PM got out to an early lead and maintained it to the end. Riverheads had a chance to tie on a last second shot, but missed.
PM beats Riverheads in a close one
- Thread starter Mike777VSP
- Start date
Mike doesn't mention the score but if you were thinking it was a 77-76 kind of game, then you don't know these two teams. They each rely on their defense anyway, but when they play each other, they take it to extremes and every single point is hard to come by. So no, this was not a shootout tonight by any stretch, but rather a dog-eat-dog, grind-it-out slugfest that ended up 32-29. Believe it or not, they have had several such contests in recent years, although this may be the lowest scoring of them all.
As Mike hinted, the Blues probably won this one in the first quarter. It took Riverheads a little time to adjust to just how MUCH of a defensive struggle they were in for, and although they were getting shots, they were just not falling. As a result, PM led 11-5 after one, and stretched that to 17-5 by the midway part of the second quarter. At that point, it looked like it could get ugly, but that is actually the point at which Riverheads began its comeback.
Grant Painter outscored the Blues 5-2 by himself over the last half of the period and just seeing a double-digit number finally up there was enough to give Gladiator fans hopes for a comeback, as the teams went to the locker room with a football-like 19-10 reading on the scoreboard.
Whatever Coach Coffey said to his team must have gotten through because the Gladiators quite honestly outplayed PM in the second half and you walked away with the feeling that another 2-3 minutes on the clock might have been enough to come back all the way.
The main architect of the comeback was Senior Zack Adams. Since three-pointers were few and far between for the Big Red tonight, he decided to try his luck driving inside. Despite PM's air-tight defense, he did manage to work his way to eight very hard-earned points, all in the second half, two of which came on a beautiful fake.
The Blues meanwhile did very little on offense after the break and although I did not keep their stats, I would guess that at least 8 or 9 of their 13 second-half points came from the charity stripe. They certainly were not freezing the ball so it was instead of matter of Riverheads finally adjusting to the flow, contesting every single shot attempt, and almost beating them at their own game.
Thanks to Mr. Adams and also third quarter hoops from Forrest Shuey and Deacon "Mike" Moore (private joke), the Gladiators crept to within 23-18 by the end of the period. As the final period started, everyone knew that it was a matter of the Blues hitting their foul shots vs. Riverheads finally being able to connect enough from the floor to get back in the game.
As the clock moved down toward the final minute, PM had a 30-23 cushion, and given the pace of the game, RHS' chances did not look very good. But suddenly things got very interesting when Elijah Dunlap stole the ball and drove all the way for an old-fashioned three-point play, followed just a few seconds later by a hand-in-the-face, how-in-the-heck-did-he-even-see-the-basket triple from Painter, and all of a sudden it was 30-29 and we had a ball game on our hands.
The clock was down to about 30 seconds by that time and of course the Gladiators fouled. PM only connected on one of them, making the score 31-29 and giving RHS a chance to either tie the score or take the lead. They worked the ball in close but the shot failed to fall, necessitating another foul. Again the guy hit only one but that accounted for the final score. Painter had an open look at a potential game-tying triple, but it was off the mark. He finished with 9 points to Adams 8.
These two teams will clash again for at least the third straight year at the Rock the Ribbon Classic on the 12th. So perhaps RHS can learn from this game and get the job done on a neutral floor or maybe the Blues will step up the defense even more and we will have an 18-14 final that day!
Meanwhile the Gladiators do not get any rest as they are in action at Wilson Saturday, as part of a boy/girl quadruple-header. A change has been made in that schedule and the approximate game times are now: Boys JV game 2:00; Girls JV game 3:30; Girls Varsity game 5:00; Boys Varsity game 7:00. Riverheads will then get to enjoy only its second home game of the season Wednesday night when Fort Defiance visits the Coliseum.
In JV action tonight, the pace was similar as PM outscored Riverheads 8-1 down the stretch to take a closer-than-it-sounds 31-22 win. The Gladiators had led 13-10 at halftime.
As Mike hinted, the Blues probably won this one in the first quarter. It took Riverheads a little time to adjust to just how MUCH of a defensive struggle they were in for, and although they were getting shots, they were just not falling. As a result, PM led 11-5 after one, and stretched that to 17-5 by the midway part of the second quarter. At that point, it looked like it could get ugly, but that is actually the point at which Riverheads began its comeback.
Grant Painter outscored the Blues 5-2 by himself over the last half of the period and just seeing a double-digit number finally up there was enough to give Gladiator fans hopes for a comeback, as the teams went to the locker room with a football-like 19-10 reading on the scoreboard.
Whatever Coach Coffey said to his team must have gotten through because the Gladiators quite honestly outplayed PM in the second half and you walked away with the feeling that another 2-3 minutes on the clock might have been enough to come back all the way.
The main architect of the comeback was Senior Zack Adams. Since three-pointers were few and far between for the Big Red tonight, he decided to try his luck driving inside. Despite PM's air-tight defense, he did manage to work his way to eight very hard-earned points, all in the second half, two of which came on a beautiful fake.
The Blues meanwhile did very little on offense after the break and although I did not keep their stats, I would guess that at least 8 or 9 of their 13 second-half points came from the charity stripe. They certainly were not freezing the ball so it was instead of matter of Riverheads finally adjusting to the flow, contesting every single shot attempt, and almost beating them at their own game.
