SMALL TOWNS, BUT VERY BIG DREAMS.(SPORTS)

Byline: TIM REYNOLDS Staff writer -

They are separated by only 17 miles of two-lane highway, these schoolhouses of Fort Ann and Argyle. Take a drive between the two brick buildings, and you're likely to pass more farm machinery than you are Washington County sheriff's patrol cars.

The townships that house the schools are similar, too: They're both blue-collar and simple -- true grass-roots communities. Fewer than 10,000 people reside in the townships combined, with most residents being at least second-generation. And the school setups are virtually the same, with an average of 50 students per grade.

But from such small feeder pools come some of the most multi-talented athletes in Section II. Tradition dictates it be that way. Championship plaques, from the league level to state competition, are stacked in the schools' respective trophy cases like two cords of wood in a one-cord shed.

``Winning breeds winning, and …