The Duke’s State Championship Preview: Central vs Graham

3/12/26 Richmond, VA- Central High School will take on Graham High School in the Class 2 VHSL Boys Basketball Championship game Friday with coverage starting at 2:10 pm for the 2:30 pm tip-off on The River 95.3, Fox Sports Radio 1450, TheRiver953.com and The River 95.3 app thanks to The Hike Kidz Foundation c/o Brickhouse Bar and Grill.

Central returns to the State Championship for the first time since 1980 while Graham is back to finish the job after ending last season as runner-ups.

Both the Falcons and G-Men fell to John Marshall in last year’s postseason and returned to the Class 2 playoffs while last year’s John Marshall team will play in the Class 3 State Championship game for Petersburg.

While many of the contributors to last year’s Graham runner-up team have moved on, coach Todd Baker feels his team does benefit some from understanding the travel required for a State Title trip but knows it won’t help him once the ball is in the air.

This year’s G-Men are led by guards Channing Disibbio (20 ppg) and Ty Martin (17 ppg) in scoring and football standout Gage Palmer has added leadership and physicality.

Graham does not have a ton of size (no contributors over 6’2″) which matches up nicely for Central who has played bigger than listed all year.

Jonathan Akasa epitomizes that with his 6’1″ frame that grabs rebounds like he’s 6’11”.

Akasa is coming off back-to-back double-doubles and is a huge reason the Falcons were able to comeback against Thomas Jefferson and dominated against Greensville.

After filling up the stat sheet in the quarterfinals with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists, he helped turn the tides in the semifinals to outrebound TJHS in the 2nd half and overcome a 14 point 2nd half deficit.

Dereck Batiz-Lugo has been the most consistent force for Central all season long, and after last year’s Class 2 2nd Team All State selection as a sophomore, he seems destined for 1st team this year.

Offensively, Batiz-Lugo has led Central in scoring in both state playoff games with 13 and 18 points.

Defensively, he is a pest for ball handlers and led the team with 2.6 steals per game in the regular season.

This game has all the makings of a coaching chess match with Central’s Jeff Whittle and Graham’s Todd Baker.

Whittle led First Baptist in South Carolina to four state titles in his first four years as coach and was named to the school’s Hall of Fame last year.

Now he has brought Central back to a State Championship for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Baker took over the program in 2018 and eclipsed 100 career wins in 2024 before advancing to his first state title appearance as a head coach in 2025.

While coaching maybe a push, it will come down to the players on the floor and like all championship games in every sport… Defense.

The Central defense has carried the Falcons to the State Championship game and will be the reason they bring home the hardware.

As a team, Central held opponents to under 45 points per game on the year and just held TJHS to 22 points below their season average.

Just like many Bull Run bashes, the first team to 50 will win and that tough district schedule will have the Falcons ready.

Unlike the football team in 2023, these Falcons will “go to war with the G-men” (if you know, you know) and win, Central 50- Graham 48.

For more coverage on the Class 2 Boys Basketball State Championship game, CLICK HERE for color commentator Josh Kirby’s interviews with both coaches and Derick Batiz-Lugo.

For previews of all our local state championship teams from the latest Sports Dogs Podcast, CLICK HERE.

The Duke’s Hoops Preview: Region 2B Championships

2/28/26, Winchester VA- The Region 2B Championships invade Shenandoah University for tonight’s coverage of girls and boys basketball on The River 95.3, Fox Sports Radio 1450, TheRiver953.com, and The River 95.3 app starting at 5:45 pm thanks to the Hike Kidz Foundation c/o Brickhouse Bar and Grill.

The girls championship game will tip-off first at 6 pm and feature Clarke County against Strasburg.

Clarke County has looked like a team with a clear mission all season long under 1st year Head Coach Shadd McCaw and that mission is win a State Championship.

The Eagles dominated regular season competition again and finished 23-2 with an astounding average margin of victory at 35.7 points per game.

Clarke County is led by District Player of the Year and future Shippensburg University athlete Alainah McKavish.

McKavish has the ability to takeover a game and averages over 20 points per game, 6.4 rebounds, and 4 steals, but the Eagles have enough talent to make the opposition pay if they try to focus on the senior.

In the Region Semifinal, Alainah was held to 10 points, but her sister Paige, Savannah McCaw, and Paige Stemberger balanced the scoring sheet with 11 points each.

Clarke County also had a dominant team performance on the glass and outrebounded Central 38-18 (14-3 for offensive rebounds) on the way to a 59-34 win to set up a Bull Run District Championship rematch with Strasburg.

The Rams are coming off an impressive 49-35 win on the road against Stuarts Draft in the Region Semifinals.

