilang comes from the same scholastic pipeline as Imovbioh.

“I came here from Nigeria through a program that tries to bring young girls into basketball,” Ilang said. “I came here three years ago and have been trying to keep playing since then.”

In addition to the many hats he wears at St. Anne’s, Stinnie is the director of diversity and community outreach at the school and that entails bringing in foreign students to the school. He helps outsiders like Imovbioh and Ilang achieve their dreams of getting a top tier education, both at the high school level — but more importantly and ultimately — at the collegiate level. A big time scholarship from a major school is worth so much more than any average student could imagine to an Illang, an Imovbioh. It’s an opportunity to come out at the end of the day, years down the line, with a major degree to help a family and a community, not just one person.

And so that’s where the road started for Ilang.

“Coming here, I wasn’t skilled playing basketball,” Ilang said. “I’ve had to learn all of that since I got here. It’s been a long journey and it wasn’t always a great one at times. Playing basketball here in America is so much different than what gets taught in Nigeria.”

In all, Ilang has only been playing basketball for six years.

That she even arrived at STAB and became what she is happens to be a moment of chance.

“I was just watching a friend back home at a gym playing and said ‘What is this game called,” Ilang said. “I loved the way she was just dribbling around so I wanted to start playing.

So then I started watching NBA games and just fell in love with it. It was what I wanted to do.”

She picked it up as an adolescent back in Africa but quickly earned a reputation because of her stature.

“They called me ‘The Iron Lady’ back in Nigeria because I was bony and skinny,” Ilang said.

When she started playing for Stinnie every detail she knew about the game changed as she tried to play catch up for a STAB team that plays a brutal schedule against teams loaded with collegiate level talent.

“When I got here, the way I was shooting, dribbling, all of that had to change,” Ilang said. “My mindset had to change.

Here, I had to be the fastest, the hardest worker if I wanted to be able to play Division 1 basketball. It was really hard, and it wasn’t always good, but it’s what I wanted. It was something

SUPPORTING THE FUTURE SPORTS STARS OF TOMORROW Best of luck to our 2013 student athletes as they embark on their college careers.

Maiah Bartlett Miles Davis Blissie DuBose Will Eppard Tyler Gimple Will Grossman Allie Nicholson Lloyd Smith Stewart Staunton Aaron Stinnie Catherine Towers

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I just had to do, something I just had to go for and take all that comes with that.”

When she first started out, Ilang loved what every player does when they first discover the game — pulling up and shooting. In her first season at STAB, Ilang managed to average 9.5 points and 9.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore. The Saints were in full rebuild playing with almost a 3:1 ratio of freshman and sophomores to seniors, but around Ilang, it was clear that the future was bright. The following season, Stinnie put together a squad without any seniors and saw llang rise to the occasion by leading the way to a 17-8 season and a final four showing in the VISAA Division 1 tournament. That season llang averaged a doubledouble with 16.4 points per game and 10.4 boards. Her shooting improved from the field going from 39 percent to 50 and she also became a 70 percent free throw shooter. She focused on developing her dribbling with both hands and developing a game on the left, something she prides herself on today. Given her work ethic, frame and natural athleticism it’s not much of a surprise that Ilang thrived in the paint on the glass.

But her improvement offensively is somewhat of an anomaly. It should almost be an impossibility.

As it so happens, Ilang has vision issues in one of the sports where it matters most. Losing vision in one eye is as difficult as you would guess. In addition to the lost peripheral vision that an athlete always needs, especially in a head turning sport like basketball, depth

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“What this kid does and can do with that, it’s just incredible.

I think that’s a story in and of itself. It’s amazing what she does” - phil Stinnie perception is significantly hindered. Ilang doesn’t have the benefit that almost every player she plays with or goes up against has.

“She can only see out of one eye — she can’t see out of her right — and so what this kid does and can do with that, it’s just incredible,” Stinnie said. “I think that’s a story in and of itself. It’s amazing what she does.”

That obstacle is there every day and something that Ilang truly grapped with early on.

“I would cry after games and practice because I knew that I had more in me,” Ilang said. “It was something where (Coach Stinnie)

kept pushing me and got me to trust more in my skills, to continue to work on them, but it was so hard. I had to stop thinking about (my vision) and learn to love basketball again and just think about that.

This is what I want to do, worry about that and nothing else.”

After a truly breakout year with the Saints as a junior, Ilang took the next step in her last year with STAB and it showed for her on a personal level and for the team as a whole. For starters, Ilang kept up her double-double average by finishing with 13.6 points per game and 11.4 rebounds, but did so on a team that diversified offensively.

