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THE VIRGINIA
MOUNTAINEER |
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On-Line Edition |
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Buchanan County's
Family Newspaper Since 1922 |
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Thursday, December 14,
2006 |
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sports-page
2-online
edition |
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Members
of the Council Cobra basketball
team for the 2006-07 season are
(from left), seated: Coty
Breeding, Travis Viers, Dan
Presley, Alex Compton and
Shannon Breeding; standing:
Justin Boyd, Adam Hess, Justin
Fuller, Shane Presley, Logan
Howard and Matt Boyd. Not
pictured is John Breeding.
(Staff photo/Mike Stiltner.) |
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Five
New
Fulltime
Starters
Set To
Begin
Rebuilding
at
Council |
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by Lloyd
Combs
Sports
Reporter
Last
year
it
was
a
new
coach.
This
year
it’s
pretty
much
a
new
team.
The
turnover
is
almost
complete
at
Council.
Just
three
seasons
removed
from
its
last
state
tournament
team
and
six
seasons
since
winning
a
Group
A
title,
Neil
Rasnake,
in
just
his
second
year
as
head
coach,
has
five
new
fulltime
starters
and
a
mostly-new
bench.
The
Cobras
lost
seven
seniors
and
90
percent
of
their
scoring
and
rebounding
from
last
year’s
squad,
a
team
that
started
7-2
and
finished
11-12
overall.
Only
one
returning
lettermen,
6-3
senior
post
Justin
Fuller
(3.5
ppg),
got
any
significant
varsity
experience
last
year.
Only
two
other
players,
senior
post
Logan
Howard
(6-2)
and
junior
guard
Dan
Presley
(6-0)
have
any
prior
varsity
experience.
Fuller
provides
offense
in
the
post,
while
first-year
senior
Justin
Boyd
is
an
excellent
ball
handler
and
scorer
who
can
play
inside
or
out.
The
two
seniors
have
helped
ease
the
transition
at
Council,
where
three
freshmen
have
been
part
of
a
seven-man,
early-season
rotation.
In
the
long
run,
Rasnake
says,
it
will
take
a
strong
collective
effort
in
every
aspect
of
the
game
for
such
an
inexperienced
squad
to
win.
“Defense
and
rebounding
will
be
our
two
keys
all
year
,”
Rasnake
said.
“We
have
to
rebound
as
a
team
and
play
solid
team
defense.
We’re
young
and
inexperienced,
but
I’ve
seen
improvement
every
game
so
far.
Hopefully,
we’ll
see
that
every
game.”
Freshman
Travis
Viers
(5-11)
is
at
the
point,
while
freshman
Matt
Boyd
(6-0)
is
a
wing.
Another
freshman,
6-3
Shane
Presley
backs
up
Fuller
in
the
post.
“(Boyd)
and
Fuller
have
been
doing
a
good
job
so
far,”
Rasnake
said.
“But
the
young
guys
have
to
contribute.
The
three
freshmen
have
(to
play)
a
lot
of
minutes
and
they’ve
done
everything
I’ve
asked
them
to
do.
It’s
a
learning
process
for
them,
but
they’ve
done
well
so
far.”
For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at
newsstands now. For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today.
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Lady
Rebels
Looking
to Return
to
Contender
Status
Wayne
Hall
Replaces
Longtime
and
Respected
Coach
Harold
Horne
at
Hurley
Helm |
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by Lloyd
Combs
Sports
Reporter
Hurley
had
one
girls
basketball
coach
for
30
years.
Wayne
Hall
now
becomes
the
Lady
Rebels’
third
coach
in
four
years.
Hall
hopes
to
build
his
team
around
fundamentals
and
to
return
the
Lady
Rebs
to
contender
status,
both
of
which
were
hallmarks
during
much
of
longtime
coach
Harold
Horne’s
30-year
tenure.
Hall
takes
over
a
team
that
has
decent
size
and
athletic
ability,
but
needs,
he
says,
a
stronger
grasp
of
the
basics.
