Both FCHS basketball squads qualify for state tournament

Kaiden Swortzel; fires for the score in an earlier win this season. (Photos by Doug Thompson)
The Lady Buffaloes beat Glenvar to capture the Region 2C crown while the male Buffaloes landed a berth with a semi-final regional win.
AJ Cantrell fires from the three-point line.

The Lady Buffaloes won the Virginia High School League Region 2c Region Tournament Monday night at Radford University with a 54-36 victory over the Glenvar Highlanders. The boys’ Buffaloes fell to Radford High 57-46 in the second match at the university.

The Lady Buffaloes won the regional championship. The male Buffaloes lost the final but won their semi-final match. Under VHSL rules, semi-final regional wins qualify for a spot in the state playoffs.

Unfortunately, I could not cover the game because I was at home recovering from a leg and blood infection and I do not have the scoring details of the ladies’ game, but thanks to the Roanoke Times, the scoring details of the boys’ loss shows Gavin Underwood led scoring with 14 points, followed by Kaiden Swortael with 10.

Underwood also led scoring in three-pointers with four and Matt Slusher had two.

A berth in the state tournament ends a long drought for the Buffaloes, which last won the championship in the 1996-97 season with Brian Swortzel, father of Kaiden and Rylan on the current Buffaloes squad, and Travis Cantrell, father of AJ Cantrell, another member of this year’s team, played.

Travis is also the son of legendary basketball coach Alan Cantrell, who led both the girls’ and boys’ teams to state championships.

Our congratulations to Coach Brian Harman and the Buffalo team that included sons of the past state championship squads. More details in The Floyd Press.

Rylan Swortzel drives for a score.

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