The scouting report was out on her this season and the opposition did everything it could to deny her the ball. What it allowed was for the rest of Stinnie’s squad to rise to the occasion and finish the year with four players averaging at least 10 points a game between Ilang, Ashley Taylor, Mailynn Steppe and Brianna Tinsley. Those latter three were all sophomores or freshman and the boost in depth allowed the Ilang led Saints to take the next step as a program and improve to a 23-3 record, win the LIS championship and finish second to Paul VI in the state tournament.

And that’s where Ilang’s high school basketball career ends, but there’s more waiting for her.

“Last year I was restless worrying that I wouldn’t be able to get a scholarship,” Ilang said. “I was thinking that I’d have to go back to Nigeria and had no idea what I’d do from there.”

Her worries were put aside when she got what she yearned for when she first started playing, the next opportunity. Before her senior year began Ilang signed a national letter of intent to play with Loyola Marymount.

“NK is an incredible athlete who has unbelievable potential,” said LMU coach Charity Elliot in the program’s press release after the signing. “She’s long and lean, can run the floor and is a tenacious rebounder. She has such a desire to get better and is a natural leader who I expect to make a big difference in this program, both immediately and in the future.”

With a scholarship in hand to play basketball in Los Angeles of all places, Ilang’s storied journey was assured of continuing and it allowed her to be able to enjoy her senior season.

“When it finally happened it was just a dream come true,” Ilang said.

Of course, now that her basketball career is in transition, her attention has shifted. She never stops thinking about her game.

“I don’t know what position I’ll get to play in college so that just means I’ll have to work more on all my skills,” Ilang said. “I’m going to be ready for anything.”

That’s a dangerous concept, her focusing on everything. It’s already a proven fact that when Ilang sets her mind to do something positive results quickly follow. ✖ www.scrimmageplay.com ::

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RE-ROUTING

STORY BY BART ISLEY | PHOTOS BY ASHLEY THORNTON

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T

THE HITS JUST KEPT COMING. “It was a little disappointing when I found

out that Rachel tore her ACL too because I thought ‘oh we’re still going to be fine because we have our core center (midfield),” said Western Albemarle girls soccer’s Sarah Grupp. “But after that I knew we were going to have to do a lot more work to get everybody ready for the season.”

At some point in every season, a team’s plans change. Whether it’s an injury, a transfer, a departure or a player not meeting or exceeding expectations, there are a ton of factors that can change the plan for a team. Even in the offseason, things can crop up that force coaches to re-evaluate what they’re doing or players to alter their perceived roles. But rarely is a team’s identity so drastically changed as Western girls soccer’s was this offseason. www.scrimmageplay.com ::

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Sarah Grupp (above) and Nichole Heon (below) were both slated for key roles this season for Western, and that only grew with a spate of offseason injuries.

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Last spring, Western graduated a stellar class of seniors led by Lynchburg midfielder Marina Clark, VMI goalie Emily Marbury and Lynchburg defender Christine Domecq. All three were All-Jefferson District and AllScrimmage Play honorees and were major building blocks over the past three years for a resurgent Western program that displaced Charlottesville as the perennial Jefferson District champions with a regular season and tournament title. Only a powerful Woodgrove team stacked with Division I talent managed to derail Western’s season.

With that well-established core moving on, things weren’t going to be the same this year for Western any way. But the cupboard was far from bare. Freshman Anna Sumpter, Scrimmage Play’s newcomer of the year last season after a 17-goal season that led the Warriors in scoring, was going to be back in the fold.

She emerged as perhaps the area’s top young high school scorer.

Rachel Cooke was set to take her place in the midfield once again. Cooke is a rock solid, multi-sport standout who knows Western’s system as well as head coach Jacob Desch.

There was also Alexis Hucek, one of the team’s most technical players who’d been injured during much of the 2013 season and Grupp, a top notch defender who can manage the back line. With the usual influx of young talent, Western was clearly poised to contend for a Jefferson District title again in the newlyexpanded district that now includes accomplished rival Albemarle.

But then things started to unravel with Sumpter tearing her ACL, an injury that kept the multi-talented sophomore out of the lineup during basketball season where she was the Warriors’ leading scorer as a freshman. But that was just the first blow. The second came when Cooke went down during basketball season where she’d emerged as the Warriors’ top scorer early in the season. It was also an ACL tear, one that would obviously prevent Cooke from playing her senior year in soccer.

With the injuries, there was suddenly a leadership vacuum in Western’s program. Clark and Domecq in particular had helped dictate what the Warriors were doing on the field and how they’d adjust on the fly.

