Although they had not played one another on the basketball court in an astounding 45 years, the Little Giants and Gladiators went after one another tonight like familiar bitter rivals in an intense, physical battle resembling the type game you would expect to see in March. Each team played to it strength, which included torrid three-point shooting from Riverheads and the ultimate deciding factor, a powerful inside presence from the Little Giants.
When the dust settled, the Giants walked off the court as 53-48 winners but Riverheads certainly had nothing to be ashamed, considering they were a 1-A team playing on the home court of an unbeaten 3-A team. In fact this was exactly the type game a team can benefit from in the long run and fans may already be looking forward to the January 22 re-match in Greenville.
Riverheads took early control of the game, thanks to a pair of long-range threes from senior sharpshooter Grant Painter. He hit both before some of the fans had even taken their seats as the Big Red jumped to a quick 6-0 lead. Ironically RHS would hold six-point advantages several more times during the game but could never get any more breathing room.
The Giants then started a comeback but managed only one lead at 16-14 before Painter buried an impossible trey from the deep right corner at the first quarter horn to put RHS ahead 17-16. Waynesboro then went on a five point spurt to open the second quarter and move ahead 21-17, their largest lead at the time, only to see Riverheads catch a second wind and take a 26-23 lead into the locker room.
The Gladiators, whom I would estimate led tonight for about 22-24 of the 32 minutes, came out strong and held the lead the entire third quarter. When the Giants trimmed the advantage to 32-31, younger brother Adam Painter pumped in five quick points to give the Gladiators yet another six point advantage. They would hold that six point lead at 45-39 heading into the final stanza.
If you compare that score to the above final, you can see that the Giants then closed out the game on a 14-3 run to gain the victory. Riverheads was still getting the shots but they simply would not go in and their only points of the quarter came after about a six-minute drought when (Grant) Painter's
seventh triple of the night cut the lead to 50-48.
He finished with 23 points on the evening and the seven treys is one short of his own school record of 8. As a team the Gladiators hit ten of them tonight, which is ironic considering that they rolled over Parry McCluer by 17 points just last night and did not hit (or need) even a single triple. Their dependence on the long shot tonight was so evident that they only managed six two-point baskets.
To give the Giants their deserved full credit and further explain the major factor in the win, his name was Damien Fisher. There were no heights listed in the program but I would guess he is about 6'7" and the Gladiators could not control him, especially down the stretch. I believe I read in a newspaper account that he finished with 24 points. Many of those were scored at the same time Riverheads hit its unfortunate dry spell.
When he was not dominating the paint, the Giants also got a solid floor game and several timely outside shots from point guard Dayvon Young. I believe he finished with 15 and that senior duo gives the Giants a pretty potent 1-2 scoring punch, which explains their unbeaten record.
Notice I have not yet commented on the officiating. As much as I know you guys will be disappointed, I have to give the stripes a pretty good overall mark tonight. This was an intense, championship-caliber game and all things considered they handled it well. They did not allow it to get out of control, although there were times it could have. Did they miss some things? Sure but don't they always? But the key is that they were consistent which is all you can ask of them.
HOWWWWWWWWWW ever........we might not be able to give the two JV guys quite as much in the way of high marks. You see that was quite the game in its own right tonight and at one point RHS coach Justin Brake got T'd up for protesting what he (and a lot of other folks in red) thought was an obvious missed hard foul on one of his players at a crucial time when the Gladiators were mounting a very impressive comeback.
Waynesboro ended up winning that one 51-42 but it was a closer game than that. The Little Giants led 29-18 at the break, mainly behind some absolutely unconscious three-point shooting from Charles Haynes. If the Big Red could have gotten away with handcuffing and/or blindfolding him, they might have given it a try. It wasn't so much the NUMBER of shots he hit but his range was uncanny. For those of us that remember, we will have to watch him on the 22nd to see if he has anywhere near that kind of game again.
Anyway, just as they did last night in Buena Vista, the Gladiators got collectively fired up in the locker room and came back out with guns blazing. Sophomore Levi Byer had an especially strong third quarter as the Gladiators turned up the screws on defense and climbed steadily back into the game. They cut the lead to just a single digit on two different occasions but could never get the key basket they needed to tie or take the lead. The technical then came at the worst possible time and as often happens, it was a factor that made the final look worse than it was.
So to summarize, two great games from four teams that fought hard. Even though it was a non-district affair, as will be the re-match, both teams will see this kind of challenge down the road if they hope to advance in the post-season. Riverheads especially may have actually benefited from this loss tonight as there has to be a certain pressure attached to being unbeaten.
