2019 Second Team All Chance Harman
This past weekend was the 12th Annual Chance Harman Classic in Floyd County, VA. The little mountain town outside of Christiansburg, VA is one of my favorite communities that I have gotten to know over the past five years that…
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Continue ReadingThis past weekend was the 12th Annual Chance Harman Classic in Floyd County, VA. The little mountain town outside of Christiansburg, VA is one of my favorite communities that I have gotten to know over the past five years that I’ve done this. After his son Chance passed away on July 6, 2007 at the age of four from a rare form of brain cancer (Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor), Floyd County head coach Brian Harman and some of his staff and friends started the Chance Harman Memorial Fund, and held the first Chance Harman Classic later that year. The event has grown into one of the top events in the area, bringing together top teams from across VA, NC, WV, TN and others, and has raised more than $300,000 for cancer research in the form of ticket sales, sponsorships, raffles, silent auctions and much more. It is a wonderful cause held by wonderful people who take great care of me and anyone else who comes to support, and I would highly recommend supporting them in some way shape or form. Here’s the website for more information if you’d be interested.
While I’m happy I get to support the cause (I bought a raffle ticket), I’m also there to cover great basketball both locally in SWVA and throughout the area. There were 12 games throughout Friday and Saturday, and unfortunately I was only able to watch 9 of them, but I decided to put together a First Team, Second Team and a few Honorable Mention Teams from the 9 games that I saw. The First Team will be the top performers from the winning teams, the Second Team will be the top performers from the losing team with the Honorable Mention teams being the other standouts on the teams. With no further ado, here’s a look at the honorees of the Prep Hoops VA 2019 Second Team All Chance Harman Classic.
Chris Rogers | 5’9” PG | Blue Ridge 2019
I’ve been watching Rogers for the past three or four seasons, and seeing how upset he was after the loss to Grace Christian really hurt your heart. The senior lead guard stepped up in a big way, with GCA holding sophomore Mike Gray, Blue Ridge’s leading scorer, to no points and only three shots in the entire game. Rogers was phenomenal, playing almost the perfect game until the last minute and half where he committed a costly turnover and had the game tying midrange pull-up touch every single part of the rim before falling off. He commanded the game, consistently made the right decision and guarded GCA’s top player, a 6’4” guard going to Tennesee-Chattanooga, holding him to 8-for-22 from the field. The available senior showed the heart of a warrior but came up just short, finishing with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. He was 6-for-8 from the field, with his only two misses coming in the last minute.
Jamonte Smith | 5’8” PG | Roanoke Catholic 2021
A transfer into Roanoke Catholic from Faith Christian, “Bird,” as he’s called by teammates and coaches, went tit for tat with Citadel commit Jackson Gammons and almost had Roanoke Catholic pull off the win against Calvary Day (NC) if it weren’t for some questionable calls down the stretch. Smith is a known shot maker, a guy who can fill it up but also might take a few ill advised ones. This game he did not, and it looks like Head Coach Shawn Goode has him playing like a true floor general. He made the right reads throughout the game, trusted his teammates, played like a leader and when they needed him to down the stretch he started to take the game over. He finished with an impressive 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field and had 7 assists to just three turnovers playing all 32 minutes.
Mikal Dawson | 6’5” G | Huntington Prep Gold (WV) 2019
An Akron commit, I have to say that Dawson had the flyest gear since Akron University is sponsored by LeBron James, but the kid showed he can play too. A naturally gifted offensive player, the combo guard showed the ability to make shots on or off the ball, make good reads in transition where he thrived and guard multiple positions. Despite blowing a double digit lead to Massanutten late, Dawson was the main reason they were able to go on a big run midway through the second half as he took the game over and made all the right plays. He finished with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, two steals and just one turnover.
Cayden Sutphin | 6’0” PG | Floyd County 2019
It’s Floyd County’s Super Bowl every year at the Chance Harman Classic, and since I’ve been coming they haven’t ducked big competition in their own tournament and have played Gate City, one of SWVA’s best teams. They always put up a valiant fight, and this year it looked like they had multiple chances to get it done and were within striking distance late but just couldn’t pull it off. The scrappy group was led by senior Cayden Sutphin, a guard that ODAC schools should really take a look at. He’s smooth with the ball in his hands and has a nice handle that allows him to get in the lane and make plays, and he’s also a capable shot maker who can move off the ball and bang three’s as well. He showed a lot of heart leading his team, finishing tied for a team high 16 points and five assists, the same totals his little brother Tanyan Sutphin (honorable mention) finished with.
Burke Smith | 6’10” PF | Trinity Episcopal 2020
Everyone in Floyd was really excited about a junior forward from Trinity Episcopal coming to their town, but most were talking about nationally ranked Henry Coleman. Smith, however, was TES most consistent player on both ends, and he showed why he’s becoming a big time 2020 target as well. After recently picking up offers from programs like Richmond, William & Mary and George Mason, Smith actually missed the last month or so with a slight knee injury and is still recovering from that. He looked pretty healthy, as he ran the floor well, finished in the post with both hands, played hard on both ends and was constantly vocal on defense. He’s known as a three point shooter, and while he made one he showed that he’s worked a lot on his post moves and face up game, and looks much more mobile running the floor. He finished with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds, going 8-for-13 from the floor before fouling out.
Moses Nuangki | 6’2” WG | Carlisle 2019
Nuangki has been impressive so far his senior season and is one of the best available players west of Richmond, and while his team was simply outmatched by a bigger, more athletic and better Teays Valley team the senior from Australia showed that he can hang with anyone. He’s a smooth athlete with good quickness and leaping ability, and he attacked downhill all game trying to get in the body of the TVCS bigs and getting to the line. He showed the ability to score off the bounce in transition and in the half court, and didn’t back down throughout the game. He finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.
Zae Baines | 6’3” WG | North Cross 2020
A two sport athlete that is being recruited by high major programs in football, Baines athleticism and playmaking ability on both ends makes him a possible division one recruit in basketball as well. He’s a good defender both on and off the basketball with good lateral quickness, and offensively he can use his size and strength to get downhill and elevate and finish around the rim. He finishes above the rim in transition and showed improvement on his pull-up hitting a couple of them. He finished with 17 points and three rebounds in their loss to Northwest Guilford.
Savion Helm | 6’5” WF | Blue Ridge 2019
A late bloomer that is really starting to find his stride, Helm had a solid weekend which gives him the nod as the second Blue Ridge guy on this list considering they played two games. Helm was the runner-up in the dunk contest on Friday night, losing to Jimma Gatwech who broke the internet in the game against Blue Ridge after the contest with his behind the back dunk. What people don’t know is that Helm also had a really nice in game dunk, coming baseline and cocking it back to avoid the defender and posterizing him. He wasn’t the most efficient guy, but he brought energy and played hard in his minutes, giving them good spurts of production and helping runs. He finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds in their loss to Huntington Prep on Friday night, and he finished with 10 points in their loss to Grace Christian on Saturday.
John Stockstill | 6’2” WG | Patrick Henry 2019
Patrick Henry seemed like they didn’t come ready to play with local power Radford, who has been a Class 1 heavyweight for years and now is favored this year to contend for their first Class 2 title. PH dug themselves a 34-12 deficit at halftime they just couldn’t overcome, but they played the Bobcats relatively well in the second half, losing 61-41 in the end. Senior John Stockstill showed he’s a sleeper for smaller schools, because the 6’2” wing can shoot it. He showed range off the bounce, got to his pull-up going right and showed the confidence and ability to shoot it in transition. He finished with 13 points, going 5-for-9 from the field and 3-for-6 from behind the arc.