Thanks to Mr. Adams and also third quarter hoops from Forrest Shuey and Deacon "Mike" Moore (private joke), the Gladiators crept to within 23-18 by the end of the period. As the final period started, everyone knew that it was a matter of the Blues hitting their foul shots vs. Riverheads finally being able to connect enough from the floor to get back in the game.
As the clock moved down toward the final minute, PM had a 30-23 cushion, and given the pace of the game, RHS' chances did not look very good. But suddenly things got very interesting when Elijah Dunlap stole the ball and drove all the way for an old-fashioned three-point play, followed just a few seconds later by a hand-in-the-face, how-in-the-heck-did-he-even-see-the-basket triple from Painter, and all of a sudden it was 30-29 and we had a ball game on our hands.
The clock was down to about 30 seconds by that time and of course the Gladiators fouled. PM only connected on one of them, making the score 31-29 and giving RHS a chance to either tie the score or take the lead. They worked the ball in close but the shot failed to fall, necessitating another foul. Again the guy hit only one but that accounted for the final score. Painter had an open look at a potential game-tying triple, but it was off the mark. He finished with 9 points to Adams 8.
These two teams will clash again for at least the third straight year at the Rock the Ribbon Classic on the 12th. So perhaps RHS can learn from this game and get the job done on a neutral floor or maybe the Blues will step up the defense even more and we will have an 18-14 final that day!
Meanwhile the Gladiators do not get any rest as they are in action at Wilson Saturday, as part of a boy/girl quadruple-header. A change has been made in that schedule and the approximate game times are now: Boys JV game 2:00; Girls JV game 3:30; Girls Varsity game 5:00; Boys Varsity game 7:00. Riverheads will then get to enjoy only its second home game of the season Wednesday night when Fort Defiance visits the Coliseum.
In JV action tonight, the pace was similar as PM outscored Riverheads 8-1 down the stretch to take a closer-than-it-sounds 31-22 win. The Gladiators had led 13-10 at halftime.
Doesn’t matter if you win in the first or 4th. A win is a win and every losing team wishes there was 2-3 more minutes in a game. If there was only more time we would have won...
PM vs Riverheads always seems to be ugly. PM has played well on the defensive end all season but our offense has been sluggish. Again missing open layups. We could have easily won by 15 if we could get shots to fall. Riverheads did turn up the defensive pressure in the second half but we seemed to handle it decently. Always fun to beat Coach Coffey since he is a local kid. Next meeting should be fun. Rather than a 18-14 gams let’s hope one of them breaks 40.
I was hoping you would read this and fill in the gaps. Thanks! Should be a good one at RCHS in a couple of weeks. I think a lot of people will over look both teams, but, they both have the potential to go far!
I counted ten layups that we (PM) missed and quit counting. Our JV played well as well, Coach Cartolaro and Coach Coffey both have full cupboards to work with in the coming years. PM has a lot of height as well as RH. Going to be fun
I've followed Coach Cartolaro for many years. I'm not the least bit surprised that he has this Blues team at a state contention level. He's turned every program he's ever touched around.
On the other hand I've seen riverheads 15 times the past 2 seasons and they have remained solid.
The game down in Rockbridge County in a couple weeks should be a really good one.
On the other hand I've seen riverheads 15 times the past 2 seasons and they have remained solid.
The game down in Rockbridge County in a couple weeks should be a really good one.
It's my understanding that PM will be a force in the west this season? I've heard this from several people and I have many friends throughout SWVA
It's hard to argue his past results, it takes time to rebuild a program and that program was down pretty badly before he came in. Once the kids buy into his program he wins at every place he goes
I guess we all will see how it works out but I will bet on Mike every time and twice on Sunday. He will drag those boys to the finish line if need be.
I still expect riverheads to put up an awesome fight in a couple weeks. They are well Coached as well
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I am surprised at some of this discussion. I thought PM was solid under Nelson Fox and had remained so under Cartolaro. I figured their fans liked both of them.
I agree with this post it seems that PM fans are being a little unfair here. The Basketball programs boys and girls couldn't have better leaders. Mikes results speak for themself and look what the Gilbert guy has accomplished with the girls program.
I could be wrong but I hadn't heard of PM girls basketball doing anything special before the young man took the program over.
Id be willing to bet that if either Coach became available there wouldn't be a School in the State of Virginia that wouldn't scoop them up.
I think there is some confusion, my oldest son played for Coach Fox and LOVES him, even to this day. I think the confusion is when Coach Fox retired the program nose dived. And after a couple of years Coach Cartolaro was gored, my youngest is on the JV team and trust me, they are buying in! He has a nucleus of kids that are sophomores and freshman that are in weight room at 7 am Monday, Wednesday and Friday and are asking can they do it at the PMHS facility even through the summer! I have the utmost respect for Coach Fox, Coach Cartolaro and Coach Adam Gilbert, the girls Coach, as well as Chad Coffey who was one of my favorite players that I followed through his career as a Blue even before my son could play. Blues basketball is on the right track
First off yes Ravens !!!!!!!!!
secondly I wasn't aware there was someone between Fox and Mike so it's more clear now. I'm not at all surprised to hear of the workouts and dedication from the players. Like I previously said mike will carry those boys to victory from will and desire alone. He will not accept losing. The program will be amazing when he's done building it.
Forgot to mention that I went back and checked some old scores. PM beat Riverheads just a couple of years ago 33-24, which comes in under Friday's game by a few points. I think that one was at Rock the Ribbon.
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