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By Jon Smythe
Athletic Director
Boys basketball
On Friday, Dec. 1 the Luray High school boys' basketball team came to Rappahannock County for the season opener. Although it was a non-District game and the season opener for both teams, it had all the intensity and excitement of a mid-season clash between two District rivals. It was Alumni Night for the RCHS side and this fact along with a pre-game dedication ceremony produced both a full house in fans and a ; charged atmosphere of excitement.
The Luray Bulldogs were a big team with a starting line up that averaged over six foot, four inches tall, which is the height of Rapp's tallest player, Junior Jamie Keys. Throughout the game this height advantage would repeatedly pay big dividends as the Bulldogs picked up second shots and offensive rebounds whenever the Panthers failed to "box out" all the Luray players.
Luray jumped off to an early lead, capitalizing on their height and a somewhat nervous, excited RCHS team that was playing for the First time in front of a large, loud, home crowd. Midway through the second quarter, the Panthers had cut the Luray lead to two points 16-14 and had the ball. A missed shot by the Panthers and several quick baskets by Luray opened the lead up and it never got close again. The final score was Luray 75 and RCHS 57, but the score didn't reflect the effort of the Panther squad.
After the game Coach Dayton said, "Luray was big and they played hard, but our guys didn't back down or give up. We gave it all we had buzzer to buzzer. We would all like to win our season opener, but despite the score, I was really proud of the effort I saw from our squad." Seniors Mark Wharton with 19 points and , Chris Fletcher with 18 points, including four three point shots, led the Rapp Panther scoring. The team faces Luray at their gym for a rematch on Wednesday, Dec. 13.
Junior Varsity
The Junior Varsity Panthers also suffered from crowd excitement as they played before a large, partisan crowd for the first time in their experience. They ended
96.3%