Norton 73 - GC 56 boys..... Kelly 54 - GC 46 girls

Why do you ask this? Here are the reasons why and if you are from Gate City you will not like to hear this but it is the truth. So turn away now if you do not want to read it. Both the GC boys and girls basketball teams are DONE!!!!


The run to repeat as state champions is over for the Lady Blue Devils. In the past few games that they have played, they have, like their male counterparts, played without any emotion or heart. The hunger that they showed last year collectively has vanished. The Blue Devils boys basketball team is also in the same boat. I tried to tell myself, in watching them play some before school started back in January and a little bit since, that this was just a slump of sorts that both teams were going through. After hearing different comments made by some of my friends up here as well as friends at other schools who have seen them play, it is evident to see that both Blue Devil basketball teams (boys and girls) are playing just to be playing. The teams they play, although very outmatched talented wise, are just more hungry and always play harder than the Blue Devil team ever thought of playing. I never dreamed I would be saying this at all about any teams from GC. But after hearing comments made by other people: reporters, other coaches, etc... about how average Gate City is now... I have come to have to agree that they are correct as much as I hate to even admit it.


For instance I will take this week's events for example. I wasn't able to attend the games up in Coeburn the other night because of a night class I have up here at King. I called a good friend of mine from UVA-Wise who went to watch a cousin of his play for Pound and he said that the team the Blue Devils put out on the floor would be lucky to win their first round game against whoever they play.
In his words, he said that, "this is the first Blue Devil team that I have seen play that actually looked soft as teddy bears. They strut and dunk and do all this stuff in warmups and then they play and you wonder for what reason the struts and stuff were for. If you had told me that Pound was the district champion and Gate City was the lower seeded team I would have believed you because Pound played like they were the champions of the Lonesome Pine."

When he said that I was shocked. Since I have talked to him, I have heard nothing else but negative things. The most telling thing I heard was from a reporter who was speaking of Gate City up at Honaker last night when I went the Black Diamond District semifinals with a buddy of mine from King. I knew those games probably were going to be good because we went to the JV Championship game at 4:30pm and the gym was packed out just for that game. Back to the reporter, a fan on the Twin Valley side asked him if he thought the Panthers could hang with Gate City if they met in the Region D Semifinals. And what he replied with told me all about the respect that people view the Blue Devils with now. His reply was, "Twin Valley looks pretty good and they do not get rattled very easily. If you want to know the truth, Twin Valley would beat Gate City by 20 because as talented as they are, the Blue Devils have a bunch of cupcakes for players. They do not play with any emotion and they look as if they could care less if they win or not. They are a team that could very well win the Region D Tournament next week, but, and I never thought I would ever say this of a Gate City team..... but they are heartless. You never see them really look like they care about their teammates and you never really see anyone really act like they care about who they are or anything. I fear that Gate City athletics has gone from having players who were hungry and were ready to fight for each other, to being a program full of arrogant, egotistical, self centered athletes who think that they are much better than they really are. The Gate City Blue Devils girls basketball team has went so far downhill that they will not have to worry about repeating as Group A State Champs this year. They will by far be lucky to get out of the state quarterfinals in my opinion. As for the boys basketball team, it is my belief that they will get beat by Norton in the LPD Finals by 17 and the girls will get beat by J.J. Kelly by 4 on Friday night if both teams are able to advance to the finals."

My friend went and talked to a coach that he knew from Honaker. He asked him about Gate City and why people are talking so negative about them. He said that he himself was surprised to hear about this but for him all the players at Honaker, they really didnt care because they were hungry for their own success. The Honaker coach also heard that the main drawback on what he has heard about the Blue Devils is that they dont play for each other and they just dont care about anyone but themselves. I asked him if that was really surprising and he said that it was but that he saw a little bit of it himself when they played the Blue Devils in a summer camp game. He said that you can look out on the court and there will not be anyone really being a leader for them out there. My prediction is that you will not have to worry about seeing Gate City because they won't be there. Their girls will not make the Region D Finals either because they are playing the same way. Its sad. They have athletes playing as if they have already won the entire thing. They are the most arrogant Gate City teams I have ever seen play in my life. That is really sad... they used to be respected for their heart and how hard they play. The heart with which Blue Devil teams are known to play with in the past... its gone. That is what set them apart from everyone else around. Now they are everyone else. Case closed."

