Next year marks a 100-year milestone in the basketball program at Honaker High School.
The year was 1924 and the Russell County boys basketball team from Honaker won the first Virginia Championship Games for county high schools. The tournament finals were held at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Eight of the 41 original teams qualified for the finals.
On Dec. 13, 1924, Honaker defeated Dayton High of Rockingham County 30-14 according to research by Dr. Fred B. Gent of Abingdon. Forty-one county schools participated in the tournament. Only county high schools with a boys enrollment under 50 could participate.
Teams from Southwest Virginia schools participated in District D playoffs at Emory & Henry College. Schools in District D, besides Honaker, included Hilton High (Scott County), Dickenson Memorial and Clintwood High (Dickenson County), Fries High (Grayson County), Barrack High (Washington County), and Ewing High (Lee County).
In the District D semifinals, competition was between Honaker, Hilton and Ewing high; Honaker battled Hilton in the final round to advance to the finals at Charlottesville.
Competing teams in the state finals represented Botetourt, Giles, Madison, Mecklenburg, Nansemond, Rockingham, Spotsylvania and Russell counties, according to the Newport News Daily Press in 1924.