Twin Valley Prepares For Group A, Division 1 Semifinals

RICHMOND, Va. – Friends for life.
Believe it or not, basketball isn’t the only thing that has been a way of life at Twin Valley, not for most of the young men on the third Panther team in four years to play in the state semifinals.

Twin Valley (22-5) takes on Eastern Montgomery (22-4) in the Group A, Division 1 semifinals at VCU’s Siegel Center today at 5:00 p.m. The winner plays for the state championship at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.
It’s the final road trip for a group that has literally traveled all over the country together, from North Carolina to Colorado, for nearly 10 years, and, in the case of seniors Hunter Simpson and Jacob St. Clair and junior Lucas Shortridge, since the first or second grade. 

“We’ve been together since K-3 ball,” Simpson said. “We’ve grown up together.”

They’ve been on basketball teams together, baseball teams together, trips to summer camps, vacations, you name it. Now, win or lose, this is their final trip together as a unit, six seniors and three juniors, that played together through little league and AAU, to middle school, junior varsity and high school.

“It’s a little heartbreaking to think that no matter what, next week we’re not going being playing together,” Simpson said. “It’s kind of sad when you look at it that way.”

Because of that – and because the Panthers’ season ended in the semifinals last year – the team agreed to try a different approach this year.

“We were trying to enjoy it too much last year,” Simpson said. “We’re looking at it from a different standpoint this year. We want the fun to come after we do what we’re supposed to do.”
“Last year our mindset was, a lot of us thought just making the final four was a big thing,” added Garrett Horne, who like Simpson, is a four-year contributor on the Panther varsity. “This time we can’t be satisfied with that. We want to win. This is one trip we’ll remember, either way. But it’ll be a lot better if something good came out of it.”

The seniors are Horne, Simpson, St. Cair, Carter Burniston and Tyler Adams. The juniors include Josh Smith and Brandon Viers.
That group started together with the Buchanan Basketball Foundation. Junior Adam Keen joined them in the fifth grade when Whitewood and Garden were consolidated into Twin Valley.

Most good basketball teams have good chemistry. This group has that chemistry on and off the court.

“The fact that these kids know each other so well has carried over into playing ball,” Twin Valley coach Brian Moore said. “They’re good friends who enjoy being around each other. They feed off each other.”

Never was that more evident than last week’s state quarterfinal win over Galax. At halftime it appeared that Smith, a 1,000-point scorer who also has over 1,000 career rebounds, was done for the night with a badly sprained ankle.

“When Josh was hurt, Hunter made the comment when we were going back out for the second half, that Josh has carried us on his back enough times, so he told the rest of the kids that it was time for us to step up and carry him.”

Smith returned to help the Panthers win. Twin Valley’s latest challenge is a 22-4 Eastern Montgomery club that returns two of the three leading scorers from last year’s state quarterfinals, senior wing Henry Hall (17.5 points per game) and sophomore point guard Brad Wooten (11.2), when the Panthers defeated the Mustangs, 69-62. Shawn Christian, a reserve forward as a freshman last season, contributes 17.4 ppg.

“Overall, they’re probably a little bit better than they were last year,” Moore said. “They shoot threes extremely well. Defensively they’re active, they’re constantly moving. The keys for us are pretty much the same as last week, take care of the ball, be patient on offense and don’t try to run with them.”

The winner faces either Altavista or Colonial Beach in the state finals. Win or lose, the Panthers will have a lot to talk about from the past 10 or so years, and for years to come. 

“We’ve had a lot of good times together,” Simpson said. “Years from now we’ll still sit back and talk about all the crazy stuff, all the fun we had, all the games we played.”
Moore says it’s been a pleasure to coach them.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get a chance to coach a better group of kids,” Moore said. “They’re unique. A lot of players are friends when they’re teammates. I think all of these kids are friends for life.”