There's a fresh energy brewing in the Riverheads girls basketball program. The team, which fielded one of the youngest rosters in the Shenandoah District last season with just a single senior and seven underclassmen, now has a new leader at the helm. And he couldn't be more excited about the challenge ahead.
Justin Brake, a 2007 Riverheads graduate and current physical education teacher at Riverheads Middle School, has been named the new head coach. For Brake, this isn't just another job—it's a homecoming. He knows the winning tradition firsthand, having played on three district championship teams and served as part of the coaching staff that captured the Region B title in 2020.
Brake's basketball credentials run deep. A 1,000-point scorer in high school who was also named district player of the year, he went on to play collegiately at Bridgewater College. But his coaching journey started early, mentoring youth sports while still in school, coaching track at Broadway High during college, and leading middle school and junior varsity programs in Rockingham County.
"It's just a really great group of ladies," Brake said of his new team. "Not only are they really good athletes, but they're good people and I know they're very coachable. That's a big aspect in taking a new job—you want to be able to be happy in it and feel like you can make an impact."
The talent is already there, and Brake knows it. His vision is clear: "They have so much talent on that team. We need to get to the next step. That's my goal—making it past regionals, making it to the state."
In other coaching news at Riverheads, Taylor Arney will take over as the school's new cross country coach. The school praised her passion and intensity for running, noting she has been instrumental in developing the middle school cross country program and has a clear plan to guide the high school team toward continued success.
With a young roster and a coach who bleeds Riverheads blue, the future of Gladiator basketball is looking bright. The next step starts now.