Southwest Virginia Awash in HS District Finals

By John Appicello
WSLS10 Sports Anchor
Published: February 22, 2008

The River Ridge boys final is never a done deal if Blacksburg is involved. The defending tournament champion Bruins took 23-1 Hidden Valley to overtime before falling 57-51.  On the girls side, Hidden Valley made it a clean sweep with a 53-41 win over Pulaski County. Abby Oliver had 20 and was named River Ridge player of the year.
The Blue Ridge girls final turned out to be a tight one. Northside never allowed the powerful Cavaliers to pull away--but a balanced attack and a couple of gutsy plays from player of the year Grace Blayock down the stretch allowed Lord Botetourt to follow up the regular season crown with a tournament title 52-48.  In the boys final, Alleghany’s cinderella run came to an end at the hands of the Cavs as well, as Lord Botetourt prevailed 54-45.
The Western Valley district crown was a shootout between two tradition rich and proud programs. GW Danville got 21 from Nick Barbour to outlast the defending AA state champion Colonels 64-54 in Danville.
The Three Rivers finals turned out to be a Bobcat party. The Radford boys handled Auburn with relative ease, 70 to 40. The girls ended Glenvar’s upset bid by a 61-52 tally.
In the Seminole District, the Brookville Bees pulled a sweep as well, the boys taking down Liberty by a bucket, 53-51, and the girls took out Staunton River 60 to 46.
Other games of note include the Galax winning the boys Mountain Empire title 106-72 over Fort Chiswell. On the girls side, Fort Chiswell took out Grayson County in 2 OT’s 68-65. The Hogoheegee goes to the Chilhowie girls 55-53 over George Wythe, but the Maroon boys would not be stopped...defeating Chilhowie 97-40 for the title.