Five Key Questions: VISAA Final Four
Virginia State University played host to the annual VISAA Boys State Championship final four. We saw 6 high level games with two semifinal contests in division 3, 2 and 1. Coaches from Wofford, Virginia, Virginia Tech and VCU were in…
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Continue ReadingVirginia State University played host to the annual VISAA Boys State Championship final four. We saw 6 high level games with two semifinal contests in division 3, 2 and 1. Coaches from Wofford, Virginia, Virginia Tech and VCU were in attendance to evaluate some of the states best. Below I take a look at some answers to questions from the semifinal matchups.
Who Is The Most Underrated Team In The State?
It is hard to call a team that just won a state championship “underrated” but Life Christian Academy is a program that you don’t hear a lot of people talk about when talking about the best teams in the state of Virginia. They just won the division 3 VISAA state tournament and pretty much dominated the teams they had to play heading into the championship game, beating Eastern Mennonite in the finals by a score of 63-59. Life Christian is led by 2020 6’7 Marchellus Avery who showed he can do it all on both ends of the floor. He can finish strong at the rim, shoot from distance, rebounds on offense and defense and can alter shots. Another 2020 prospect that has always had good showings in front of me is 2020 Christian McLeod. McLeod handles the ball well, always plays with a ton of energy and brings good athleticism to the court. Lastly, one of their most important players on the team is 2019 Antonio Bridy who had another eye opening performance with his style of play that is fun to watch. Winning the division 3 state championship is a big deal, but people are also wondering how they might have done in division 2 and 3…
Who Was The Best Shooting Team?
Eastern Mennonite put on one of the best shooting performances that I have seen this year in their upset win over the 2 seed Walsingham. Mennonite is an extremely well coached team that had a good game-plan for Walsingham, played smart basketball and made shots all game long. I do not have an exact number of three pointers they made but it was definitely close to double digits and a huge reason why they were able to make it to the state championship.
Who Is Next Up For Blue Ridge?
In the recent years, Blue Ridge School has produced numerous division one players including two ACC players in Mamadi Diakite (Virginia) and Aamir Simms (Clemson). Someone that could be next to play in the ACC and already holds a ACC offer is 2021 Mike Gray. Gray was the topic of conversation during Blue Ridge’s defeat of Middleburg on Friday. After finishing with 21 points, Gray was able to speak with us on a lot of different topics. Look for Gray to become more of a household name this spring and summer during the AAU scene.
What happened in the 4th matchup between Miller and VES?
Previously before this matchup, VES and Miller had played each other 3 other times this year with VES winning twice and Miller winning once. In the most important game of the year, it was Miller taking care of business 52-47. 2021 Quadir Pettaway looks to have his mojo back after he was hurt for most of the year. He led Miller with 16 points.
How Did The IAC Get The Best Of The WCAC?
In both of the division 1 semifinal matchups, we saw an IAC team get the best of a WCAC team. In the first matchup, Episcopal who was the 5 seed, beat the 1 seed Paul VI, 63-59. Episcopal was led by 2021 Darius Johnson, the younger brother of George Mason commit, Xavier Johnson. Johnson was lighting up the scoreboard with his ability to shoot the ball from all over the court. Look for Johnson’s recruitment to pick up a little bit more heading into the spring as a few coaches I have talked to really liked what they saw from the sophomore.
In the other game it was a beatdown from St. Stephens & St. Agnes over Bishop O’Connell with a final score of 76-46. SSSA got out early and won that game from the opening tip.