Furthermore, the Gladiators now have an eight-day break before their next game and you can bet that Coach Coffey could not be happier about that. We can expect to see a renewed focus on the floor the afternoon of the 11th at Luray, and especially when district play begins the following week.
When the dust settled, the Giants walked off the court as 53-48 winners but Riverheads certainly had nothing to be ashamed, considering they were a 1-A team playing on the home court of an unbeaten 3-A team. In fact this was exactly the type game a team can benefit from in the long run and fans may already be looking forward to the January 22 re-match in Greenville.
Riverheads took early control of the game, thanks to a pair of long-range threes from senior sharpshooter Grant Painter. He hit both before some of the fans had even taken their seats as the Big Red jumped to a quick 6-0 lead. Ironically RHS would hold six-point advantages several more times during the game but could never get any more breathing room.
The Giants then started a comeback but managed only one lead at 16-14 before Painter buried an impossible trey from the deep right corner at the first quarter horn to put RHS ahead 17-16. Waynesboro then went on a five point spurt to open the second quarter and move ahead 21-17, their largest lead at the time, only to see Riverheads catch a second wind and take a 26-23 lead into the locker room.
The Gladiators, whom I would estimate led tonight for about 22-24 of the 32 minutes, came out strong and held the lead the entire third quarter. When the Giants trimmed the advantage to 32-31, younger brother Adam Painter pumped in five quick points to give the Gladiators yet another six point advantage. They would hold that six point lead at 45-39 heading into the final stanza.
If you compare that score to the above final, you can see that the Giants then closed out the game on a 14-3 run to gain the victory. Riverheads was still getting the shots but they simply would not go in and their only points of the quarter came after about a six-minute drought when (Grant) Painter's
seventh triple of the night cut the lead to 50-48.
He finished with 23 points on the evening and the seven treys is one short of his own school record of 8. As a team the Gladiators hit ten of them tonight, which is ironic considering that they rolled over Parry McCluer by 17 points just last night and did not hit (or need) even a single triple. Their dependence on the long shot tonight was so evident that they only managed six two-point baskets.
To give the Giants their deserved full credit and further explain the major factor in the win, his name was Damien Fisher. There were no heights listed in the program but I would guess he is about 6'7" and the Gladiators could not control him, especially down the stretch. I believe I read in a newspaper account that he finished with 24 points. Many of those were scored at the same time Riverheads hit its unfortunate dry spell.
When he was not dominating the paint, the Giants also got a solid floor game and several timely outside shots from point guard Dayvon Young. I believe he finished with 15 and that senior duo gives the Giants a pretty potent 1-2 scoring punch, which explains their unbeaten record.
Notice I have not yet commented on the officiating. As much as I know you guys will be disappointed, I have to give the stripes a pretty good overall mark tonight. This was an intense, championship-caliber game and all things considered they handled it well. They did not allow it to get out of control, although there were times it could have. Did they miss some things? Sure but don't they always? But the key is that they were consistent which is all you can ask of them.
HOWWWWWWWWWW ever........we might not be able to give the two JV guys quite as much in the way of high marks. You see that was quite the game in its own right tonight and at one point RHS coach Justin Brake got T'd up for protesting what he (and a lot of other folks in red) thought was an obvious missed hard foul on one of his players at a crucial time when the Gladiators were mounting a very impressive comeback.
Waynesboro ended up winning that one 51-42 but it was a closer game than that. The Little Giants led 29-18 at the break, mainly behind some absolutely unconscious three-point shooting from Charles Haynes. If the Big Red could have gotten away with handcuffing and/or blindfolding him, they might have given it a try. It wasn't so much the NUMBER of shots he hit but his range was uncanny. For those of us that remember, we will have to watch him on the 22nd to see if he has anywhere near that kind of game again.
Anyway, just as they did last night in Buena Vista, the Gladiators got collectively fired up in the locker room and came back out with guns blazing. Sophomore Levi Byer had an especially strong third quarter as the Gladiators turned up the screws on defense and climbed steadily back into the game. They cut the lead to just a single digit on two different occasions but could never get the key basket they needed to tie or take the lead. The technical then came at the worst possible time and as often happens, it was a factor that made the final look worse than it was.
So to summarize, two great games from four teams that fought hard. Even though it was a non-district affair, as will be the re-match, both teams will see this kind of challenge down the road if they hope to advance in the post-season. Riverheads especially may have actually benefited from this loss tonight as there has to be a certain pressure attached to being unbeaten.
Furthermore, the Gladiators now have an eight-day break before their next game and you can bet that Coach Coffey could not be happier about that. We can expect to see a renewed focus on the floor the afternoon of the 11th at Luray, and especially when district play begins the following week.
