It only took the Gladiators four seconds to take control tonight as senior guard J P Crawford scored on a driving lay-up off the tip and the Big Red never looked back in a dominating 70-22 road win over Stonewall Jackson. He would go on to score 10 points in the first quarter, which included two triples as the Big Red jumped out to a 26-9 lead. Joining him behind the arc were Will Gardner and Chase Donathan with two each, all in an action-packed first eight minutes.
After such a racehorse first quarter, the second was a totally different story as the early part at least resembled that other sport with the funny shaped ball. In one of the strangest plays of the night, Crawford was mugged on another lay up attempt but nothing was called. Well I shouldn't say "nothing" because the refs called a technical on him for protesting the no-call. Stonewall converted the two foul shots but ironically those were their only points of the quarter, as Riverheads closed out the half on an 11-0 run to take a 37-11 lead into the locker room. Henley Dunlap had a couple of fast break lay-ups, Donathan banked in his third triple, and Grayson Ward closed out the half with a nice basket in the lane.
After scoring only two points in the second quarter, things did not get any better as the hosts only managed four in the third period. Meanwhile Gardner dropped in his third triple and also hit all three foul shots when he was hacked on another attempt. The lead ballooned to an embarrassing 58-15 after three and set the running clock in motion.
The starters were pretty much through for the evening by that time, so the Gladiator points down the stretch mainly came from Joe George, Chris Dotson, and Jaxon Duff. Once again, for the third game in a row, the Gladiators had three players finish in double figures with two other guys almost making it. Crawford finished with 16, followed by Gardner with 15, Dunlap with 10, Donathan with 9, and George with 8. That kind of balance is no doubt preferred by Coach Weller as opposed to having to depend on one guy to control the scoring.
The Generals, much like Bath County on Monday, did not have serious big man threat, and although there are six seniors and six juniors on the roster, it was hard to tell who their team leader might be. The only bright spot for them this evening was a banked-in three pointer with about three seconds left. Otherwise the final would have been 70-19.
The Generals did manage a close win in the JV game. They built a 10 point lead early in the fourth quarter, but Riverheads rallied and cut it to four, before the home team held on for a 40-34 win. Eighth-grader Grant Fields had a nice game and may be a star of the future for the Generals.
These teams will meet again in Greenville over the weekend of December 27-28 as both the JV and varsity teams will take part in the Riverheads Holiday Tournament. Rappahannock County and Buffalo Gap will be the other two teams participating in that event.
But of much more urgency to Big Red fans will be this Friday night's trip to Rocktown. The varsity teams had a donnybrook in the game at Riverheads but the Gladiators have won three in a row since then, whereas the Raptors had a two-game losing streak going into tonight's home game with Charlottesville.
For anyone wishing to attend that one in Rocktown's brand new gym, be advised that the Raptors start their JV games at 5:30.