Strasburg saw Emily Gorrell and Jayden Stinnette return to action after suffering injuries in the BRD Championship game loss to Clarke County and missing the entire second half.

Both seniors looked to be close to 100% in the Semifinal win with Gorrell leading all scorers with 22 points followed by Stinnette with 16 to secure Strasburg’s 5th State Playoff appearance in the last 7 years.

While falling to Clarke in the BRD Championship game about a week ago, the Rams should still feel confident in their ability to play with the Eagles as they are the only team in Virginia to defeat them this season.

In the win, Strasburg limited Alainah McKavish to just 3 points through the first three quarters while Stinnette and Gorrell combined for 31 points and connected for the game winning basket.

Clarke County would love nothing more than to prove that loss was simply an off-night and another Region Championship.

Clarke County’s defensive pressure led by the length and athleticism of the McKavish sister’s and the tenacity of Paige Stemberger will be the difference maker to keep Strasburg under 50 and give the Eagles the 61-49 win.

Following the girls championship game, the boys from Strasburg and Central will take the floor for a rubber match with the Region 2B trophy on the line.

Strasburg and Central split the regular season matchups with each team winning on the road and silencing rowdy home crowds.

If tonight’s matchup is anything like the first two, it could come down to who makes the better halftime adjustments.

The third quarter essentially decided both previous games with Strasburg going scoreless in the 3rd quarter while Central went on a 14-0 run and forced 5 turnovers, then Strasburg turned the tides in Woodstock with a 19-4 run to close the 3rd quarter and led by at least 17 the entire 4th quarter.

These two rivals are so familiar with each other and matchups like this often turn into chess matches between head coaches Larry Fox and Jeff Whittle.

During the final regular season matchup, I predicted the first team to 50 would win but tonight it might be the first team to 40.

With each basket coming at a premium tonight, Strasburg’s Gavin Dellinger could be the game changer with his quick release from deep and ability to get open off the ball.

Dellinger led the Rams through the regular season with about 15 points per game while Jasiah Warner has gotten better and better as the season has gone along and is coming off a career high 27 points against Page County in the Region Semifinal win Friday night.

The Rams had to fight off a furious comeback and three point barrage from Page County to reach the Championship game while the Falcons needed overtime to finish the job against Fort Defiance.

Central had to over come a double digit deficit after Fort Defiance put together a 19-2 run in the second quarter.

Last year’s District Player of the Year and All State selection Dereck Batiz-Lugo continues to play at a high level for Central and led the way in the Region Semifinal with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists.

Jonathan Akasa has been a force on the boards this year and had 9 rebounds to go with 8 points in the Semi and he led the Bull Run in rebounding through the regular season with 7.4 per game.

This game is truly a coin-flip in my mind and could come down to the final shot and I think the Rams get that final shot with the defense keying in on Dellinger before he drops it off to Warner for the game winning basket, Rams 49-Falcons 47.

For more local sports coverage, listen to the Sports Dogs Podcast here.

The Duke’s Hoops Preview: Central vs Strasburg

2/13/26, Woodstock, VA- Regular season high school basketball coverage concludes tonight with Central hosting Strasburg in the Hike Kidz Foundation Game of the Week c/o Brickhouse Bar and Grill on Fox Sports Radio 1450, The River 95.3 app, and TheRiver953.com starting with the girls matchup at 6 pm, followed by the boys with an estimated tip-off set for 7:45 pm.

It will be a festive evening in Woodstock as the Central community will acknowledge the senior cheer and basketball athletes for Senior Night and the Falcon’s softball team will receive their 2025 State Championship rings during halftime of the boys game.

Amongst the pomp and circumstance, two huge games will be played to determine seeding for the upcoming District and Regional playoffs.

When the girls take the floor, Strasburg will have a chance at the top seed with a win over Central and a Clarke County loss to Luray on Monday.

Central would love nothing more than to spoil that chance a at a top seed for their cross-county rivals and place themselves in a more confident position for the post season.

The Rams will be riding high after their upset win over Clarke County earlier this week.

Strasburg snapped a 12 game winning streak for Clarke County and extended their own winning streak to 11 games after a play originally drawn up for Emily Gorrell ended up in the hands of Jayden Stinnette down-low for the game winning layup.

The senior duo has been integral in Strasburg’s run this season with Gorrell leading the Bull Run District in scoring (17.8 points per game), steals (3.8 per game), and assists (3.2 per game) while Stinnette leads the District in rebounding with 8.3 per game.

Gorrell had one of her best games of the season against Central in the first go round and finished with 27 points (17/18 FT), 7 steals, and 3 rebounds.

If the Falcons want to put themselves in a position to pull-off the win, they will need to defend Gorrell more effectively and keep her from getting to the free throw line.