Cooke appeared ready to take on the bulk of that leadership role this year with her intense knowledge of the game. Sumpter, a natural leader with immense talent, also seemed poised to take on a more vocal role

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“

We only have three or four months to work with these kids but we’ve been good at adapting — Jake Desch and by the end of 2013 had in many ways. Now she has to lead vocally because currently she can’t help on the field.

“It’s more of a vocal leadership role than a physical one I guess — talking,” Sumpter said. “It’s my second season (sitting the bench) and it sucks.”

With those two out, the leadership responsibility has fallen to Hucek and Grupp. While both were going to have to take on an expanded role as it was, suddenly they had a lot more on their plate. Hucek is now the lone returning starter in one of the three most important midfield spots for the Warriors.

“A lot of them aren’t used to playing our (possessionoriented) style because a lot of people aren’t used to that,” Hucek said. “It’s just helping them playing our style. It’s more responsibility.”

Grupp faces a similar task, orchestrating the Warriors’ defense that helped power them to last year’s titles. With a new keeper and now tons of new faces in the midfield and on the backline, it’s up to Grupp to get the Warriors organized in the back.

“She plays the hardest position on the field, the holding center-mid--she plays offense and defense,” Desch said. “Her role doesn’t change, but like (Hucek) I’m asking her to be more selfish, look to shoot and not be afraid to shoot when she can.”

There’s also work to be done to replace Cooke and Sumpter at their specific spots, with Sumpter potentially returning

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later in the season. Unlike football programs that employ a “next man up” mentality with injuries and largely play within the same system, that can be more of a challenge for a soccer team — it’s more of a process. The sport’s free-flowing nature can force teams to adjust in a huge way and even change their approach completely after an injury. Losing a top notch striker like Sumpter could change Western’s entire approach, forcing them to lean more on a Grupp-led defense.

The Warriors are in a particularly interesting place because as Hucek pointed out, they employ the highly-coordinated, advanced shape in the midfield, a check mark that requires intense teamwork. The set allows Western to maintain possession as well as any team locally, and it requires getting a large group of new faces up to speed quickly. Those new faces, through a pair of scrimmages against Harrisonburg and Blacksburg have been solid.

“For the last three years we’ve been playing a system that we’re comfortable with,” Desch said. “We only have three or four months to work with these kids but we’ve been good at adapting and figuring out our strengths.”

Some of those new faces are extremely young. Freshmen Nichole Heon and Emma Ratcliffe will likely fill Sumpter and Cooke’s positions.

“The freshmen are some of the good ones,” Grupp said. “We don’t have very much depth right now but we’re trying to get everyone on the same page.”

SIMILAR PATHS Western girls soccer isn’t the only local squad that’s having to adjust because of offseason circumstances.

While the Warriors may have been hit with the double whammy of a big graduating class and a rash of offseason injuries, there are other top notch programs dealing with their own set of challenges.

Expect these typically powerful spring squads to rise to the occasion.

Albemarle Girls Soccer The Patriots, who join the Warriors in the Jefferson this season, may actually be the team dealing with the most similar situation. Maggie Tubridy and the rest of a strong class graduated and then speedster Carmen Thomas is out with an ACL tear. AHS will lean on seniors Ali Starr, Anne Brady, Meghan Schnell and Abby Davison in coach Amy Sherrill’s first season.

Orange County Softball Two upperclassmen will also have to take on expanded or entirely new roles, with junior Erin Clark in the midfield and Fiona Fittro, a senior transfer, helping out at forward.

“It’s hard playing with new people but everyone is willing to work hard and work hard for other people so practice isn’t frustrating at all,” Hucek said. “It should get better as the season goes on.”

Bringing that all together takes some work on the chemistry front, and since Desch had some warning that he’d be playing a lot of new players searching for some rhythm, he managed to get out ahead of the problem.

“The first thing we looked to do the past few years is that we’ve tried to create a family,” Desch said. “So it’s not just soccer we’re playing, but we’re doing team bonding things and being together.

Then they become a family and gel.”

Desch and the Warriors are finding a way to make the best of things. To carve out a new way to find success on the field. That’s all anyone can do when the plan changes — adjust. Those situations come at some point for any team. You have to be out ahead of it as much as you can, but when the hits start coming, you just have to adjust.

Which is a pretty good life lesson when you think about it.

Adapt and adjust.

That may pay major dividends for the Warriors down the road when they’re adults. But if Western’s squad has anything to say about it, it might go ahead and pay off this spring. ✖

The Hornets have to replace four-year starting pitcher Aysha Richardson, who is now at Virginia Tech as well as Haley Jones, a standout shortstop who headed to James Madison after graduating from Orange. The 2013 state quarterfinalists will lean on a strong junior class and sophomore Hannah Jones who is already committed ot JMU.

