If it is possible for a team to play its best game of the season and still lose, the Riverheads Gladiators did exactly that tonight as they gave high-powered Stuarts Draft all it could handle on its own floor before Derrick Moore and Landon Graber finally took over in the fourth quarter and willed the Cougars to a hard-fought 65-58 victory. Making the Riverheads effort even more impressive was the fact that they had just played last night against another tough opponent (Staunton) whereas the Cougars had not played yet this week and were much better rested.
Nevertheless the Gladiators grabbed the early lead and had the Cougars fighting from behind for all three of the first three quarters. To show you how well the Big Red was playing, they held SD without a field goal for the first 7:58 of the game......that's right, the Cougars' first basket came with two seconds left in the first quarter.
SD did not take its first lead of the game until the 3:48 mark of the second quarter and even then it was only one point. Riverheads re-established the lead heading into the break at 26-25 and the Cougars did not manage a two point lead until the 2:57 mark of the third quarter. RHS fought back again and the teams headed to the benches tied at 40-40.
Finally Mr. Moore must have told his teammates between the quarters that he was taking over the game because he drilled a three to open the fourth quarter which finally gave the Cougars a three-point advantage. They stretched it to a nine point lead at 51-42 before the Gladiators crawled back into contention. Graber got into the act in the fourth and knocked down some shots and when Christian Moats stole the ball and drove in for a slam to make it 60-49, it looked like it might turn out to be one of those games that exploded into a 20 point blowout.
While the Cougars were trying to get that breathing room, the Gladiators were hanging around, thanks to some timely shots from Will Gardner and some very tough inside battling from Jackson Brammer. However, after Moats' slam, Henley Dunlap and Jaxon Duff combined for three Big Red triples in very short order and we had a game again at 62-58. RHS had the ball again one last time but a turnover in the final few seconds sealed the deal for the Cougars.
All things considered, a splendid effort from the Big Red, considering that they had to be exhausted and were playing in enemy territory. So hopefully they will see this game as the positive step forward that it was and build on it. Their first chance to do that will come Friday night when they travel to Buffalo Gap.
Tonight's JV game was an odd little affair won by the Cougars 55-27. They were a well-oiled machine that patiently moved the ball around looking for an open three and they connected on a bunch of them. For that reason, the first three quarters were played in a library-quiet atmosphere. But in the fourth quarter, the Big Red brought in its "junior bomb squad" consisting of eighth-graders Zane Glover, Jackson Berkstresser, and Sam Jarvis. They added some spark to an otherwise tame game as the Big Red finished the game with six triples of their own, meaning that two-thirds of their points came from behind the arc.
As mentioned earlier in another thread, the Gladiator girls will host Stuarts Draft tomorrow night. Both the JV and varsity games should be barnburners, so plan to make that trip or at least tune in on NFHS. The teams will know you are watching, no matter where you may be.
Congrats again to the Big Red on tonight's amazing effort. As for the Cougars, maybe they learned a lesson as well................that you can't go almost an entire quarter without a basket unless you want to fight from behind. Should be an interesting re-match in Greenville and I believe that will be sometime next week.
