Reasons for optimism exist for Blue Devils

Culpeper coach James Thompson knew he had his work cut out for him when he didn’t recognize very many of the faces that crowded the school’s small gym for the first day of tryouts in November.

Gone were senior leaders Josh Majors, Eric Washington and Solomon Francis, who led the team to a share of the Cedar Run’s regular season title, and key players Stevie Strother, Andrew Hoffman and Blake Smith were busy taking the court across town for the Cyclones.

“Every game it was like we started 15 points down,” the second-year coach at CCHS said. “I was like ‘How am I going to implement a system that keeps this team competitive with guys that probably should be on JV?’”

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Blue Devils had to face 18 college-bound basketball players in the Cedar Run District alone, and lost at least 11 games to teams that made the regional tournament without even last year’s best JV player — Drayton Shanks — or the freshman team’s leader Bilial Williams. Both went to EVHS.

“We had a truly open tryout this year because even some of my older players like Cortez Rollins and Cameron French had been on the JV team for the last two years,” Thompson said.

Thompson said Strother — who played point guard at CCHS — was the hardest player to replace because of his attitude, composure and will to improve. He also said Strother leaving was both a blessing and a curse because it opened the door for freshman sensation Josh Majors.

“This season may have given Josh a false sense of confidence,” Thompson said. “He probably feels like he’s a really good point guard, but what he doesn’t understand is that point guards are only judged by wins and losses.”

The Blue Devils struggled to find their footing this year — finishing 0-23 — but there weren’t too many teams that could slow Majors down. He proved to be just as dangerous from three-point range as when he was driving the lane and finished the season averaging just under 16 points a game.

“A lot of point guards that are still playing didn’t have the numbers he (Majors) did,” Thompson said. “But those guards won games for their teams. That’s something he will grow into, and after this season I don’t think anything will surprise him.”

Thompson attributed much of the Blue Devils’ struggles to the lack of a true experienced leader on the court.

“I just didn’t have anybody that could keep the rest of the guys on track and brought that will to win no matter what every game,” he said.

Culpeper’s lone holdover from last year’s squad was senior deep-ball shooter Spencer Allen, whose jump shot seemed to vanish at times, especially after Thompson said teams realized there just wasn’t a reliable second and third option on the team.

“In high school, if you have two good players you should win,” he said.

“If you have three, it’s a blessing. We just didn’t have anybody who could come out with the same type of game every night.”

Culpeper got valuable minutes out of players like Rollins — a junior — and French, who will be graduating in May, but it was the valuable court time a group of inexperienced players that includes junior Larry Ralph, sophomores Bobby Zadjkowski and Justin Smith and junior Brian Thompson that could prove to be the difference in the future.

Neither Ralph or Thompson had played basketball in more than two years, but both played in almost every game this season and Ralph averaged an impressive 12 rebounds a game, while Zadjkowski proved his worth from beyond arch, sinking seven three-pointers in the Blue Devils loss to James Monroe.

“A lot guys got valuable playing time that is going to make them better players because they had to play while they were frustrated,” Thompson said. “They hadn’t been coached by a varsity coach before and they had to learn that you can’t always get a pat on the but when you make a mistake.”

Next year, the Blue Devils will move back down to a AA classification and join the Cyclones in the Battlefield District, but Thompson knows the things aren’t going to miraculously get better over night.

“We’re still about two years away from really establishing our varsity team,” he said. “It’s going to take me time to learn the Battlefield coaches style of play and the referees’ officiating styles, but we have a foundation and we’re going to be fine.”

Courtland — which is currently making a run at a state tournament — returns the majority of this year’s squad that spent the entire season ranked in the top three in Virginia. So, in all likelihood, next season will be a race for second place and Thompson likes his team’s chances if the returners decide they really want to win.

“It’s all about getting what you put it,” he said. “If you put in a little, you’re going to be good a little but of the time. If you put in a decent amount of time over the summer, then you’ll probably win some, but when you run up against the guys that are working all the time, you’re sunk. So it’s really up to the guys.”