All
seven
returnees
now
have
a
year
together
under
their
belts,
but
each
is in
just
their
second
year
on
the
varsity.
“We’re
still
inexperienced,”
Hall
said.
“We’ve
just
got
to
believe
in
what
we’re
doing.
We
need
a
better
understanding
of
what’s
going
on.
“We’ve
got
to
learn
to
protect
the
basketball.
There’s
a lot
of
things,
hustling
back,
getting
in
the
right
position
on
defense.
We’re
young
and
we
just
need
to
keep
working
on
the
fundamentals.”
Hurley
returns
three
players
who
can
run
the
floor
and
handle
multiple
roles
in
senior
guard
Sarah
Justus
(5-9)
and
sophomores
Tara
Hall
(5-7)
and
Celisha
Allen
(5-9).
“Most
of
the
time
I
have
to
leave
Tara
and
Celisha
and
Sarah
on
the
floor,”
Hall
added.
“We
have
some
girls
who
will
give
us
some
help
down
the
road.
Some
of
them
have
a lot
of
things
they
need
to
work
on,
some
just
a
couple
of
things.”
Juniors
Brandy
Lester
(6-2)
and
Patricia
Citarelli
(5-9)
senior
Shannon
Bandy
(5-8),
sophomore
Ashley
Stacy
and
freshman
Candie
Justus
will
fill
various
roles
for
the
Lady
Rebels.
“We’ve
got
some
size
inside
and
we’ve
got
some
shooters,”
Hall
said.
“We’ve
had
to
work
on
things
like
spacing
on
the
floor
and
the
triple
threat
position,
but
the
girls
are
picking
things
up
pretty
quickly.
“Once
they
realize
what
we’re
doing,
what
my
philosophy
is, I
think
we’ll
be
all
right.”
The
Rebels
have
some
depth
with
junior
Andrea
Bandy
(5-5)
and
sophomores
Allison
Vance
and
Chelsea
Ramey.
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Grundy Turns
Back Council; Drops Opener to Abingdon |
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by
Lloyd
Combs
Sports
Reporter
Grundy
started
with
a
strong
defensive
charge
and
managed
to
withstand
a
late
3-point
barrage
at
the
end.
The
Golden
Wave
scored
the
game’s
first
16
points
and
held
on
for
its
first
win
of
the
season
with
a
53-45
victory
over
Buchanan
County
rival
Council
Monday
night
at
GHS.
Monday’s
effort
marked
a
rapid
turnaround
for
Grundy,
which
got
drilled
by a
veteran
Abingdon
squad,
68-43,
in
the
Wave’s
season
opener
Friday.
The
Golden
Wave
led
from
start
to
finish
Monday,
thanks,
in
large
part
to a
stifling
first
quarter
defensive
effort.
Jimmy
Ashby
blocked
three
shots
and
D.J.
Gelenster
got
three
steals
in
the
opening
period.
“We
came
out
playing
good
defense,”
Grundy
coach
Greg
Rife
said.
“We
got a
little
lax
on
defense
though
in
the
second
half.
We
weren’t
as
tight
on
screens
and
we
didn’t
play
as
well
out
on
the
perimeter
as we
should
have.
“And
they
made
some
big
plays
in
the
second
half,
especially
Justin
Boyd.
He is
definitely
tough
to
defend
when
he
gets
on
track.”
The
Golden
Wave
led
16-1
after
one
quarter
and
extended
that
margin
to
18-1
early
in
the
second
quarter
before
Boyd
and
Dan
Presley
started
Council
(2-2)
on
the
comeback
trail.
Boyd
scored
nine
of
his
game-high
21
points
in
the
second
quarter
and
Presley
hit
the
first
of
his
three
3-pointers
as
the
Cobras
got
within
22-13
late
in
the
first
half.
For more of the
story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at
newsstands now. For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today.< | |