In Year 1 under coach Rich Cooley, Central has essentially beaten the teams they should and struggled against the other top teams in the District going a combined 1-4 against Strasburg, Clarke County, and Luray.

The Falcons have a talented senior class that will want to leave their homecourt on Senior Night with a win and that group is led by guard Vanessa Gordon.

Gordon is 2nd behind Gorrell in BRD scoring with 14.5 per game and is the best 3-point shooter in the region at nearly a 40% clip.

In the Falcons lone win against top district competition, Gordon knocked down five first half three pointers and her sister Vanessa filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists.

It will take a true team effort for Central, and maybe some Senior Night magic to beat the Rams, or for Strasburg to overlook the matchup with their sights already set on a playoff run and riding high from the win over Clarke County.

Following the girls game, the boys will play for the #1 seed in the Region 2B tournament and the regular season District Championship in what should be a very competitive and defensively focused battle.

When these teams played against each other earlier this season, the winner was the first team to 40 and that ended up being the Central Falcons.

Both teams went ice cold in the second half with Strasburg going 0-11 in the third period and Central going 0-6 in the fourth, but the Falcons had enough of a lead and a few clutch free throws to hold on for the win.

Since the loss, Strasburg has rallied for 7 straight wins and seen the growth of Jasiah Warner into one of the top players in the Bull Run.

Warner is coming off a 20 point game against Clarke County and consistently causes problems on defense with his length.

Gavin Dellinger will always get his for the Rams and leads the team with 14.6 per game, trailing only D-1 bound Matthew Owens in Bull Run scoring.

Central’s lone loss since the Strasburg matchup came against Owens and his Luray Bulldogs, but other than that blemish, Coach Whittle has his group playing elite level basketball.

With the departure of John Marshall’s head coach and Luray dropping to Class 1, Central emerged as an early contender in Class 2 for the State Title and has done nothing to make you think otherwise.

Central ranked 5th in the most recent Basketball Coaches Association of Virginia poll.

Dereck Batiz-Lugo picked up where he left off last season after claiming BRD Player of the Year as sophomore and earning 2nd Team All State.

This year, Batiz-Lugo has continued to play at a high level and leads the area in steals with 3.1 per game to go with 14.3 points per game while limiting turnovers as the teams primary ball handler.

Central is a team full of players who know their role and for Jonathan Akasa that job is to get rebounds.

Listed at 6’1″, Akasa leads the Bull Run in rebounding with 7.4 per game and can knock down the three-ball at 37.3%.

Like the first matchup, this game could be a race to 40 and rebounding to give your team an extra possession could mean the difference between a win or a loss.

Central appears to have an advantage on the glass with Akasa averaging a full 2.5 rebounds more than Strasburg’s leading rebounder, Warner, and in the first matchup, Gracen Hottle led Strasburg in rebounds with 9 but that will be hard to replicate for the 5’8″ guard.

Due to that potential edge in rebounding, I look for Central to pull out another close win over the Rams with Batiz-Lugo putting the game on ice late, 42-39.

In the girls matchup, Strasburg’s senior duo of Gorrell and Stinnette combined with Coach Stinnette’s ability to keep the team focused on their rival and not looking ahead will allow the Rams to take the win on the road, 52-43, and keep their hopes of a #1 seed alive.

For more high school hoops coverage, check out the latest Sports Dogs Podcast where we preview the upcoming playoff hopefuls, highlight the biggest local basketball story lines in the “Three Pointer”, and of recap the Super Bowl.

The Duke’s Region 2B Championships Preview

The Region 2B Basketball Championships takeover Shenandoah University in tonight’s Van Metre Homes Games of the Week on The River 95.3, Fox Sports Radio 1450, theriver953.com and The River 95.3 app with coverage of the Girls Championship Game starting at 5:45 pm followed by the Boys Championship Game around 7:45 pm.

On the girls’ side, #1 seed Clarke County knocked off Page County and Central to advance to the title game while #3 seed Stuarts Draft took out Riverheads and Luray along the way.

Stuarts Draft avoided #2 seed Strasburg after the Rams were shorthanded against Luray in the Regional Quarterfinals before navigating past a Bulldog team that gave them their first loss of the season back in December.

Stuarts Draft enters the Regional Championship game on a nine game win streak and the Cougars are led by Shenandoah District Coach of the Year Chad Seibert and All District selections Ava Flippin, Augusta Seibert, and Madyson Mason.

The 19-4 Cougars have already well surpassed last season’s 12-11 performance that ended in a Regional Quarterfinals loss, but Clarke County will likely be the best team that Stuarts Draft has seen all year.

The Eagles have dominated Class 2 competition this year with just one loss coming against their peers, the other three came while playing higher classifications.

