SACCO: No longer the SV’s dark horse

It was supposed to be the night we cooed at Waynesboro and Draft’s forward thinking as the schools scheduled varsity doubleheaders. We were supposed to hold the should-be-norm treat close to heart and wrapped in swaddling cloth. A night where you went to one gym on one night and watched two varsity games and packed the place.

Which, by the way, fans up and down the Target Turnpike that maps label as U.S. 340 did.

So, yeah, we got all of that.

Consider watching the rebirth of Stuarts Draft basketball as it scored its first win over Waynesboro—a 64-40 whitewashing—in as many years as a few of the seniors have been with the program a bonus.

A big bonus.

The Cougars don’t screw around on the basketball court, yet they play relaxed, with hustle and don’t hide the fact that they are having fun. Need a fist pump? Got it, bub.

Need a nice high-five? Someone on the Draft bench has you covered, boss.

Looking for a crowd to pull a Lazarus impression and turn it around from the silence of the last few years? Yep, the maroon-and-white garbed oatmeal-cream-pie makers in the crowd will take care of you, doc.

They’ve been waiting, wound up tighter than a pack of hemorrhoids, for something to cheer for from the stands. (And no, we’re not counting last season’s Region III berth. Come on, man. They only had two district wins.)

So where did this come from? Where did a team, saddled with enough guards to keep Fort Knox safe for eons, turn itself from a Southern Valley dark horse into a straight-up factor in the race for the district crown?

It’s called the Cougar Pride chart and it’s tacked to a board somewhere in that sleepy little town known more for candy and a corner Exxon than hoops as of late. When it comes to that chart – one that keeps track of hustle plays during games – this team treats it like it’s a lost book of the Bible.

“We don’t play games,” said Draft senior Jeremy Fitzgerald, who finished with 18 points. “We don’t play around with that.”

It shows on the court. When you get points for taking charges and diving for loose balls, well, that’s what you want to do. So D.J. Hines jumped into the unfriendly confines of the Waynesboro side of the bleachers twice for loose balls (how many points is that, coach Mike Gale?) and Coty Randolph joined the fun by hustling his way to a loose ball, hurtling himself into the air and bouncing it out off Little Giant Chris Johnson. His reward? A couple of points on the Cougar Pride board and a disappearing act into the always raucous Waynesboro student section.

“The guys have taken pride in that,” Gale said of his hustle chart. “That’s one of their goals to win that every game.”

The winner gets his photo up the school.

The big winner, however, has been the Draft program so far this season. Two Southern Valley games into the season, the Cougars have matched their district win total from 2007-08. They were a rimmed-out 3-pointer from following in Fort Defiance’s footsteps and beating highly touted Spotswood.

It’s thanks to a core of three seniors in Fitzgerald, Randolph and Jordan Thacker and the excitable, talented youth that surrounds the trio.

“Bring that youth and enthusiasm with the seniors already here and you got guys working hard,” Gale said. “It’s positive all the way around.”

Dark horse, you still say? Whatever, dude. Get a clue. People are starting to notice, board or no board.

“Coming out every game, we believe we can win every game.,” Thacker said.

He was interrupted by Waynesboro Principal Tim Teachey who told the red-head that he liked watching him play.

“Thank you, sir,” Thacker responded.

Go ahead Thacker, ask some old-timer local about Teachey and what he knows about basketball and they’ll inform you, well, that’s like Dane Cook telling you you’re one heck of a cusser.

’Nuff said.

’Nuff still to do.