This one actually went into overtime, thanks to a furious second-half comeback by the Gladiators. But Wilson held on down the stretch to open its season at 1-0 in district play and hand the Big Red only its second loss of the year.
Each team had played just last night and picked up a big win so we knew going in that this one would likely come down to which team would come out ready to play tonight and which one might still be suffering from perhaps a bit of a hangover. Well that question was quickly answered as Wilson came out hustling from the opening tip and scored the first 11 points of the game to put RHS in a huge hole.
It is not that the Gladiators were not getting shots...they just were not falling. Adam Painter, coming off last night's six-triple performance against Parry McCluer, tried to establish himself early but failed to connect, although he would later be a huge factor in the RHS comeback.
Ironically when a shot did finally fall for Riverheads, it was their longest of the night as Big Brother Grant Painter nailed one from about 22 feet. Shortly after that he stroked another one and it appeared that the Gladiators were ready to settle in and join the game.
But Wilson had other ideas as they continued to get to all the loose balls and were just generally outplaying Riverheads. They padded the lead to 18-7 by the end of the first quarter and took several 13 point leads in the second, including a 32-19 halftime advantage.
There is a rumor going around that RHS Coach Chad Coffey may be getting a bill for some new wallpaper in the visiting locker room, but whatever he said at the break must have worked because the Gladiators came out with a whole new mindset for the second half and for most of it, they looked as if they had a good chance to win the game.
Wilson actually scored the first bucket of the third quarter and that 34-19 lead was their largest of the night. But the visitors kicked it in to high gear for the rest of the game, starting with a torrid 14-0 run to trim the lead to a single digit. First each Painter brother hit from behind the arc and suddenly it was 34-25, and the Big Red fans started to stir a little bit. There was a bit of a lull at that point but a later three made it 34-28 as the Gladiators and their fans really start to believe.
Wilson finally stopped the bleeding with a triple of its own and took a 37-35 lead into the final quarter. setting the stage for Part Two of the Big Gladiator comeback. Riverheads kept storming back as they tied the game at 37, then again at 40, then again at 43. Wilson then surged back in front, only to see two threes from Elijah Dunlap, one coming just before the final horn, tie the game at 49 to send us into the extra session.
Dunlap was fouled on the Big Red's opening possession of the overtime and he hit one of the shots to give Riverheads its very first lead of the game at 50-49. Wilson scored to regain the lead and then Honor Robinson hit a half hook to put RHS back on top for one final time at 52-51. In the most agonizing stretch of the game, Riverheads regained possession with that one point lead but turned the ball over before they could hit a bucket to pad it.
Wilson then hit yet another three of its own to move ahead 54-52 and eventually 57-52 but Riverheads still not go quietly as they scored one final basket inside to account for the final score. The Gladiators then had a chance to tie in the final few seconds but an off-balance three from Grant Painter failed to connect. The ball then went out of bounds with 1.3 left in the game and wouldn't you know it, we just HAD to have an officiating controversy. (I know I have been dwelling on those a lot this season but damitol some of these things simply should not happen.)
Following the Painter miss, it was Wilson's ball with the three point lead so admittedly the Gladiators at that point would have needed a miracle to win the game. So in desperation they tried the only thing that looked like it might have a chance. They set up to hopefully draw an offensive foul on Wilson. Grant Painter, who probably watches more than a LITTLE basketball on TV, did all he could and sold the flop as well as some of the college guys do, and sure enough, one of our veteran officials blew his whistle.
There was only one problem..........it was only a half of a whistle, it was faint, and worst of all, he did not even make a call to acknowledge why he had blown it. This was all happening in front of the Riverheads bench at the most crucial time of the game and obviously we all needed to know what the heck his call was!
Instead, he kept us all in suspenders as he called for a stripes conference at center court. Also it should be noted that during the flop attempt the clock had ticked from 1.3 down to .7.
We, at least not we the fans, ever received an explanation so we can only assume it was an inadvertent whistle. Otherwise it was either going to be Riverheads ball or Wilson was headed to the foul line on a blocking foul. Instead they gave the ball back to Wilson for another inbound, and the clock remained at .7, instead of a possible re-set back to 1.3. With Gladiator fans howling, the Hornets inbounded successfully to end the game.
So for probably the 25th or 30th time over the almost 60 years these two have been acquainted, we had ourselves a donnybrook or a slobberknocker as Coach Casto likes to call them. Each team deserves praise......Riverheads for its comeback and Wilson for maintaining its poise and not wilting under the pressure. The re-match in Greenville should be interesting.
For the second night in a row, Adam Painter led the scoring for RHS. After hitting six triples in last night's win over Parry McCluer, he knocked down four more tonight on the way to a career high of 19 points. Grant (who will hopefully shake that annoying cough soon) added 13, Dunlap finished with 10 and Robinson with 8.
While we are on the subject of three-pointers, if interested you may want to re-visit my thread on last night's Parry McCluer game. I had discussed RHS' all-time record in that department and someone kindly pointed out a mistake to me, which I have now verified and corrected on that thread. Hopefully just in time for someone to set a new record anyway!!!
As a sign of things to come, the JV game also featured a comeback that fell short. Riverheads got off to a nice start as Bennett Dunlap, Gabe Milo, and Carter Mooneyham combined for five triples to give the Gladiators a double-digit first half lead. They kept the lead secure for most of the second half and led 32-21 around the two minute mark. Wilson hit a couple of threes down the stretch to make it interesting, but their final basket of the game came at the buzzer and only trimmed the lead to 32-29, as Riverheads Juniors walked off the court with their sixth win of the year against just three losses.
Everybody swings back into action Friday night after the cold front sets in as Wilson will host Stuarts Draft and the Gladiators entertain Fort Defiance.
