'Good Year’ for Basketball

Unless a team wins a national title, its coaches and players aren't 100%  satisfied with the season. Chris Moore, the men's basketball coach at Virginia Peninsula Community College, falls into that category as his team's season ended with a loss in the NJCAA Mid-Atlantic District tournament semifinals March 1.

He was unhappy with the finish but pleased with the season.

"Overall, it was a good year," he said.

The results back that up.

• They advanced to the Mid-Atlantic District semifinals.
•  They were 4-4 in Region 10 to earn the No.3 seed in the postseason tournament. They split with top-seeded Sandhills Community College, including a win in North Carolina when the Flyers were ranked third in the nation.
•  They posted a victory over No.2 Patrick & Henry in the Region 10 tournament semifinals after losing twice to the Patriots in the regular season.
•  They went into overtime before losing to Sandhills in the region final, during which they had chances to win in regulation and the extra session.
• The Gators went 14-10 overall.

Last year, the Gators' first in the NJCAA, they lost in the opening round of the Region 10 tournament, so finishing runner-up in the region and advancing to the district tournament this year were big improvements.

"We made it to the Mid-Atlantic Division semifinal. That's the furthest any team has made since joining the NJCAA for all sports. We were conference runners-up," Moore said.

He mentioned he was "pretty sure" his team bettered last year's numbers in 3-point field goal percentage, field goal percentage, points per game, and points allowed per game.

Individually, four players earned Region 10 honors. Sincere Moore (Matoaca/Chesterfield) made the all-region, all-freshmen and all-academic teams. Joining him on the latter were Jakobe Reed (Woodside/Hampton), Emmanuel Anguila (Kempsville/Virginia Beach) and Asa Fehrenbach (Lafayette/Williamsburg).

In addition, all the team's sophomores have received offers to play at four-year schools, with two already committing.

"And we kicked off the SafeHaven Empowerment Center home gym, which has been a bonus for us," Moore said.

It's easy to see why he's already looking forward to next season. His team was young, only two had played significant minutes in the 2023-24 season.

"It was a brand-new team, still young, very, very young," he said. "We had a shot."

He expects to have most of his players returning.

"We're coming back with some pretty good experience and we'll be even better next year," he said. "Of course, that's always the goal. We just have to see it through."

After the season-ending loss, a players-only meeting was held.

"They talked about what they needed to do next year and over the offseason," Moore said. "I think we are going to have a great offseason."

That includes Moore and his assistant coaches hitting the recruiting trail to fill the gaps.

"I think the guys are hungry for a national tournament opportunity next year," he said. "My biggest comment right now is, 'We'll be back.'"