The boys high school basketball campaign is barely two weeks old, but the true signal that hoops season is underway happens this weekend at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
Friday afternoon, inside the famed confines, the Little General Battle for the Armory tips off with four preliminary round contests.
The action starts at 2 p.m. with a pair of games in the Pepsi Division, followed by two more in the Burger King Division, starting at 6 p.m.
Princeton (1-0) and Mount Hope Christian (5-7) open the Pepsi Division and will be followed by AA No. 5 James Monroe (4-0) and Oak Hill at 4 p.m.
The opening match-up in the Burger King Division will feature a clash of defending state champions when Class AAA No. 3 Shady Spring plays Class AA No. 4 Charleston Catholic.
The nightcap will be a Raleigh County versus Wyoming County showdown when AAAA No. 6 Beckley clashes with AA No. 7 Wyoming East.
“You talk about a pretty cool night of basketball. If you like high school hoops, this is for you,” Shady Spring head coach Ronnie Olson said.
Olson’s squad took a historic win in the annual tournament five years ago when the Tigers knocked off Beckley which jumpstarted his program to a pair of state championships titles and two runner-up finishes.
The Tigers have also won three of the last four LG Classic titles.
“We make it a point to play in the Little General Tournament,” Olson said. “They mean so much to us as far as helping our school and our programs. It is not just Shady. It is the same thing for Beckley and tons of local schools. With what they do for us, the least we can do is play in the tournament they put on.”
“Little General does this all the way up to Morgantown,” Olson went on to say. “It is even outside of athletics. They give out scholarships and do all kinds of stuff. The older I get especially, it is about staying local and supporting the people that support us. Little General and Greg Darby have been awesome.”
Shady Spring is coming off of a solid win over county rival Independence in its season opener, while the Irish enter the contest at 3-2. The losses are to AAAA Hurricane and AAA No. 7 Winfield.
“When you watch them, they are like us and they play super hard. They run really good sets,” Olson said. “(Head coach) Hunter (Moles) and I are friends. We coached the North-South game together and became friends. I think highly of him. He gets it and he gets the guys to play hard. They buy in and are really disciplined. It is like I told the guys, we have to come ready to play.”
While both teams once again expect to be title contenders when March rolls around, both squads may only look like a shell of themselves Friday night due to early season injuries and illness.
“Charleston Catholic is kind of like us, they have had a rash of injuries. I think they lost one of their best point guards and one of their bigs has been injured,” Olson said. “Our first game was a little sloppy because of the injuries and lack of practice time.”
Beckley also opened the season Friday night with a road win at longtime rival Greenbrier East, but head coach Ron Kidd was a little bewildered after the victory. The Flying Eagles watched a 20-point lead dwindle to single digits late, before taking a 12-point triumph.
“Anytime you come over here and get a win, it means something,” Kidd said Friday. “We don’t feel like we played well like when we started out. We did some things that we shouldn’t have done.”
Kidd’s crew won the LG title two years ago, but will have to deal with a very good Wyoming East (1-0) team in the opener who is always anxious to get a win over the Flying Eagles.
“We have a lot of work to do because Wyoming East is really good,” Kidd said. “They have a good inside game and some guards that can really play.”
Princeton opened the season with a comeback win over Summit Christian Academy and will be a tough test for the Warriors.
James Monroe, on the other hand, is off to a solid start winning all four of its games, while Oak Hill will be looking for its first win in its third start of the season.
The consolation game and championship game for the Pepsi Division will be played Saturday at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. respectively.
The Burger King consolation game is scheduled for 6 p.m. followed by the championship game at 8 p.m.
