NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WTKR) — Woodside has gotten used to going up against John Marshall in the preseason and scrimmages. Now it's time for the two boys basketball juggernauts to do battle for real.
The Wolverines head to Henrico County on Saturday night to face the Justices in a meeting of pair of programs that have dominated their respective classes.
"A lot of messages, it's all over social media, the teachers and administrators in the school," said Woodside head coach Stefan Welsh. "It's everywhere, you can feel it."
Woodside has won back-to-back Class 5 state championships, while John Marshall has captured the last three Class 2 state crowns and four of the last five.
These are the games Welsh's group are used to play and Saturday's contest fits right into their wheelhouse.
"Some games there's obviously a standard a lot of people hold us to, so that can bring a lot of pressure," said sophomore guard Callen Morrison. "If we come out and play as a team, the pressure should just go away."
"Every year, every preseason, every summer we're playing against great competition and top players in the country," said senior forward Silas Barksdale. "The atmosphere is going to be crazy but it's nothing that we haven't seen before."
Beyond its state championships, Woodside carries a 15-0 record and 25 straight wins into the meeting of champions. On the otherside, John Marshall is ranked as high as 11th nationally by MaxPreps. It was a game Welsh wanted to get on the schedule officially for a while, citing a close relationship with Justices' head coach Ty White.
"It was just a matter of, 'Look, let's go ahead and play this year. Let's play the real game,' he said. "All the games that we've played, they've been tightly contested. They've won one, we've won one so I expect a pretty good game."
Both teams will put a smatter of college talent on the floor Saturday. Barksdale has signed to play for Virginia Commonwealth and Masiah Stevens is heading to Radford, while John Marshall's Latrell Almond has gotten offers from the likes of Virginia, Tennessee, Georgetown, and Louisville.
As the tournament season looms near, Welsh says it's the right time to see exactly where his team stands against this caliber of opponent.
"That's why you play the game. What a better way to prepare yourself than to play against the number 11 team in the country and littered with division one prospects," he said. "That's really going to give us our toughest challenge yet."
"On the flip side of that, even though they've played in a lot of national games and they're prepared for the moment, we're going to give them a tough test too. This is a rivalry game."
The game will tip off Saturday at 8:00 PM from the Henrico Sports and Events Center.
