Honaker High School’s boys basketball team will be a big underdog tonight.
What else is new?
The Tigers (12-13) have pieced together an improbable postseason run and will face Region C champion James River (25-2) tonight at 8:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the VHSL
Group A, Division 2 state tournament at the Salem Civic Center.
Honaker went from the eighth seed in the Region D, Division 2 tourney to being one of just four boys teams from Southwest Virginia still playing.
“It’s been really up and down,” said Honaker coach Waylon Hart. “We’ve had some really good games and a few really bad ones. Then we’ve played really well in some games that we had, we just missed some free throws at the end or had a few mental mistakes at the end that cost us.
“The kids have shown a lot of mental toughness, just hung tough and tried to learn from those mistakes. I’ve got a super bunch of kids to work with.”
Honaker’s strange season-long odyssey has included many highlights and lowlights.
--- The Tigers opened the season by placing seventh out of eight teams at the John Battle holiday tournament. \
--- The team rebounded by posting three quality wins in taking the Highlands Union Bank Tip-Off Classic at Virginia High later in December.
--- They finished third in the Black Diamond District standings. The Tigers reached the finals of the BDD tournament, but were seeded eighth in the Region D, Division 2 tournament.
That’s when the Tigers turned things around.
They shocked top-seeded Gate City in the first round, ending the Clinch Mountain District champion’s season earlier than most expected.
“That was probably the best win I’ve had since I’ve been coaching,” Hart said. “The kids came out ready to play. They weren’t intimidated. Gate City’s an intimidating team to play
because the type of defense they play, but we came out and matched their intensity on both ends of the court.”
An overtime win over Haysi in the regional semifinals clinched Honaker’s state tourney bid. The Tigers have been led by players like Cory Brown, Clark Dye, Ty Hall, Blake Gent, Jeremiah Dye and Ethan Davis all season.
“It’s great the way things have worked out,” Hart said. “We’ve played 10 players every game and that helps with team morale, because everybody’s involved and everybody’s contributing … I would rather have it this way.”
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