Clarke County is usually led by junior Alainah and freshman Paige McKavish with the elder sister recently being named District Player of the Year while both were named 1st Team All District selections.

Paige Stemberger earned 2nd Team honors and shined in our most recent coverage of the Eagles against Page County on Tuesday night.

Stemberger, a Paul VI transfer, led Clarke County in scoring for the majority of the evening and finished with a stat stuffing line of 23 points, 7 steals, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds.

When players like Stemberger, forward Devin Simmons-McDonald, and Eryn Demko contribute at levels like that to go along with the McKavish’s regular production, Clarke County will be a very tough-out for any team in the VHSL playoffs.

Clarke County’s team defense regularly wreaks havoc in their full court and half court zone pressures to build massive leads including a 36-0 start in Regional Quarterfinal.

When the boys take the floor, it will be another #1 vs #3 matchup with Central taking on Luray.

The Falcons and Bulldogs have already faced off three times since February 4th with all three going Central’s way, but each a bit closer than the previous.

The inaugural bout saw Central dominate the 2nd period and pull away to a 22 point win.

The second time the Bulldogs hosted the Falcons and actually led by 6 past the midway point of the fourth quarter before allowing an 18-8 run to lose 53-47.

Central and Luray’s most recent meeting also had hardware on the line in the Bull Run District Championship.

Luray limited Bull Run District Player of the Year Dereck Batiz-Lugo to just 5 points and led by as much as 10 in the 2nd quarter before the Falcons began their comeback.

Central led by just 1 with about 35 seconds left but Luray turned the ball over before getting a shot attempt and eventually fell 61-57.

The Falcons were led by Joseph Pan in that game with 26 points and 8 rebounds, and the junior is one of many Falcons who can lead the team in scoring on any given night.

Coach Jeff Whittle’s balanced approach landed four players on the All-District teams including 1st Teamers Batiz-Lugo and Luke Williams and 2nd Teamers Haiden Click and Maddox Davis.

Coach Matt Huff’s Bulldogs are led by one of the top backcourts in the Valley with Blake Jenkins and Matthew Owens.

The 1st Team All District selections combine for over 32 ppg and the junior Owens could potentially become the highest scorer in school history after already eclipsing 1000 points during the Bull Run District Tournament.

I predict Clarke County will continue to look ahead of the pack tonight but will begin to meet some similarly skilled foes in the State level.

Eagles win 86-67 with another 20+ point performance by Alainah McKavish.

The boys matchup on the other hand will come down to the final possession.

Not many teams can shoot the deep ball to keep up with Luray, but Central’s Haiden Click can help do just that and is coming off a career high 25 points including 5 three-pointers.

He will stay hot to lead Central and Luray’s buzzer beater rims off, Falcons win 51-49.

The Duke’s Hoops Preview: Clarke County vs Central

The Central Falcons head to Clarke County to take on the Eagles in tonight’s High School Basketball Game of the Week on Fox Sports Radio 1450, theriver953.com, and The River 95.3 app with coverage starting around 7:15 pm.

Central has taken the region by storm and enters the evening with a perfect 5-0 record.

Coach Jeff Whittle’s squad has tremendous depth this year and an experienced roster of all seniors, juniors, and one sophomore which has helped them jump out to a hot start.

With the exception of the close win over Stuarts Draft, Central has jumped on their opponents in the second half this season to create insurmountable leads.

In their opening win over the Riverheads, Central dominated the 4th quarter 21-2 and mimicked that performance last game against the Gladiators with a 27 point 3rd period.

Central also tallied two impressive wins over Class 4 opponents James Wood and Sherando in the same fashion.

Against the Colonels, Central dominated the 4th quarter 20-7 while the Warriors were outscored 39-22 in the second half.

While the Falcons utilize a variety of players in their deep roster, leading the way for Central this season is 6’4″ senior Luke Williams, three point shooter Haiden Click, and sophomore sensation Dereck Batiz-Lugo.

Clarke County entered this year off an incredible 2023-2024 season which saw the Eagles advance to the State Quarterfinals before falling to eventual State Champions John Marshall, but this years team will look much different.

2nd year Coach Kent Auslander lost five of the top six performers from last season and will be without Tanner Sipe to start the season after a football injury, but there are some promising young players like sophomores Colton Johnson and Isaac Nei.

Returning contributor Lincoln Booker bring back the most varsity experience and averages 9 points this season.

Clarke County’s biggest issue so far this season is turnovers and the Eagles really struggled to get the ball up the floor in their last game against Skyline.

Central’s experienced roster will be able to take advantage of Clarke County’s turnover troubles and a big second half will put the Eagles away.

Central stays undefeated and advances to 6-0, 65-48.