Region D Tournament prediction

Gate City vs. Rye Cove --- winner Rye Cove
Norton vs. Honaker ------- winner Norton

Rye Cove vs. Twin Valley - winner Twin Valley
Norton vs. Castlewood ---- winner Norton

Norton vs. Twin Valley ---- Region D Champion Norton

Norton is THE BEST TEAM IN LPD AND REGION D!!!!!!!!

Norton can't hang within 10 points of the Castlewood Blue Devils. I have seen them play several times this year and they have far too many weapons for anyone in region D.

So what you are sayin is because Castlewood has good players that have played well most of the season, JIB has no chance? Burton proved last week that they are capable of beating the best teams in this Region, and Castlewood has slacked a little as of late. I'd say both of those teams have a good chance of beating one another until the clock reads triple zeros.

Are you saying Gate City is an elite team?? Cause I don't think they are. That was 1 game, we're talking about a team that beat PV by what, 6 points after losing to them twice in the regular season.

I am not a GC hater by any means on this site. I love watching GC when they play. But lately, GC is not GC. From what I heard the other night, GC played more like Pound and Pound played more like GC. I just hate to see a team that is really talented to waste all the God given talent that they have been given. Because I fully believe that if they really get to a point where they are really for each other they will win. It is easy to look at yourself and say... well I am doing my job. But if you get a team that looks at his / her teammate and says... I want to win for him / her... I want my teammate to be a champion as much as I do. There is a difference between being selfish and selfless. You can be selfish on offense, you can be selfish on defense and you can even be selfish on the bench with comments like... "alright he messed up now I can go in and show what I can do." If you have a team makeup like that... forget it. Better start baseball. I hope that GC is not in this mode right now. The team that plays more like true champions of the LPD right now is Burton. They consistently congratulate each other on the court for good plays... point people out for good passes. They have a hunger in their eyes. Gate City has tonight and a first round region game to show people out there who they really are.

It may seem easy for the Blue Devils to say we are in the Region D Tournament again this year just like every year. Teams can get spoiled and fans can get spoiled over their success. According to my buddy, if the Blue Devils were paying attention the other night, most of the fans in Coeburn's gym were cheering on the Wildcats because they were TOTALLY OUTHUSTLING AND OUTPLAYING THE BLUE DEVILS. When in the history of the Earth has a team from Pound EVER EVER outplayed Gate City High School?

All the really good teams have a COLLECTIVE KILLER INSTINCT.
I will take a team with average talent, average ability and average size but with a 200% size heart and I will play anyone you throw at me no matter how big, how talented or how skilled. We may get knocked around, we may get pushed around... but we will not go down.

Gate City has the size, they have the skill, they have the talent......the main question on everybody's mind that I have talked to.......they have everything you want why don't they have the heart?

I want to see GC do well. They have represented this region well many times. But the way that the boys and girls players are carrying themselves on the court right now .... makes me wonder if they think they are better than what they are and if they really are HUNGRY.

HUNGER AND DESIRE.........BLUE DEVILS (BOYS AND GIRLS).... do you have it?

If Norton advances and Gate City were not to advance on in Region D Tournament, I am going to become a Norton Raider fan. Because right now they are flying under the radar and I know that on a night made just for the Raiders... they can take the Castlewood Blue Devils and send them back to the house.

Good luck LPD.... go prove to people that this district isnt any fluke.

That is the best thing for you, to become a raider fan. That is the best post I have ever seen you make.

Norton has a chance of beating Castlewood. They have just as good a chance as anyone. How do the odds look? Very slim, but there is still that chance.

This is not a derogatory remark against Thomas Walker football and I know this isn't about football, but a lot of people will be saying that once the TW/PV football game rolls around, that TW will have no chance even if you bake a snowball in an oven without the snowball melting. But the odds are certainly NOT in TW's favor. They can beat us in football although the odds on paper are very very slim. Just like Burton can beat Castlewood in basketball although the odds are definitely in favor of Castlewood.

That being said I'm not too confident that Norton will pull it off but I'll be pulling for the fellow LPD team.

Does anyone know if the games are on the radio?

Well, they're as about as elite as any other team around here. That's why they play the games my friend. If it was all settled on perception or on paper there would be no reason to have sports to begin with.