Sports Greatest Rivalries

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Robert E. Lee and Waynesboro will meet for a fourth time tonight, but you’ll have to make an hour-and-a-half trip if you want to see it in person.

The two schools will play in the second game of a doubleheader at Brookville High School in Lynchburg in the Region III, Division 3 semifinals. The winner will not only play for a regional championship, but get a berth in the state tournament.

The rivalry between these two schools is intense enough during the regular season, with the doors to the gym often locked with a packed house well before tip-off.

The schools had the option of moving the game to a closer location. In fact, Spotswood High School offered its gym for the game. One can only imagine how intense the atmosphere in that building would have been.

But that’s all we can do — imagine — because even though Spotswood’s gym was offered, Waynesboro declined.

Waynesboro coach C. Jay DeWitt said after Tuesday night’s game that it was his decision to keep the game where it was originally scheduled at Brookville.

“I just felt good about it,” DeWitt said. “We’ve won two playoff games up there. We’re 2-0 up there.”

That is true, but the last playoff win came two years ago when the key players on this year’s team were just sophomores. Waynesboro beat Brookville on its home court in the regional opener that season.

Derek McDaniel, Waynesboro’s athletic director, told me that his coaching staff wanted both games in the same place so they could scout the opener, which features Rockbridge County against the Northside-Rustburg winner.

I guess that makes some sense, although Waynesboro has already seen Rockbridge County this year, losing to them a few weeks ago. And while the regional title would be nice, the important game is tonight. The winner is in the state tournament, while the loser calls it a season.

While Lee is at the same disadvantage, it seems to me that you would want to minimize the amount of time your kids are on a bus heading to a game.

I’m not going to begrudge a coach his right to do what he thinks is best for his team, but it would have been nice to see the game at Spotswood. With gas prices on the rise, the less travel involved for fans, the better. That goes for schools also, especially with the current budget concerns in both the Waynesboro and Staunton school systems.

Article source: http://www.newsleader.com/article/20120222/SPORTS/202220326/Long-trip-Lee-Waynesboro-game-should-shorter?odyssey=nav%7Chead