New beginnings: Falcons looking to build off of last year's team

View larger image Central's Aaron Heishman (11) puts a shot up over Warren County's Chase Rexroat on Wednesday in Front Royal. The Falcons have started their season 2-0. View larger image Warren County's Logan Hibbs, center, leaps and heaves a pass past the defense of Central's Seth Bauserman, left, and Leon McCray on Wednesday in Front Royal. The Falcons have started the season off 2-0. Dennis Grundman/Daily

By Tommy Keeler Jr. - tkeeler@nvdaily.com

WOODSTOCK - Central's boys basketball team had a very successful season in the Northwestern District last year, but don't expect the Falcons to get overconfident now that they're back in Group A.

"You still have to play basketball and play hard every game," Central senior Aaron Heishman said. "You have to go get it. No one's going to lay down for us and hand it to us."

The Falcons are in the Shenandoah District this season and will still be facing very tough competition. Buffalo Gap and Riverheads both made regionals last year and the other teams are all improving.

Even though Central finished tied for third in its district last year, the Falcons missed regionals and it left a bitter taste in the players' mouths.

"We weren't happy with how it ended," Heishman said. "That drives us to do better and keep improving."

Heishman will lead the way for the Falcons this season, and with J.J. Armentrout and Stuart French lost to graduation, he will be counted on for a good bit of the scoring. Heishman averaged 14.1 points per game last year. Central coach Roger Wilkins said the Falcons will look for scoring to be by committee a lot this season.

Central has a lot of other weapons, and depth could be a real strength for the team. Senior Michael Marston will lead the way inside. He averaged 6.8 points per game last year and said he feels ready for a bigger role this season.

"I think J.J. [Armentrout] really helped me prepare for this season," Marston said. "I learned a lot from him."

Senior Leon McCray and juniors Seth Bauserman and Matt Sherfey will also have much bigger roles this season after coming off the bench for the team last year.

Central has started the season off 2-0, with impressive wins over Warren County and Clarke County.

The Falcons kept improving with each game last year, and Sherfey said the team is ready to take things even further this season.

"We want to pick up where we left off," Sherfey said. "You always want to keep rising. I think the sky's the limit for us."

Clarke County

The Eagles started the season looking more like a hospital ward than a basketball team. The team has been hit hard by injuries, which will slow down its progress this year.

Senior Zach Shiley broke his leg in Clarke County's regional playoff football game and will be out until at least the middle of January. His twin brother, Sam, also injured his shoulder in the same game, but is playing to start the season. Stephen Bodkin broke both of his wrists and is out for a few weeks.

Once healthy, the Eagles could be a force to deal with. They return most of last year's team, which advanced to the Region B, Division 2 quarterfinals.

"With the injuries it's going to give a lot of other guys the opportunity to play," Clarke County coach Brent Emmart said. "We have a lot of experience back. We just have to feel our way through the beginning of the season until we get some guys back and get healthy."

Handley

Tommy Dixon has no idea what to expect from his team early in the season. That's because most of his team didn't start until Monday. Many of the varsity players from last season were on the football team that lost Sunday in the state semifinals.

The Judges postponed the first couple weeks of their season, and before this week had 11 players practicing, only three of whom played on the varsity team last year. Dixon said the Northwestern District should be very tough once again this year.

"I think Sherando is going to very good," Dixon said. "I think James Wood is going to be very good. I think Skyline and Millbrook are going to get better as the season goes on."

James Wood

The Colonels have several players back from last year's team, which finished sixth in the Northwestern District. They suffered a tough opening night loss to Broad Run on Thursday.

Senior Trae Tinsman will be counted on for a heavy load of the scoring. Junior Mason Smith and senior Brock Lockhart will also look to pick up some of the scoring void left when Matt Johnson graduated in June.

Millbrook

The Pioneers will have plenty of new faces on the team this year. Millbrook has lost all the key ingredients from the team that won the Group AA state title in 2008 over the last two years.

Andrew Oates, Calvin and Clayton Rodney and Dustin Pierce all graduated in June, so the Pioneers will need new players to step up this season. Brady Baker, Devin Call, Rylan Banks and Boomer Kaczmarzewski are four of the players Millbrook coach Scott Mankins will be looking to fill the voids left from graduation.

Mankins said he's been pleased with what he's seen so far this season.

"They've done everything we've asked them to," he said. "They're a great group of kids. They seem to be putting the team ahead of themselves already. They're working hard. Hopefully it will pay off."

Sherando

The Warriors got off to a slow start in the preseason due to the football team advancing to the regional final, so coach Garland Williams said it will take some time to figure out what his team will be like this season.

Sherando has several key returners from last year's team. Ian Williams, Charles Hudnall, James Bowens, Daniel Nichols and Terry Woods are back from last year's squad. Baseball and football standouts Dominique and Tre Porter are also expected to contribute this season.

"Expectations are always high," Williams said. "Hopefully we can be in the top part of the league."

Skyline

The cupboard is bare at Skyline this season. The Hawks lost most of last year's team, which went 16-7. They return only seven points per game and a total of 10 minutes per game.

Junior center Luke Pingley had the most playing time of the returners, and coach Sonny Dyke said the Hawks are looking for good things from him this season. Cliff Woodard also returns from last year's team and should give the Hawks a boost this season. Dyke said he is also seeing good things from Cameron Taylor, Justin Robinson, Zach Dove, Joey Neidigh and Ryan Dyke.

"It's going to be a learning process this season, and not only for the players, but the coaches as well," Sonny Dyke said.

Stonewall Jackson

Things will be very different for the Generals this season. For the first time in a while, Stonewall Jackson will have height.

The Generals have four players 6-foot or taller. Sophomores Tony Arciniega (6-foot-1), Alex Collins (6-foot-2) and John Michael Pirtle (6-foot) and senior Andrew Kipps (6-foot-2) give the Generals plenty of size inside, but they are also mostly young. Senior Dylan Dawson, along with junior Russell Hill, gives Stonewall Jackson some added scoring punch.

"It will take a while for everybody to get acclimated to how we operate," Stonewall Jackson coach Sophie Stout said. "I think we can be very competitive. It's just a matter of how long it will take for us to get to where we need to be."

Strasburg

The Rams have plenty of experience this year with seven players returning who saw significant time from last year's team. At the center of that is point guard Kaleb McKelvey, who will be starting for the third straight year.

McKelvey will have plenty of weapons around him, including Brian Huttner, Dylan Davis, Martin Wiseley and Derek Buckley. The Rams will have plenty of new faces, including juniors Zach Cover and Sheldon Stickley and sophomore Dennis Painter.

"Kaleb's leadership is a big plus for us," Strasburg coach Millson French said. "We have some guys that can shoot the 3. We have some athleticism. It's too early in the season to make any bold predictions, but they're very coachable kids. They're a great group of kids."

Warren County

Warren County coach Vernon Mathews knows his first year coaching the Wildcats will be a challenge, but he's looking forward to it.

The Wildcats are in a new district, the Evergreen, which Mathews knows little about. The Wildcats do have some key players returning from last year's squad. Juniors Logan Hibbs, Damien Caison, Chase Rexroat and senior Jon Roof will be expected to lead the way this year. The team will also get a boost from seniors Marty Haley and Austin Schwarz, who did not go out for the team last year.

"I'm sure the district's going to be tough," Mathews said. "We have 10 seniors, three juniors and one sophomore. We have four players that are 6-foot-4 or taller, so we have some flexibility in our lineup, which is great."