For our 10 years of existence, we’ve always done Weekly Briefing for football season, breaking down every matchup each week. But recently we decided to take Weekly Briefing and expand it to basketball. There are too many games to break down every single one, but we’ve got a format in mind that we think will give you an inside look at what’s happening across the local basketball map.
Starting Lineup
When the first Central Virginia Power Poll of basketball season drops Monday evening, it won’t really come as a surprise that St. Anne’s-Belfield’s girls are going to be highly-ranked. The Saints are consistently one of the area’s top programs, and despite graduating Jovia Winkey and Vanessa Woodfolk, STAB has up-and-coming Mo Johnson to lead the way along with an impressive supporting cast.
But this year’s edition of the Saints is a little different than in years past. Sure, they can shoot the lights out and they like to pressure on defense as usual. But the thing that stands out is the Saints’ depth. At one point in Saturday’s blowout win over Fluvanna County, the Saints made a five-for-five switch, a full-tilt line change.
“We’re literally 10 deep — we’ve got 10 kids who can score,” said STAB coach Phil Stinnie. “I’ve had some great teams but I’ve never been able to do that (switch five-for-five). Everybody knows they’re role and they come in and they do it well.”
That just hasn’t been the case in the past for STAB, but with players like Sabrina Lewis, Daja Bennett, Sallie Vick, Scottie Hull, Maddie Rice and Khamare Steppe all capable of defending and scoring, STAB is charting some new ground.
STAB jumps into an always challenging LIS slate this week when they take on Trinity Episcopal, but they’ve already got several solid wins and a couple of near misses against strong Episcopal High and Hampton teams. The Saints won their way into the state title game a year ago to earn a runner-up finish, and over the next month and a half they’ll try and build to a similar postseason run led by a young, talented and deep lineup.
Heat Check
Several players who are playing particularly well lately.
Zymir Faulkner, Charlottesville
Faulkner earned MVP honors at the Holiday Hoops Classic while leading CHS to the holiday title. He didn’t have a let down later in the week either as he scored a career high 30 points in a 69-65 win over Harrisonburg. Faulkner is tough to guard and his scoring has clearly taken a leap this year and he was already a first team All-Jefferson District pick a year ago. In a loaded top half of the Jefferson District, can Faulkner be a difference-maker for the Black Knights?
Martha Apple, William Monroe
Martha Apple is quietly putting together her second straight huge season for the Dragons after she steadied Monroe and kept them on track last season while Sam Brunelle was injured. She poured in 18 points and yanked down 13 boards Saturday in the Play for Preemies Showcase as part of a solid win over Jefferson Forest. Apple is consistent, steady and productive. She’s also versatile, just as capable of transitioning the ball as she is of dominating on the block.
Tae Toney, Buckingham County
Tae Toney makes a lot of noise during football season as the Knights’ star quarterback, but he’s an awfully good basketball player too, joining a long line of multi-sport standouts over the last 10 years like Taylor Boyers (now Toney’s basketball coach), Tarian Ayers, Leon Ragland and Cam Johnson. Toney finished with 18 points and 10 boards The Knights are 9-0 and Toney’s impressive play (as well as Amari Toney and Xavier Copeland’s contributions) are a big reason why.
Michael Gray, Blue Ridge School
The Barons play an intense national schedule and dropped three games over break against challenging opponents. Gray helped get the Barons back on track though with a 20-point, 7-assist effort against Victory Rock Prep at the Chance Harmon Prep Classic that should give Blue Ridge some momentum as they head into the more heavily VIC part of their schedule. Gray is a versatile, steady presence at guard who can turn things up to another level. Look for big things from him and William Lee in the final two months of the season.
Where They Stand
Jefferson District Boys
Team Overall District
Charlottesville 9-0 3-0
Western 9-1 3-0
Louisa 5-2 2-0
Orange 9-2 1-1
Albemarle 6-4 0-2
Fluvanna 3-4 0-3
Monticello 2-8 0-3
Jefferson District Girls
Team Overall District
Charlottesville 7-2 3-0
Western 7-3 2-1
Fluvanna 7-3 2-1
Albemarle 6-3 2-1
Louisa 7-2 1-1
Orange 1-8 0-3
Monticello 3-6 0-3
Can’t Miss Matchups
Three critical games this week
Western Albemarle at Charlottesville boys, Tuesday 7:30 p.m.
