Front Row (L to R): Coach Jim Hines, Colin O'Donnell, Logan Waldron, Patrick Lawrence, Spenser Swain and Seth Adams; Back Row:Andrew Farrow, Canyon Jessee, Jimmy Hines and Coach David Lawrence

“The Hidden Valley Youth Sports Association (HVYSA) hosted a year end basketball tournament from March 10th until March 15th. On Sunday March 15th, 7 different teams were crowned champions.

Before the first game started, a senior girls team, the Vikings, were awarded medals for their undefeated regular season play. This was the first year for a senior girls team in Roanoke County and the Vikings had a successful opening season.

The first game of the afternoon had the Gators playing the 49ers for the girls shag championship. The Gators scored the first 8 points of the game and was ahead 16-6 at halftime. The 49ers had a great comeback in the 3rd quarter as they scored 14 points and helped to make the 4th quarter an exciting game. The Gators won the shag championship 26-22 over the 49ers. Eight different Gators scored points in the game with Christie Ammen leading the Gators with 7 points. Leslie Weidner of the 49ers scored 10 points.

The junior boys championship featured the Lakers and the Eagles. The Lakers won the game 48-31 over the Eagles for the championship and completed an undefeated season for the team. Jimmy Hines had 13 points for the Lakers while Dylan Neese had 10 points for the Eagles.

The girls ponytail championship had the Hoopsters against the Lightning. This game was close at halftime with the Hoopsters leading 8 to 6. The Hoopsters pulled away in the 2nd half and won the the championship 22-16 over the Lightning. Hannah Miko had 6 points for the Hoopsters and Carly Broadwell of the Eagles ended up with 4 points.

The boys pee wee championship featured one of the closest games of the day. The Celtics and the Lakers battled all game and the teams played a tight game until the very end. The Celtics completed an undefeated season by winning over the Lakers 27-25. Tommy Schmitt logged 9 points for the Celtics while Carter Johnson scored 10 points for the Lakers.

The girls pigtail championship had the Blazers and the Hoopsters playing during the next game. Both teams played hard and the Blazers won the championship 34-11 over the Hoopsters. Hailey Singleton scored 16 points for the Blazers and Faith Settles had 8 points for the Hoopsters.

The best game of the afternoon was the boys little league championship. The Tarheels and the Knicks played a close game until the very end. The Knicks were a 5th seeded team and looked ready to upset the number one seeded Tarheels. The Tarheels won the championship over the Knicks 30-29. David Wagstaff had 15 points for the Tarheels and Massi Flici scored 12 points for the Knicks.

The last championship of the day was the senior boys game. The Bobcats and the Dukes battled all game and the Bobcats won 60-41 over the Dukes. Player of the year Chris Carr had 14 points while David Turner scored 10 points for the Dukes.”

Submitted by: David Woodson

Roanoke County police have charged a 25-year-old Roanoke man with sexually assaulting a Bent Mountain woman in her home. Police say Jeremy Dean Bailey has been charged with nine felonies.

Here’s the release from Roanoke County police:

County Police Arrest Suspect in Sexual Assault

• Incident: Sexual Assault

• Date of Incident: 03/29/2009 Time of Incident: 3:30pm

• Location of Incident: (Bent Mountain area)

• Investigating Officer: Det. Chris Welch

• Victim Name(s): 23 year old female, name not released

• Suspect Name(s): BAILEY, Jeremy Dean, age 25, resident of Roanoke City

• Charges if Applicable: see narrative below

• Arrests Information: The suspect is being held in jail without bond.

•

• Additional Remarks: On 03/29/2009 at approximately 3:30pm, Roanoke County Police were called to meet a female Victim at the Roanoke County Fire & Rescue Department’s Bent Mountain station. The Victim related to the officers that she had been sexually assaulted by BAILEY, who was known by the Victim. Victim provided the following account:

On 03/29, Victim arrived home from work at 5:00am and discovered BAILEY in her residence. Victim alleges that over the next several hours, she was repeatedly assaulted by BAILEY, physically and sexually, and threatened with a shotgun. Victim also alleges that BAILEY forced her to accompany him in a car at one point During the drive, Victim tried to jump out of the moving car while on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but was pulled back into the car by her hair.

BAILEY eventually drove Victim back to [her residence] where she alleges she was sexually assaulted again. Eventually BAILEY released Victim, who went to the fire station where she met police. BAILEY remained at the residence with the shotgun.

The County Police SWAT team entered the residence at approximately 8:30pm and BAILEY was arrested. He is currently being held at the Roanoke County-Salem jail without bond on a total of nine felony charges to include: Burglary, Rape, Forcible Sodomy, Abduction, and Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony.

County police are continuing their investigation.

#####

Aidan Wright gets an autograph from Mutual of Omaha’s Peter Gros at the Salem Civic Center’s Home Show.

Submitted by: Loren Wright

And speaking of Peter Gros, we have a photo gallery from his appearance at the Roanoke County library on 419.

Back Row: Coach Alex Peters, Alyssa Baxter, Erin Terry, Reagan Sellers, Kayla Gibson, Ashleigh Hendrix, Brianna Christian, Coach Kelly Cook. Front Row: Erica Gibson, Kylee Draper, Morgan Spicer, Bella Fitzwater, Abbey Frost, Sophia Tanner, Lily Frost, Emmie Jessee.

