By Marty Gordon
Radford High School’s boys basketball team ran into a buzzsaw Saturday in the Class 2 championship, losing in a 91-34 rout to John Marshall, which was ranked number one in the country and undefeated this season, beating almost everyone by 40 to 50 points.
The Saturday matchup was no contest after the first six minutes of the game. After the game, Radford Coach Rick Cormany was outspoken about his team’s opponent. He admitted they were a great team,
He told reporters changes need to be made. “This is not right,” he said. JM is a public school, located in downtown Richmond, and it holds an ace in the hole. JM’s Coach, Ty White, is the director for the VA AAU basketball program in Richmond. Their roster is dotted with some of the best talent from those all-stars.
Cormany admitted he told his son, who is a member of this year’s basketball team, they had no chance of winning.
“Nobody wants to get their head kicked in every time they step out on the floor, and in 2A, 3A, 4A, anybody who plays this group is going to get their head kicked in,” the coach said.
JM is located in downtown Richmond, which meant the championship game was a home game. The school has won three titles in the past five years.
Last year, JM was 22-4 and beat Radford for the trophy 82-42. In 2019-20, JM downed Gate City for another championship.
Cormany said the true purity of a high school championship is being taken away when Virginia High School League (VHSL) does try to control the effect of na AAU connection.
This is nothing new, as fans in Class 3 have questioned the addition of Liberty Christian Academy in the VHSL ranks despite the fact they are a private school.
