RICHMOND, Va. -- Friday was suppose to be when the Monacan Lady Chiefs were to play the Hampton Lady Crabbers in the Class 4 State Championship with limited attendance at VCU's Siegel Center.
"We were excited about everything," stated Monacan Head Coach Larry Starr. "We had done a lot of research. My assistant had gone down to see them play. We had a lot of film and they were a very good team. But we thought we were going to win."
The Virginia High School League made the decision to canceled all championship games on Friday and Saturday due to the Coronavirus outbreak and have co-champions in the five classes that were affected.
"Yesterday, I would have given you a different answer when it first came out," Coach Starr explained. "But after I thought about it and digested it and saw what the pros were going and the colleges were going, I felt like that little ole Virginia didn't have much choice at that point."
After some time to gather his thoughts and emotions, Coach Starr walked into a room with 15 players that were on the verge of playing the biggest game of the season.
"I was bummed when I talked to her {Assistant Coach Lesile Bacile}, I was a little upset and she said, you have to go there and smile," said Coach Starr. "And tell them you just won the Class 4 State Championship. You just won a State Championship."
The VHSL's decision to name Monacan and Hampton co-champions in Class 4 meant the Lady Chiefs won their fourth State Title in the last six years and their first since 2017. But didn't get to chance to celebrate on the Siegel Center floor like the previous three State Champion teams.
"Well it didn't change completely," Starr expressed. "Their excited about getting the ring. The thing is I have two seniors that experienced it four years ago and they know the emotion of the time. And that's something you can't make up."
