The Duke’s Bull Run District Championship Preview: Strasburg vs Luray

2/19/26 Strasburg, VA- #1 seed Strasburg hosts #3 seed Luray tonight in the Bull Run District Boys Basketball Championship Game for the Hike Kidz Foundation Game of the Week c/o Brickhouse Bar and Grill with pregame coverage starting around 7:20 pm on The River 95.3, Fox Sports Radio 1450, TheRiver953.com, and The River 95.3 app.

Strasburg swept Luray in the regular season, but both matchups were competitive with the Rams winning by 11 in Strasburg and by 5 in Luray.

Strasburg earned homecourt advantage tonight by winning the regular season Bull Run District title and finishing 17-6 overall.

The Rams had a massive improvement from last year when they finished under .500 at 10-12.

Luray has continued their winning ways and also finished 17-6 overall after claiming back-to-back Region 2B titles last year and advancing to the Class 2 state semifinals.

The Bulldogs will not have the chance to defend their title after dropping down to Class 1 but now have a better chance at finishing the season with a State Championship (in theory).

Luray is led by Matthew Owens, but the JMU bound Senior has taken a beating this season and missed Luray’s final two regular season games with an ankle injury.

Owens returned to action in the Bull Run Semifinals and finished with a game high 21 points in the win so he should be close to 100% for Thursday’s Championship game.

While Owens was out, senior Connor Hilliard took the lead and averages 13.5 points per game to go with 6.7 rebounds per game.

Hilliard will join Owens at JMU but will take his talents to the diamond at Veterans Memorial Park.

Strasburg limited the talented back court with great team defense and held the Bulldogs to over 20 points below their season average in both regular season wins.

Offensively, the Rams are led by sharpshooter Gavin Dellinger (15 ppg) and forward Jasiah Warner (11.4 ppg).

Warner led Strasburg with 16 points in the BRD semifinal win over Page County while Dellinger was limited to just 8 points, all in the 4th quarter.

The junior guard will need a full four quarters in the scoring column as the Rams will need his offense to go toe-to-toe with Owens, Luray’s All Time leading scorer.

I look for this game to trend towards a slower pace which would benefit Strasburg and the Rams size advantage in the paint with 6’4″ Warner and 6’3″ Jacob Britton.

Owens ankle injury could also limit his minutes with Luray needing to keep larger goals in mind and he might have to score 30 if the Bulldogs want a chance at upsetting the #1 seed on the road.

Ultimately, Strasburg’s defense will be the difference maker and help the Rams to their first District Title in over 15 years, Strasburg 52- Luray 48.

Color Commentator Josh Kirby spoke with Luray Head Coach Mat Huff before the game here.

For more local sports coverage, check out the latest Sports Dogs Podcast here.

The Duke’s Bull Run District Championship Preview: Clarke County vs Strasburg

2/18/26, Berryville VA- Clarke County hosts Strasburg in the Bull Run District Girls Basketball Championship Game with coverage starting around 7:30 pm on The River 95.3, Fox Sports Radio 1450, The River 95.3 app and TheRiver953.com for the first of two Hike Kidz Foundation Games of the Week c/o Brickhouse Bar and Grill (Boys Championship game will take place on Thursday).

Clarke County was pinned as the early favorites to repeat as Bull Run District Champions this season, but Strasburg made sure no one forgot about them after a 21-3 record and splitting with Clarke County in the regular season.

Strasburg upset Clarke County just 7 days ago at home 48-47 after a late Jayden Stinnette lay-up, but stumbled in their final regular season 56-51 to Central before a rematch three days later in the Bull Run District Semifinals where the Rams won 54-51.

In the win vs Clarke County, Strasburg snapped a 12 game Eagles win streak and limited All State Forward Alainah McKavaish to just 3 points in the first 3 quarters.

Limiting McKavish will be key to another chance at knocking off the Eagles.

In the first matchup between the schools in early January, McKavish dominated with a 21 point and 10 rebound performance and was one of five Eagles to knock down at least two 3-pointers.

McKavish leads Clarke in nearly every statistical category but has a strong and experienced supporting cast with 8/9 players returning from last years State Semifinal squad.

Paige McKavish (15.9 ppg) and Kendall Harman (10.5 ppg) join Alainah (20.6 ppg) in double digits while Savannah McCaw leads the Eagles with 4.1 assists per game and Paige Stemberger’s lock-down defense leads to 3.6 steals per game.

The Rams are led by seniors Emily Gorrell and Jayden Stinnette.

When Clarke County zeroed in on Gorrell last week, Stinnette made them pay with the game winner.

