Roanoke – The Patriots are carrying the city of Roanoke’s basketball flag in both divisions. The Patrick Henry boys held off Riverside by a 53-42 count. Meanwhile the PH girls edged visiting Briar Woods 57-51 to move past the state quarterfinal for the first time under coach Mike Hedrick.
“At this level everybody’s good but the truth is we feel like we’re good to we do belong here and there’s this wind gives us the confidence to believe that and keep on going forward,” Hedrick said.
In the other Class 5 girls game, the William Fleming girls fell to Woodgrove 51-47.
In Class 4, there was no good news to report on the girls side. Last year’s state runnerup, Pulaski County was ousted by Millbrook 65-58, while EC Glass ran into a buzzsaw that is Loudoun Valley 74-51.
On the boys side, defending state champ GW Danville advanced to their third final 4 in four years with a 63-55 win over Loudon County. Halifax County fell to Millbrook 61-58.
In Class 3, defending champion Northside lost a heartbreaker on the road to Western Albemarle, on a follow layup off a miss at the buzzer. The final was 51-49. Meanwhile Cave Spring beat LCA 65-52.
On the girls side, perennial power Lord Botetourt is looking for a second title in three seasons. They took down Turner Ashby in a runaway, 63-30.
In Class 2 action, Radford faced Central Wise in the quarterfinal. The game ended up going to overtime, with the Bobcats winning 58-52.
“I just didn’t know to the extent of how hard they played,” head coach Rick Cormany said. “That is what surprised me the most, just a bunch of kids playing the game as hard as they can, never quitting."
Also in Class 2, Glenvar fell to Gate City 59-49.
On the girls side, Gate City upended Floyd County 53-43, while the Martinsville vs. Union contest at UVA-Wise was postponed until Saturday afternoon because of snow.
In Class 1, Grundy edges Parry McCluer 49-46, while Auburn vs Eastside scheduled for UVA-Wise was moved to Saturday because of snow.
In girls action, both of our SW Virginia schools suffered season-ending losses. Honaker defeated George Wythe 65-59 and PH Glade Spring downs Galax 51-30.
and in Class 1 Grundy beat Parry McCluer 49-46.