ROANOKE, Va. – The countdown is on for the basketball state championships in Richmond, and William Fleming will be the first of five local teams competing for a title this week.
The Colonels face undefeated Princess Anne on Thursday at 12:30 p.m., but with just three losses all season, they consider themselves battle-tested. Midseason tournaments allowed them to face teams outside of the Class 3-heavy Blue Ridge District, helping them prepare for this moment.
Their journey to the championship also included a loss to L.C. Bird in the region final—one they avenged in the state semifinals. Now, they’ve learned, grown and earned their spot in their first-ever Class 5 state title game.
“You can’t build Rome in one day, you know, and they come in, they work hard, they try to retain everything that we try to teach them here in practice,” head coach Richard Wilson said. “And the biggest thing for us, man, we just want to be disciplined and have fun, and, you know, if we do those two things or whatnot, we feel like we can compete.”
Amari Worsham, the Blue Ridge District and Region Player of the Year, said the team has had one goal since last season.
“After we lost last year, that was our main focus—to get here to this moment, hopefully win on Thursday. It’s just win,” Worsham said. “It’s a lot of great competition in Class 5. We lost to L.C. Bird last week, but we had to make sure we came back and won to get to this moment.”
Now, the team looks to add a championship banner alongside the two runner-up photos already hanging in the gym.
The Colonels tip off from the Siegel Center in Richmond at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday.
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