The basics: This rivalry rarely disappoints, and we’re likely to see a clash of styles in this one as we often have over the years. Both teams now compete in Class 3, so this one will likely have some playoff implications as we head down the stretch. Zymir Faulkner, Nic Motley and Jake Bowling are all three potent offensive players for Charlottesville. If they’re all three clicking, the Warriors will have to get creative to find answers to keep pace with Charlottesville, but Tommy Mangrum can be a matchup nightmare from his new spot on the wing where he can attack any number of ways. The Black Knights have to figure out how to contain Mangrum and prevent him from exploding on offense.
Key matchup: Charlottesville’s frontcourt contends with Western’s Henry Sullivan and Joshua Sime. Some of the Jefferson District race is going to come down to matchups, in particular how the teams battling for the top spot handle Western’s size advantage over the other contenders. If Charlottesville can either get out and run or knock down shots like they’ve done at times early on this season, that’ll force the Warriors to defend on the perimeter where Sullivan and Sime’s 6-foot-6 frames can’t create quite as much havoc on the defensive end. When Western has the ball, the Black Knights are likely going to have to trap the Warriors’ big men. Allow them free reign without a double team and the Black Knights are liable to be in a lot of trouble as both can clean up on the boards and finish from the block.
The line: Push. The top half of the Jefferson District appears to be a wild round robin where anyone can beat anyone.
Charlottesville at Fluvanna County girls, Friday 7:30 p.m.
The basics: This is an important matchup in the district race as it has proven to be most years. Four teams appear to be set to challenge for the crown and this one has recently been a strange, hotly contested defensive battle. Whichever team can figure out a way to finish effectively while clamping down on the other squad will be in great shape, but it always takes a couple of game-changing plays to pull this one off. The coaches know each other awfully well and there will be a lot of counter attacking and chess match work in this one.
Key matchup: Charlottesville’s T.C. Younger versus Fluvanna’s Nevaeh Ivory. Two of the area’s best point guards go toe-to-toe in this one. Younger and Ivory are both quite good at setting the table for their teammates and can also score when they need to take care of business on the offensive end. Both players work nicely in system, and whoever can figure out how to be more productive Friday night will give their squad a big edge.
The line: Charlottesville by 3. These games are always close and they’re always defensive battles.
Woodberry Forest at St. Anne’s-Belfield boys, Friday 6 p.m.
The basics: The Prep League is one of the toughest leagues in the state of Virginia — there’s just seemingly never an easy night. Like the ACC, you’ve got to defend your home court and pick up a few wins in tough environments to have a shot at the title. The Saints are off to a solid start and between Nick Reese, Justin Taylor and Malachi Poindexter, they’ve got experience and talent that can handle the ball and knock down shots. Throw in a group of budding young post players in Carter Lang, Ethan DeLaurier and Eli DeLaurier and we’re talking about a pretty impressive lineup. The Tigers have struggled in the last couple of years during Prep League play to score enough to take advantage of usually intense, locked in defensive efforts. Can they shake that off and get enough offensive production from Sam Dolphin, Noah Adams and JoJo Beal (all averaging nine or more points per game) to make those defensive efforts count? They’ll start with a tough back to back of St. Chris Tuesday before taking on STAB Friday.
Key matchup: Woodberry tries to contend with Justin Taylor. Taylor’s 17.7 points, 6.1 boards and 3.1 assists show he’s become the kind of complete player that he showed flashes of as a freshman last year. The Tigers will likely try and throw a number of different bodies at Taylor in an effort to wear him down, but it’s tough to make that work because Taylor is strong, tall and capable of beating opponents in so many different ways. Look for the Saints’ to try and get in the flow early and take care of business.
The line: STAB by 7. The Saints took an awfully good Miller team to the brink and Taylor is a difference-maker.
