After opening the season last week with a road win at East Rock, the Lady Gladiators would have liked nothing better than to treat their home fans to a victory tonight but it was not to be as visiting William Monroe jumped on top early and led all the way, posting a convincing 65-41 victory. The major factor in the game was height as the Greene Dragons had two legitimate 6 footers on the floor at all times, which is two more than Riverheads even has on it roster.
One of those tall trees, Ella Weaver, quickly established herself as Monroe's go-to girl, as she scored the first six points for the visitors and was clearly their floor general as well. I did not keep score or hear any, but I would imagine she was in the 20s tonight. The Gladiators to their credit were scrappy and fought to the end in a surprisingly fast-paced game. But as they say "you can't teach height." Another interesting quirk tonight was that each team only had nine players dressed out.
The evening was not a total loss for Riverheads as the JVs evened their record at 1-1 with a resounding 46-9 triumph over the Junior Dragons. In that one it was definitely RHS with the height advantage as several of Monroe's players looked almost too young and small to even be in middle school. The Gladiators raced to a 26-4 halftime lead, and when they scored the first 14 points of the second half, we saw something that is all too familiar to Riverheads fans.......a running clock.
I believe in basketball it kicks in with a 30 point advantage at any point in the second half, so in this case, the game took less than an hour to play, even including the halftime break. If Monroe wanted to take anything positive away from such a big loss, it was that they scored the last basket of the game, and it was a triple.
Riverheads will now play the role of Road Warriors as they are at Bath next Wednesday, and then take part in a holiday event at Parry McCluer on the weekend of the 17th and 18th, where they will battle Rockbridge one night and the host Blues the next. All told, the very busy Lady Gladiators will have five games before the Christmas holiday and two more between the two holidays. One of those will be their district opener, at home against Fort Defiance on December 30th.
Meanwhile the Riverheads boys will waste very little time after Saturday's football finale, as they will open their season at home next Thursday against Bath County. They will play consecutive games with the Chargers, traveling over the mountain on the 20th, and then play Parry McCluer, the defending 1-A state champs, on the 23rd and 28th before opening their district schedule at Fort Defiance, also on the 30th.
Tis the season and for those of us who essentially sat out all of last year, it cannot come a moment too soon!
One of those tall trees, Ella Weaver, quickly established herself as Monroe's go-to girl, as she scored the first six points for the visitors and was clearly their floor general as well. I did not keep score or hear any, but I would imagine she was in the 20s tonight. The Gladiators to their credit were scrappy and fought to the end in a surprisingly fast-paced game. But as they say "you can't teach height." Another interesting quirk tonight was that each team only had nine players dressed out.
The evening was not a total loss for Riverheads as the JVs evened their record at 1-1 with a resounding 46-9 triumph over the Junior Dragons. In that one it was definitely RHS with the height advantage as several of Monroe's players looked almost too young and small to even be in middle school. The Gladiators raced to a 26-4 halftime lead, and when they scored the first 14 points of the second half, we saw something that is all too familiar to Riverheads fans.......a running clock.
I believe in basketball it kicks in with a 30 point advantage at any point in the second half, so in this case, the game took less than an hour to play, even including the halftime break. If Monroe wanted to take anything positive away from such a big loss, it was that they scored the last basket of the game, and it was a triple.
Riverheads will now play the role of Road Warriors as they are at Bath next Wednesday, and then take part in a holiday event at Parry McCluer on the weekend of the 17th and 18th, where they will battle Rockbridge one night and the host Blues the next. All told, the very busy Lady Gladiators will have five games before the Christmas holiday and two more between the two holidays. One of those will be their district opener, at home against Fort Defiance on December 30th.
Meanwhile the Riverheads boys will waste very little time after Saturday's football finale, as they will open their season at home next Thursday against Bath County. They will play consecutive games with the Chargers, traveling over the mountain on the 20th, and then play Parry McCluer, the defending 1-A state champs, on the 23rd and 28th before opening their district schedule at Fort Defiance, also on the 30th.
Tis the season and for those of us who essentially sat out all of last year, it cannot come a moment too soon!