Goochland Softball The Bulldogs made a huge run to the state final last season, but this year they’ll have to try and build on it without three quarters of their infield.

Jordan Fleming, Chakiryn Jackson and Taylor Scruggs all graduated, which leaves junior pitcher Jackie Tremain and senior catcher Brandi Tester to shoulder the load and give the Bulldogs some leadership.

www.scrimmageplay.com ::

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Game Time Miller 48, Williamsburg Christian 43

By Bart Isley

Rachel Odumu finished with seven points and 10 rebounds in her team’s championship win over WCA. (Ashley Thornton)

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Trailing late, Williamsburg Christian Academy’s Imani Bryant tried to loft the ball past Lilly Riggleman, but the Miller junior tracked Bryant’s intentions, leapt up and hauled in a steal with 24 seconds left to play.

Then Miller’s Kristin Histand came up with a steal.

Then Miller’s Rachel Odumu intercepted a WCA outlet pass in the corner.

With three straight steals and solid free throw shooting in between, Miller suffocated Williamsburg Christian in the closing minutes to win the VISAA Division 2 title 48-43 Saturday evening.

“If we’re not playing defense, we’re not winning the game, that’s how it goes,” Odumu said. “We held it in and took it home.”

It was Miller’s first Division II title, the Mavericks’ fifth since 2005 and first since 2011.

The third-seeded Mavericks had to rally from down 25-20 to the top-seeded WCA squad. Miller exploded out of the locker room for the third straight game in the tournament, and by the end of the frame they led by eight, holding WCA to just three points and a single field goal in the third quarter.

“We changed defenses a little bit to see if we could get a little more aggressive on the defensive end because they were settling in against the 1-3-1,” said Miller coach James Braxton. “And it worked, we got them to speed up a little bit.”

Riggleman was instrumental to the run with seven of the Mavericks’ 16 points in the third. Along with 3-pointers by Lexi Mallory

and Histand, Riggleman provided just enough offense for Miller to capitalize on the lock down defense and build an insurmountable lead.

“We consist of just a smart type of play,” Riggleman said. “We just know the game.

You have to play fast, but you can’t rush and our team knows that. We have players who all know what to do with the ball when they get it.”

WCA refused to go away though, and closed to within three at 38-35 with 1:39 left to play, then again to three at 44-41 with 29 seconds left. That’s when the defensive spurt got going for Miller with the trio of steals jumpstarted by Riggleman.

“Throughout the whole season, she’s been sort of been the go-to player,” Odumu said. “For her to step up on a day like this, it’s the best feeling in the world.”

The win wrapped up a tremendous run to the state title by a Mavericks team that seemingly wasn’t as explosive as in years past after losing Whitney Martin and Taylor Sandidge to graduation. But the Mavericks managed to knock off Spotswood to win the Daily Progress/NBC29 Holiday Classic and then Liberty Christian in the Blue Ridge Conference tournament title game. Add in the state championship win and it was an historic season during Braxton’s tenure at the helm.

“We’ve got some seniors who’ve been here awhile and they’ve been leaders and they’ve been led by some good players,” Braxton said. “They’re tough and they just don’t die.” ✖

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While this was a bit of a breakout year on the court for Girstantas, he figured out what it takes to be an exceptional student a long time ago. Sporting a 4.3 GPA, the CHS junior is tackling a brutal schedule academically with five different advanced placement classes. He’s a National Honors Society student that’s found a way to juggle the task of playing high school athletics at a high level while also putting together an outstanding year in the classroom, and as anyone will tell you, in the most important year for any high school student.

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TEAM SPOTLIGHT MILLER SCHOOL GIRLS HOOPS The Miller girls basketball team has always shown well in the VISAA tournament. After a couple of years of owning the Division 3 ranks, the Mavericks moved up three years ago to play at the Division 2 level. It didn’t take long for them to climb to the top again. Behind an 11-game win streak, Miller won its first ever D2 title as it defeated Williamsburg Christian. It’s the program’s third title in five seasons. Congratulations to the Mavericks on an amazing year!

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Overtime

Getting the job done Local charity dreaming big and making a huge difference

C

hange. It’s a popular term, one that gets thrown around often. When you get the chance to watch it happen in front of your eyes by those in our own back yard, it’s unbelievably inspiring. Change is one the cusp for those that deserve it most.

