The excitement and suspense of high school sports is at its peak this week. It's state tournament time with champions crowned this Saturday. Several area teams won their quarterfinal tests Tuesday night to advance to the semis.  Winners included Rustburg, Alleghany and Chatham in baseball... Altavista, Tunstall and Patrick County in softball... JF, Blacksburg and Radford in boys soccer... and Salem, Hidden Valley, Radford and James River in girls soccer. Friday and Saturday are packed with games, most at Radford University, with the Rustburg/Alleghany baseball matchup in Pulaski Friday. If you can, get out and support your local teams, the players will appreciate it. And even if you don't have a favorite team, you'll see some great action! 

Friday's 4 o'clock soccer match between Blacksburg and JF should be a dandy. JF comes in unbeaten at 22-0 against the perennial state power that is Blacksburg. The Bruins are 18-2-2, but at this point, records don't mean a thing. It's one-on-one and the stakes are high, the winner advances to Saturday's state title game, the loser calls it a season.

One of the best athletes to come through Central Virginia in many years capped a great high school career by placing in four events and scoring 20 points Saturday in the Group AA State Track and Field Championships.  I'm talking about Brookville's Logan Thomas, the football star who's headed to Virginia Tech in the fall, who also stars in basketball and track. He's been fun to cover the last few years, very talented, well-mannered, just a good kid. I've even had coaches at other schools, big rivals of Brookville, say it's hard not to root for him. That's pretty high praise!

Let's hear it for the UVa baseball team! Despite being placed in what was dubbed "the regional of death" in Irvine, California last week, all the Cavs did was win three straight games and advance to their first-ever Super Regionals. The Cavs play at Ole Miss this weekend.

The Lynchburg Hillcats are playing great baseball this season. They continue to build their lead in the Carolina League's Northern Division and give us real hopes of playoff baseball in September, something we haven't seen in a while.
Take in a game when you can, these guys can play!

Congratulations to the five new inductees for the Lynchburg Area Sports Hall of Fame. Honorees are Cornell Brown, John Scott, David Read, Billy Webb and the late Specs Garbee. Brookville football coach Jeff Woody is the recipient of the Vince Bradford Coach of the Year Award, and the Scholar Athlete of the Year winners are Josh Storm of Jefferson Forest High and Monica Li of Heritage. All these individuals will be honored at the Hall of Fame banquet Tuesday night, June 9th, at Randolph College. Former major league pitcher and cancer survivor Dave Dravecky will be the guest speaker. Tickets are limited and can be purchased at the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce.

I've heard enough about the LeBron incident Saturday night when he walked off the court after Cleveland's series-ending loss without shaking hands with the Magic and congratulating them. James also refused to speak with the media after the game.
Have to admit I lost some respect for LeBron, I thought he was a better leader and a better sport than what he showed Saturday. If he had it to do over again, I would hope he would take the high road and give credit where credit is due.

As for the final, the Magic are rolling and present some tough matchups for the Lakers. But I'll take L.A. in six.

Please send me your comments and any story suggestions you might have for the coming months.

Dennis Carter

ABC 13 Sports Director