Gorrell leads the Rams in scoring with 17.8 per game and assists with 3.2 while Stinnette is just behind at 11.9 points per game and is the leading rebounder with 8.3 per game.

The duo is playing their best as the Rams enter the playoffs with both earning a double-double in the BRD semifinals.

Individually, Gorrell is on a tear with three straight games over 20 points.

Strasburg will have an advantage in coaching experience with Kelly Stinnette leading the bench for her third season while Coach Shadd McCaw is still in his first year as head coach.

While a loss tonight wouldn’t end either teams season, Clarke County should be in playoff mode and will look for revenge against the only team in Virginia to beat them this season.

I look for the Eagles to come out very aggressive and Alainah McKavish to be a little more “selfish” early to build a Clarke County lead then pull away for a 60-45 win.

For a regular season recap and playoff preview, check out last week’s Sports Dogs podcast here. 

Color commentator Josh Kirby spoke with Clarke County’s Shadd McCaw here. 

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here. 

Handley’s Harrell-Zook becomes youngest coach to 100 wins, Playoffs begin

John Handley High School head boys basketball coach Zach Harrell-Zook claimed his 100th win as a head coach Monday night against Jefferson, 70-36.

In doing so, Coach Harrell-Zook became the youngest coach in VHSL history to reach the milestone at just 29 years old.

The Millbrook High School graduate is also the youngest coach to reach a VHSL Championship Game when he led the Judges to the 2021 matchup against Smithfield.

This year’s Handley squad secured the #1 seed in Region 4D and will begin their run towards a State Championship next week.

High school basketball playoff coverage begins this week on The River 95.3, Fox Sports Radio 1450, The River 95.3 app, and TheRiver953.com!

Clarke County hosts Strasburg in the girls Bull Run District Championship game on Wednesday night.

Then the Boys Championship game will take place on Thursday night at the highest remaining seed (Tuesday Semifinal Games: #1 Strasburg vs #4 Page, #2 Central vs #3 Luray).

Pregame coverage begins around 7:15 pm on Wednesday and Thursday with Ryan Rutherford and Josh Kirby on The River 95.3, Fox Sports Radio 1450, The River 95.3 app, and TheRiver953.com.

For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here. 

The Duke’s Championship Preview: Clarke Co. vs Central

Tonight’s Bull Run District Girls Basketball Championship Game features #1 seed Clarke County hosting #3 seed Central in the Van Metre Homes Game of the Week on The River 95.3, Fox Sports Radio 1450, theriver953.com, and The River 95.3 app with coverage starting around 7:15 pm.

Defensive intensity always rises in the playoffs and both Clarke County and Central relied on strong defensive performances to advance to the District Championship Game.

Central avenged two regular season loses to regular season District Co-Champion Strasburg by upsetting the #2 seed Rams.

The Falcons deployed a mixture of a 3-2 zone and man-to-man to defense to keep Strasburg off their toes and force seven first period turnovers.

Central’s defensive effort held Strasburg to just 34 points, their lowest point total of the season, and held Strasburg’s Jayden Stinnette and Emily Gorrell to only 13 points combined after the duo tallied 31 against the same Falcons team three days prior.

Sister’s Veronica and Vanessa Gordon combined for 24 to take Central into the Championship Game to meet another pair of sisters that dominated the second Semifinal game for Clarke County.

Alainah and Paige McKavish wreaked havoc against Rappahannock County combining for 38 points and spearheading a 1-3-1 half-court defense that held Rappahannock to just two free throws through the first 5:49.

Clarke County coasted to the win and will enjoy home court advantage for Thursday night’s matchup while also securing the #2 seed in the Region 2B Tournament to host Page County on Tuesday.

Central will host Buckingham County in a Regional Playoff game on Tuesday regardless of the District Championship outcome.

While many districts throughout Virginia have done away with District Tournaments entirely, and I personally enjoy the Bull Run deciding to keep a historic tournament going against such close rivals.

You can truly see how much it means to the athletes competing.

Clarke County leaving their starters in longer than Rappahannock County showed that they are determined to finish this tournament on top and will not take their foot off the gas until the final buzzer.

That could be bad news for a Central team that has already fallen to the Eagles twice this season by a combined 38 points.

I predict Clarke County’s aggressive half-court defense will provide too much chaos for a sometimes stagnant Central offense and the McKavish duo will have another big night in front of the home crowd, Eagles win 70-55.

In the latest Sports Dogs Podcast available here, we discuss our favorites for playoff runs in the upcoming VHSL tournament, the Nats in Spring Training, Caps at the midway point, and more.