When I first met Jimmy Hollins of the Burley Varisty club seven years ago I was blown away by the stories he and his colleagues had about playing sports in the 1950’s and ‘60’s and even further impressed by the efforts he and his non-profit organization were making to bring light to segregation-era athletics. What started out as building a trophy case for at Burley — now a middle school but once a high school home to a vaunted football program fifty years ago — quickly snowballed into getting streets in Charlottesville renamed and soon after, getting its most celebrated coach inducted into the Virginia High School Hall of Fame. The VHS HOF is a joint effort between the Virginia High School League and the Virginia High School Coaches Association. Hollins and his charity labored successfully to get Robert Smith inducted to the 2012 class. Yet despite that accomplishment, getting other former standouts like Roosevelt Brown (an NFL hall of famer, mind you) and other greats from the era when Burley was a high school has proved somewhat fruitless in a world where statistics matter more than anything else, sadly. And that’s just a local sample. Think about what Richmond and Virginia Beach area schools from that same area are suffering. And that’s where Hollins and his organization are branching out.

Having spoken with media director Mike McCall at the VHSL at length over the years about getting local athletes and coaches inducted to the Virginia High School HOF on behalf of the Burley Varsity Club, it became clear why the process was so difficult. The VHS HOF is in large part about statistics and in that era, not only are those hard if not impossible to come by, in a lot of cases they are lost. Stat keeping in football is relatively modern as well. And in the case of an offensive lineman, there aren’t going to be any stats to draw from. While McCall has made clear that the VHSL is willing to overlook those missing stats, the other voting half to the state HOF is sticking to its guns for most cases. These former athletes also need to be nominated by a local athletic director. Albemarle’s Deb Tyson stepped up to the task in 2012 and has maintained that she will continue to do so whenever Hollins and the BRV can present a nominee.

Now there’s a way to get around the red tape. The VIA was the governing body for the all-black high schools back in the 50’s and 60’s and merged with the VHSL after integration.

In the last year Hollins and his charity have taken a step out of the local stage to try and make an even bigger splash with the proposal of a VIA Hall of Fame that would allow the Browns of the world and countless others into the spotlight they deserve.

This week Hollins is hosting a meeting at Virginia State University to solidify both the idea the and work on the funding necessary to bring this great concept to life. If and when this institution comes to fruition — and knowing Hollins, it’s only a matter of when, not if — the forgotten high school heroes of the VIA era will have a proper home.

That more segregation era athletes need to be given their rightful honors in the VHS HOF is so clear to many, but it’s made more so when potential nominees like Richard “Hawk” Hawkins, the quarterback of the vaunted unbeaten and undefeated 1956 Burley football team pass away.

Hawkins died just recently and those that played with him and many of those that played after

22 :: @scrimmageplay

“The forgotten high school heroes of the VIA era will have a proper home.” on insanely successful teams, not just here but across the state, are aging quickly. The clock is ticking. The only thing more tragic than these athletes not getting their deserved place in history is when it comes posthumously.

I love that Virginia State University, of all the schools in this state, is open to the idea of providing the venue, but I’d like to see the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University, James Madison University and all the other state funded schools do their part to support this project. The athletes that have blossomed on their campuses are a direct product of the VIA schools from the past and so it’s on them to help out too. The segregation era of athletics is a part of this state’s history that cannot and must not be forgotten.

Hollins and the Burley Varisty Club are going to make the VIA HOF happen. It’s easy to say you’re going to make a difference.

Every year Hollins and his charity do so. They are starting to really branch out and tackle this impressive project that needs doing. ✖

Ryan Yemen,

CRE ATIVE EDITOR

back talk »

To learn more about to the BVC and a VIA HOF contact Ryan at: ryan@scrimmageplay.com

Success stories begin here.

Success Story: Lee Skinner If you’re going to the University of North Carolina, you’d be honored to be compared to any of the great players in the program like Michael Jordan or James Worthy or Phil Ford. If you headed to the University of Virginia, any comparison to Bryant Stith or Curtis Staples would be an incredible compliment.

Fork Union product Lee Skinner, according to some articles, is drawing those kind of comparisons to his school Wofford’s own legend — Noah Dahlman, a two-time Southern conference player of the year and the player who led Wofford to its first two NCAA tournament bids in 2010 and 2011 who went on to an already successful professional career in Macedonia.

With a team-high 8.6 rebounds per game and an 11.2 points per game average in his junior season, the comparisons are apparently justified. But most importantly, he’s helped lead Wofford back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since Dahlman graduated. The Terriers won the Southern Conference tournament title on March 11th.

He’s not the only Fork Union connection in Wofford’s run either.

Wofford head coach Mike Young played postgraduate basketball under Fletcher Arritt before suiting up for Emory and Henry and Radford.

Skinner came to Fork Union as a talented forward. He left as a man on a mission, and now he’s helping power Wofford on to college basketball’s biggest stage.

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