The Eagles "Tip Off" Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina

CVHAA's Ben Horner Shoots over a Durham Defender

by HS Hoops Staff

The Augusta Eagles varsity boys basketball team begins regular season play this Friday (November 4) in the East Coast Tip Off Classic, a twelve team tournament hosted at Greensboro College in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Eight teams from North Carolina, two from Virginia, and one each from South Carolina and Georgia (the Augusta Eagles) will play three games between Friday and Saturday.  The field is split into four pools, with three teams, two from North Carolina and one from another state, in each pool.  After each team plays its two scheduled pool games, the teams will be seeded according to their records.  The two teams with the top records will play for the championship, the next two teams will play for third place, and so on.  The tournament's broad geographic reach and deep talent pool enables participating teams to play three games against teams they will likely not face during the regular season before many high school teams open their seasons.

The Augusta Eagles enter the tournament for the second year.  Augusta won one of the three games in the 2010 East Coast Tip Off Classic, defeating the Greater Cabarrus Stallions (Concord, NC) and losing to the Richmond Spirit (Richmond, VA) and the Greensboro Panthers (Greensboro, NC).  The CVHAA Patriots (Central Virginia) defeated Greensboro last November to capture the championship in the 2011 edition of the tournament.

Augusta's Crown and CVHAA Van Der Hyde

The Eagles will face the North Wake Storm in the opening game Friday evening at 5:30.  Augusta's second game (Saturday, 10:30 AM) is a rematch of last season's tournament match up with the Greater Cabarrus Stallions.

Many of the teams in the field are familiar to the Eagles players and coaches.  Between last year's season opening tournament, the regular season, and the East Coast Homeschool Championships, the Eagles faced five of the other eleven participating teams.  And most of the other six teams have played in the same tournaments.

"Three of the five teams - the Upstate Eagles (Spartanburg, SC), the Richmond Spirit, and the Greensboro Panthers - have beaten us in the past.  I think the CVHAA Patriots are as good as, or better than, any homeschool team in the country that I have seen.  And teams like the Durham Flight, the Lighthouse Eagles, and the Greater Cabarrus Stallions are always impressive.  It is great to play such a good group of homeschool teams from so many different places this early in the season," said Eagles Coach Chad Cook of the quality of the teams in the tournament.

Matt Miller (Augusta Eagles)

The Eagles enter the 2011-2012 season with a small but skilled team.  Junior guards Matt Miller (6'2" G) and Austin Crown (6'0" G) started every game during their freshman and sophomore seasons and have led the Eagles in scoring throughout the team's short history.  Paul Jones (5'11" G) and Dominic Brown (5'11" G) played significant minutes last season as sophomores.  The remaining varsity players played mostly for the Eagles' junior varsity team during the 2010-2011 season.  But it was a good junior varsity team, one that lost only two games to homeschool opponents.  These younger players are expected to step into the rotation and contribute early.

The CVHAA Patriots, last year's East Coast Tip Off Tournament champion and back to back final four participant in the 2010 and 2011 East Coast Homeschool Basketball Championships, is expected to field one of the most skilled and deepest teams in homeschool basketball.  Junior guards Daniel Johnson and Jamie Van Der Hyde are smart, experienced guards who shoot especially well.  Junior forward Ben Horner (6'5") can score facing the basket out to the three point line and punish defenders in the post with a variety of moves.  Add Gage Yesback (6'6") and others to the mix and the Patriots are a force.

The 2011 East Coast Tip Off Classic boys tournament teams are divided into the following pools:

Augusta Eagles 2010-2011 Junior Varsity Starting Five

Raleigh Hawks (NC)    
Surry Runnin Patriots (NC)
Upstate Eagles (SC)

Greater Cabarrus Stallions (NC)
North Wake Storm (NC)
Augusta Eagles (GA)

Davidson (NC)
Lighthouse (Wake Forest) Eagles (NC)
CVHAA Patriots (VA)

Greensboro Panthers (NC)
Durham Flight (NC)
Richmond Spirit (VA)

HS Hoops reporters will be blogging from the tournament with updates and video highlights.