The Dogs weigh in on:
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The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival announced the local honorees for this year’s Sports Breakfast including exceptional athletes from each school and two Hall of Fame selections.
In the announcement from Festival President Jeremy Luttrell, Pepper Martin Jr and Jimmy Dix were selected as this year’s Hall of Fame inductees.
Martin served as head baseball and wrestling coach for three decades at Sherando High School before retiring in 2023.
During his coaching career in baseball, he compiled a record of 407-241 and led his teams to 10 district championships, 4 state playoff berths and a State Championship in 2013.
In wrestling, he led his team to a record of 478-123 and earned nine district championships.
He also coached four individual state champions and 55 state place winners.
Jimmy Dix was a 1959 Handley Grad who spent over six decades giving back to the school and supporting their athletic programs.
Dix began volunteering in 1964 and joined the chain crew in 1967, a role he kept until 2020, and helped the basketball team as clock operator, a role he continues today.
During his time on the Judges Athletics Association Board, he was instrumental in establishing the Hunter-Maddex Hall of Fame and later the Edwin Barksdale Wing to honor former Douglas School Athletes.
Dix also volunteered his time with youth baseball and softball programs and served on the Winchester Parks and Recreation Board.
The local athletes that will be honored during the breakfast include:
For more information on the:
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3/18/26- The Dogs take a bite out of their Tournament brackets, and look back at a great weekend at VCU for our area basketball teams including:
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Congratulations to all our local high schools that represented the Shenandoah Valley with pride during the VHSL Basketball State Championships in Richmond over the weekend.
Three of the six teams claimed state titles including the Luray boys, Clarke County girls, and Handley boys.
In Clarke County’s 67-55 win over Union, senior Alainah McKavish claimed the school’s all time scoring record and bookended her career with a second state title after winning as a freshman.
Handley got over the hump after previously going 0-4 in State Championship games to claim the first trophy in their 103 year history, 61-42 over Hampton.
Luray brought home their first State Trophy in 50 years after a double overtime win over Fort Chiswell 84-82 and overcame Fort Chiswell’s Owen Jackson scoring a state championship record 53 points.
The Luray girls, Central boys, and Skyline girls were named State Runner-Up at VCU and we also congratulate them on incredible seasons.
For more local sports coverage, follow the Sports Dogs Podcast.
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3/12/26- In this edition of the Dog-Pod, The R-Dog & The Duke preview the VHSL Basketball Championship games involving six (count ’em, six!) area teams including Luray’s boys and girls, the Clarke County girls, Central boys, Skyline girls, and Handley boys, and a recap (so far) of a very busy week for Commanders GM Adam Peters…
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The Dogs cover a variety of subjects from the sports world this week, including college hoops and the Winter Olympic Games ranging from our favorite events to the curling controversy.
Plus Duke’s Three Pointer zeros in on local hoops including Handley basketball Coach Zach Harrell-Zook becoming the youngest coach in VHSL history to 100 career wins, local district champions, and the death of district championship tournaments (with the exception of the Bull Run)!
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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.
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While the R-Dog is away, the Sports Dogs still play!
The Duke is joined by Josh Kirby to recap the Super Bowl, look back on the legacy of Sonny Jurgenson, and review an INCREDIBLE high school hoops regular season as the playoffs begin next week.
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2/6/26, Winchester, VA- Handley (14-5) hosts Skyline (14-4) for a Northwestern District grudge match in tonight’s Hike Kidz Foundation Game of the Week c/o of Brickhouse Bar and Grill with coverage starting at 7:15 pm for the estimated 7:30 pm tip-off on Fox Sports Radio 1450, TheRiver953.com, and The River 95.3 app.
Skyline held on for a 67-64 victory at home less than a month ago after jumping out to 22-10 1st quarter lead thanks to six JHHS turnovers.
The Hawks lead reached 20 in the second quarter before Handley started to chip away and bring the lead to 11 at halftime then 9 entering the 4th quarter.
Handley eventually brought the deficit to just 2 points with 1:12 left, but some clutch free throw shooting by Cameron Kerns following a Zayden Burks offensive rebound helped secure the win.
Burks and Kerns led the way all night with 19 points and 17 points and it was only fitting they shut the door on the comeback bid.
Skyline has carried the momentum from that win into victories in five of their last six and seem to be playing their best basketball as the playoffs approach.
Handley has made some changes since the first matchup and seem to be adjusting well to life without the injured superstar Will Braun-Duin.
Christian Dinges has emerged as a top player in the District…Region State and Asher Mattison appears to be the heir to Braun-Duin’s three-point throne.
Earlier this week, Dinges put on a clinic against James Wood with 36 points (20 in the 1st quarter), 10 rebounds, and some highlight reel dunks to lead the way for a 77-32 road win.
Mattison followed with a 37 point and 10 three pointer performance against Veritas Collegiate Academy on Wednesday.
The freshman sharpshooter was just one made three away from tying Braun-Duin’s single game record while taking only 12 shots from long range.
Mattison has only made four varsity starts entering Friday night, but Handley is 4-0 in those games with an average margin of victory of 49.5 ppg.
The 6’4″ athlete has shown he is ready for the varsity level and could provide the spacing that Handley needs to make a deep playoff run which many thought was impossible following the second Braun-Duin injury.
While Skyline jumped on Handley early in the first matchup, I look for the Judges to turn the tides and come out hot with the home crowd behind them and a chip on their shoulder following the first loss to the Hawks.
The addition of Mattison and the rest of Coach Harrell-Zook’s lineup feeling more comfortable in their roles post-Braun Duin will be enough to make up the difference from Game 1, Judges 75 – Hawks 68.
For more local sports coverage along with a Super Bowl preview, check out the latest Sports Dogs Podcast.
It’s a full dog bowl this week, as the R-Dog & The Duke preview The Big Game on Sunday (coverage from 2pm -8pm on The River 95.3 and Fox Sports Radio 1450 via Westwood One).
Plus, an exciting Wizards trade, Curling Olympics begin, and Duke’s Three-Pointer featuring three scorers in Handley’s Asher Mattison, Clarke County’s Alainah McKavish, and Luray’s Matthew Owens!
Get those meatballs and your seven-layer dip ready, and let’s roll with another Sports Dogs Pod, brought to you by Energy Windows, LLC…your go-to team for everything outside the home. Call Dave at 540-671-9243 or visit https://energywindowsllc.com
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