Ricky Nelson recorded Travelin’ Man in 1961. Lynyard Skynyrd followed years later.
Maybe Blacksburg High School head coach Doug Day should consider a sequel for his Bruins basketball team.
Playing its eleventh straight road game Monday night, Blacksburg was no match for a taller Patrick Henry squad, as PH ( 9-3 ) roiled to the 76-47 win in the Patriot gym.
“We played our season opener at home back in early December,” Day noted with a chuckle. “Now, it’s been eleven straight away. We’re definitely road warriors.”
It was no bargain Monday night for the Bruins ( 1-11 ), as the Patriots came out of the gate strong and built a 21-9 lead after the first quarter. Patrick Henry’s lead was 37-19 heading to the halftime break, and the sparse crowd on hand knew PH was in total control.
“We’re not a big team,” Day added. “It’s tough for us to match up with a team like PH.”
The Patriot lead reached 50-25 with just over 3 minutes left in the third quarter, and PH head coach Jack Esworthy got ample opportunity to get a look at his bench play. Twelve players hit the scoring column for PH by game’s end as the Patriot advantage reached 31 points late in the fourth.
“We played a lot of people tonight, ” Esworthy said in Patriot locker room afterward. “The bench played well.”
“Our starters came out strong and set the tone,” Esworthy added. “We were able to make the open shots in the early going. With the new conference alignments, every win is important. Everyone is still learning the rules of the game (regarding playoff possibilities). Ours is finding the road to Richmond.”
Blacksburg returns to the Bruin home court this week and Day said it would be welcomed.
“We’ll be looking forward to playing in front of our fans and having home-court advantage.”
Christian Kirchman led the PH scoring with a game-high 13 points, while Kendrick Tucker added 12. Tyus Esworthy and Sam Boxley each chipped in 11 points for the Patriots.
Jacob Nottingham paced Blacksburg with 11 points, with Brandon Walters and Will Murray each scoring 8.
– Bill Turner
