STATE EXTRA: To the top

GREENVILLE
Riverheads’ boys basketball star Lyndon Humphries, was not always on the front lines. Before he ever thought about going to the Group A, Division 1 quarterfinals, Humphries was as a water boy.

“I remember watching varsity play. I think I was in the seventh or eighth grade,” Humphries said. “I didn’t think that I was going to play at that level. I learned a lot by watching the games. I think that experience really helped me.”

The 6-foot, 6-inch, center averaged 11.1 points in 28 games this season, collecting a total of 311 points. Humphries may have thought that he was unnoticed when he first started, but Riverheads coach John Corbett’s radar tuned to the athletes’ abilities while on JV.

“I always knew that he had the potential, even when he was a young eighth grader and ninth grader scrimmaging against the varsity team,” Corbett said. “The way he could cut and move, we knew he had the talent. But when you got size 16 feet as a ninth and 10th grader, your feet can get in the way.”

Humphries’ feet on the court haven’t blocked his progress, but a lack of confidence was a challenge.

“I do think I’ve become more comfortable,” Humphries said. “I focus better and I’m able to do what I have to do during a game. Yeah, I feel more confident.”

Humphires has been fighting the flu like the rest of his Red Pride comrades since Feb. 27. That didn’t stop the senior, or his squad, from advancing past a scrappy Cumberland team 54-35 at Eastern Mennonite University in the region B, Division 1 tournament.

“We were sick, but we knew what we had to do,” Humphries said. “You have to keep moving on if your sick or not.”

Corbett said that Humphries has blossomed into a solid player.

“He’s had some big, big, games down the stretch,” Corbett said. “But he’s had to make changes in his game. He would get stuck in just one spot and it would clog our offense. But he listened to what we had to say and started to make those changes.”

Humphries’ persistence, talent and size has taken him from his position as a water boy to the big show at Virginia Commonwealth University’s, Siegel Center.

“I never wanted to play basketball until my dad made me,” Humphries said. “I wanted to wrestle.”

Good thing for Riverheads, that Humphries listened to his father.

“Yeah, my dad inspired me to play and I’m happy that I did,” Humphries said.