So does anybody still think the LPD was the best basketball district?

[cvcgrad]

There wasn't much in the newspapers on Saturday about the Lebanon/PV game, but this article was in yesterday's Coalfield Progress.

Powell Valley and Lebanon just never matched up in this game.

Pioneers shut down the Vikings

ANTHONY STEVENS
SPORTS WRITER

CASTLEWOOD ? Lebanon?s Pioneers ended Lonesome Pine District champion Powell Valley?s season Friday by winning a 35-25 defensive struggle in the Division 2 semifinals of the Region D basketball tournament at Castlewood High School.

Lebanon made it a Russell County champioship final Friday after Honaker had taken a 56-54 overtime thriller from Haysi in the other semifinal game at Castlewood.

Lebanon and Honaker advanced to Division 2 championship game Saturday at Virginia High?s Bearcat Den.

NO CHARITY FOR VIKINGS
Lebanon?s defense was all over Powell Valley leading scorer Tyler Garrison throughout the game and the Pioneers were also able to shut down the Vikings? post offense.

The Vikings? scoring woes were compounded by the fact that Powell Valley (22-3) did not make a single trip to the foul line in the game while the Pioneers (18-5) were hitting nine of 22 attempts from the charity stripe.

Garrison had a game-high 11 points for the Vikings, but he was one of only two Powell Valley players to score more than four points. Reserve forward Ryan Baker was the other with a six-point effort.

?It was pretty similar to what I expected,? said Powell Valley coach Zack Moore. ?They have a very athletic team. I?m proud of my kids though. They really fought back.?

Lebanon controlled the first half. Benjamin Hendrickson hit two 3-pointers and Jerome Cobb dominated on the defensive end as the Pioneers took an 18-8 halftime lead.

The Pioneers? Justin Brown made two 3s early in the second half and Cobb scored as Lebanon took their biggest lead at 26-10 with 5:17 to play in the third quarter.

The Pioneers went the rest of the quarter and over two minutes into the fourth quarter without scoring. Garrison had two big buckets for the Vikings as they cut the lead to five points with 6:28 to play in the game.

Powell Valley looked like a team that was running low on gas following their momentum-changing surge as the Vikings missed their next five shots and Lebanon began to pull away.

?We got some good looks,? Moore said. ?We just wanted to keep getting stops and get some good offensive possessions.

We just didn?t make enough baskets and when that happens, your defensive pressure goes down.?
Brown led coach Thad Lambert?s Lebanon club with nine points. Cobb added seven points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots

[cvcgrad]

From the BHC...

Castlewood earns second straight regional title with victory over Appalachia

By Allen Gregory | Sports Writer / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: February 27, 2010
Updated: February 28, 2010

BRISTOL, Va. ? Zach Bush is not the typical post player.
At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, the Castlewood senior usually must find creative ways to score against larger defenders. Saturday?s Region D, Division 1 championship offered another showcase in creativity.
Bush was pitted against massive 6-foot-6 Appalachia post Mladen Bogicevic on offense and defense. Relying on his smooth jumper and savvy, Bush scored a game-high 21 points to guide Castlewood to a 48-37 victory over the Appalachia Bulldogs.
?[Bogicevic] was pretty big and strong,? Bush said. ?It seemed like he weighed about 250 pounds, but I tried to push him around and do what I could.?
Bush also attempted to free up his Castlewood teammates by shooting perimeter jumpers.
?[Bogicevic] couldn?t guard me outside, so I just moved on out there,? Bush said.
That enticement plan ignited a 19-2 fourth-quarter run by the Blue Devils. Appalachia was held scoreless until the final 30 seconds, as senior point guard Seth Justice continually made wise decisions for the balanced Castlewood offense.
?We didn?t do anything different,? Castlewood coach Wayne Rasnick said. ?We just kept attacking, and I thought we did a good job of that.?
The Blue Devils (22-4) won the Region D, Division 2 title last season, while Appalachia took the Division 1 crown. Both teams returned four starters.
Appalachia (22-5) built a 16-9 lead in the opening minute of the second quarter and led 35-28 with 29 seconds left in third quarter.
According to Bush, the Castlewood comeback centered more on attitude than execution. After a wild scramble for a loose ball, Bush delivered a 15-foot jumper to give his team a 38-35 with 3:59 remaining.
?We started playing with more intensity,? Bush said. ?Appalachia was getting a little mad out there, and we just played our game.?
Bogicevic collected 10 points and 10 rebounds, but he had to work for every point.
?Gee whiz, that?s the biggest guy I?ve seen in a long time,? Rasnick said. ?[Bogicevic] is a difference maker. We were getting to a double or triple team every time he got the ball. We might have contained him, but we didn?t shut him down.?
Forrest Stuart slithered and sped through the Castlewood defense for 10 points, but the 6-foot junior guard was handicapped by foul trouble in the second half.
?[Castlewood] played pretty good defense, and we just couldn?t knock down our shots,? Stuart said. ?We had some stupid things happen and that was pretty much the downfall. We just have to forget about this game.?
Appalachia coach Pat Jervis left to scout the Region C tournament immediately after the loss and was not available for comment.
Ruben Rasnick, a 6-foot-3 senior leaper, contributed 16 points for the Blue Devils. The Blue Devils featured four double-figure scorers last season and are just as cohesive this season.
?We?ve been playing together since about the third grade,? said Bush, a three-year starter. ?We?ve been involved in a lot of big games, and it?s pretty nice to win region twice in a row.?
Rasnick feels that the versatile Bush is a perfect example of the unified approach for Castlewood.
?Zach has come a long way in the last two years,? Rasnick said. ?He personifies what every kid would want to be.?
In a game played at Virginia High last season, Castlewood lost to eventual state champion Radford in the Division 2 quarterfinals. With Saturday?s win, the Blue Devils earned the right to return to VHS next week for another quarterfinal game.
?That?s big for us,? said Rasnick, who has led his team to a 45-8 record the past two seasons. ?We love playing in this gym.?
Appalachia, which lost a quarterfinal game to Eastern Montgomery last season, must play a road game next week.

[Biggin]

this deserves to be bumped.

not jsut for the LPD, although we had a great day today, but for Region D as a whole.

Appalachia advances to the Final Four, as does the John I. Burton girls team.
thats just from the LPD.

the CMD has two teams still playing, Lebanon boys and Lee girls.

the Cumberland also has two teams playing, Castlewood boys and Ervinton girls.

so six teams in a 50 mile radius all advance to their respective Final Fours.

so yes, the LPD was a great basketball district, but so was the CMD and the Cumberland.

[natprice21]

i fully agree with biggen.
the whole region doesnt suck at basketball. when out of 8 quarter final games, our region won 6!

congrats, to all region d teams!

[DJP]

nice call biggin, your one classy mother ****er.