Here are a few photos of the Mini Embers who won 1st Place at the Cheer and Dance Extreme Grand Championship by the Sea Nationals in VA Beach in Mini Level 1 Division.

Alyssa Baxter and Emmie Jessee are from Southwest Roanoke County!

From Chuck Lionberger of Roanoke County schools:

MINNIX, MOORE TO CUT RIBBON FOR NEW MAIN ENTRANCE

AT CAVE SPRING HIGH SCHOOL

Ribbon cutting set for Tuesday, March 31 at 7:30 a.m.

ROANOKE – Cave Spring District School Board member Fuzzy Minnix and Cave Spring District Board of Supervisor member Charlotte Moore will join Roanoke County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Lorraine Lange and Cave Spring High School principal Steve Spangler for a ribbon cutting event on Tuesday, March 31 at 7:30 a.m.

The event will officially mark the opening of the new main entrance to the school.

Members of the public and the media are invited to attend.

This is a picture of the 11-12 girls ponytail Hidden Valley Champions. Their record was 11-1.

Congratulations girls!

Back Row, L to R: Kathryn Lucas, Hannah Miko, Kathyrn Kallam, Kathryn Williams, Logan Engl. Front Row: Megan Matteodo, Ann Tirico, Claudia Desimone, Lauren Maddox.

Coaches: Steve Miko and Todd Kallam.

This is submitted by the Hoopsters basketball team.

Do you have photos to share involving teams or players from Southwest Roanoke County? If so, you can share at news@swo-co.com

North Cross held their Big Flea Event on Saturday, March 28. Emily Flora SWoCo

On Saturday, March 28 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. North Cross held their Big Flea (white elephant and clothing sale) in the Carter Athletic Center and it seemed to SWoCo they had a pretty good turn out.

We have photos from the event. To view more of them, check out our gallery here.

More information about the Big Flea Event:

This is one of three Red and White fundraising events which supports the mission of North Cross School while increasing important outreach and service to the greater Roanoke Valley. Red and White events are comprised of three annual events designed to bring the community together to raise awareness about campus resources. The Big Flea raised more than $23,000 last year and was attended by well over two thousand people.

This enormous “yard sale” held for the last 30+ years, is comprised of clothing and household goods donated to North Cross School by families, friends, and local businesses. At the conclusion of the sale, all unsold items are donated to local charities. Proceeds from the Big Flea help support the educational programming that make North Cross School the Roanoke Valley’s premier independent school.

-Laura Neff-Henderson

Here are two photos of the Express Hockey Team, which includes a lot of players from Southwest Roanoke County:

Coach Greg Staples, Coach Rick Kelley (not pictured), Coach Derek Norwinski, Alex Norwinski, Tyler Tchappatt, John Jirout (Cave Spring), Marc Sharrer (Cave Spring), Josh Prillaman, James Fennell, Grant Richards, Glen Martin, John Staples, Carl Puuri, Erik Sharrer (Cave Spring), Zane Callahan (Cave Spring), Luke Kelley (Cave Spring), Will Zazinski, Keith Jensen.

To the left is a photo of the team with the Stanley Cup! To the right, you with see the team with the Admirals on the ice during the National Anthem at a Norfolk Admirals game

Submitted by: Rick Kelley

Do you have photos involving teams or players from Southwest Roanoke County? If so, you can share at news@swo-co.com

The Roanoke Roar won the 12U girls division of the March Mayhem tournament held in Roanoke on March 28-29.

On April 9 at 7 p.m. Woodlawn United Methodist Church will hold “The Leonardo da Vinci’s: The Last Supper”, a living drama by Earnest K. Emurian of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the last supper. The photo strives to capture the Master’s “One of you will betray me” story in the Bible during Jesus’ final days as narrated in John 13:21.

Throughout the reenactment, disciples will express thoughts that may have been theirs during this event in the Bible. Each of them looks at Jesus and asks, “Is it I, that is going to betray you?”

Anne Elliott, one of the directors for this year’s reenactment, said that the church has done this reenactment before, but it’s been about five years.

“We just asked for volunteers in the church and they were given lines to learn,” Elliott said.

Volunteers make up the 12 apostles and Jesus, with a total of 13 actors. But it takes more than that to get the ball rolling. Elliott said, besides the two directors, herself and Suzanna McClung, they have volunteers for the makeup and the costumes.

“There are a lot of other people involved. We have the costumes and what we don’t have, Donna Fleshman makes. She tries to fit everybody into what we have and has to make some too.”

The church decided to do the reenactment again this year after a 2009 planning retreat last September.

“We are hoping to have people, not only our members, but in our surrounding neighborhoods come out,” Elliott said. “It’s very meaningful and powerful. There is a lot to memorize and some of the men are even growing beards for it.”

The reenactment will last about an hour to an hour and a half and it’s free to the public. After the reenactment, communion will follow.

Woodlawn United Methodist is located at 2922 Corbieshaw Road. For more information contact 540-774-8126 or email, infor@woodlawnumc.com.