The Bath County Chargers recovered from a shaky start and survived an even shakier finish to surprise Riverheads tonight in what I assume was the home team's best effort of the season. It basically boiled down to one of those games in which the Chargers hustled from start to finish and had an uncanny knack for getting to every loose ball, grabbing rebounds that looked out of reach, slapping constantly at the ball and just generally making the right plays at the right time. To put it another way, they just seemed to want it more and willed themselves to the win. I have not followed their season or looked up anything so I have no idea if this was perhaps their first win of the year.
Riverheads ran out of the gate well enough, scoring the first 9 points of the game, including a rare four-point play, and it briefly appeared as if the Gladiators were going to roll to an easy win. But almost immediately the momentum switched sides and by the end of the first period, Bath was in front 17-15. The second quarter was then pretty even, and although the Bath lead twice reached five points, Riverheads rallied back to tie it at 30 heading into the break.
The Gladiators were then done in by a cold third quarter in which they scored only four points. Bath then took its largest lead of the game at 47-36 early in the fourth and RHS appeared to be dead in the water, before they came back to life and steadily crept back into the game.
However, every time it looked like Riverheads was headed for that big play that would tie the score or put them ahead, Bath would come up with the key score or stop to hold on to the lead. The most agonizing moment for Riverheads came when a fast break lay up that would have tied the score at 58 somehow rolled off the rim.
That led to a parade to the Bath foul line but the Chargers left the door open for Riverheads by missing more than they hit. But the Big Red just could not capitalize. The Gladiators' final points came with about 10 seconds left when a Chase Donathan triple rattled in to close the gap to 60-59. That of course led to more foul attempts, but even when the Chargers would miss, they could somehow still corral the rebound and keep the ball at their end of the court. Finally Riverheads just ran out of chances as Bath held on for the victory.
The Big Red's leading scorer on the season, J P Crawford, continued to enjoy this particular court as he dropped in six triples on the way to a team-high 24 points. That came after he knocked down five of them here last year and tonight was his third straight 20 plus game. He was joined in double figures by Jackson Brammer, who scored his season-high of 18 before fouling out in the final seconds of the game.
Unfortunately the other three Gladiator starters just could not find their groove tonight, leaving it up to the subs to try to help out and save the game. Donathan finished with five and sophomore Gabe Lloyd, an off the bench inside banger, added a tough six points, but no one else, starter or reserve, managed more than two for Riverheads.
The news was not all bad for the Gladiator faithful as the JV team put a solid 56-11 whooping on the Chargers. The Gladiators started out on the slow side, taking just an 8-4 lead into the second quarter. But they poured it on after that, never allowing Bath to score more than 3 in any of the remaining quarters. The running clock was in effect for most of the second half as the game wrapped up in a little over an hour.
With Tuesday's weather sounding like a royal mess, at least Riverheads won't have a game to worry about as they are now off until Friday, when they will try to get back on track by hosting Waynesboro. At this point, it is uncertain if the weather will impact school tomorrow and/or whatever Shenandoah District games may be on tap.
Riverheads ran out of the gate well enough, scoring the first 9 points of the game, including a rare four-point play, and it briefly appeared as if the Gladiators were going to roll to an easy win. But almost immediately the momentum switched sides and by the end of the first period, Bath was in front 17-15. The second quarter was then pretty even, and although the Bath lead twice reached five points, Riverheads rallied back to tie it at 30 heading into the break.
The Gladiators were then done in by a cold third quarter in which they scored only four points. Bath then took its largest lead of the game at 47-36 early in the fourth and RHS appeared to be dead in the water, before they came back to life and steadily crept back into the game.
However, every time it looked like Riverheads was headed for that big play that would tie the score or put them ahead, Bath would come up with the key score or stop to hold on to the lead. The most agonizing moment for Riverheads came when a fast break lay up that would have tied the score at 58 somehow rolled off the rim.
That led to a parade to the Bath foul line but the Chargers left the door open for Riverheads by missing more than they hit. But the Big Red just could not capitalize. The Gladiators' final points came with about 10 seconds left when a Chase Donathan triple rattled in to close the gap to 60-59. That of course led to more foul attempts, but even when the Chargers would miss, they could somehow still corral the rebound and keep the ball at their end of the court. Finally Riverheads just ran out of chances as Bath held on for the victory.
The Big Red's leading scorer on the season, J P Crawford, continued to enjoy this particular court as he dropped in six triples on the way to a team-high 24 points. That came after he knocked down five of them here last year and tonight was his third straight 20 plus game. He was joined in double figures by Jackson Brammer, who scored his season-high of 18 before fouling out in the final seconds of the game.
Unfortunately the other three Gladiator starters just could not find their groove tonight, leaving it up to the subs to try to help out and save the game. Donathan finished with five and sophomore Gabe Lloyd, an off the bench inside banger, added a tough six points, but no one else, starter or reserve, managed more than two for Riverheads.
The news was not all bad for the Gladiator faithful as the JV team put a solid 56-11 whooping on the Chargers. The Gladiators started out on the slow side, taking just an 8-4 lead into the second quarter. But they poured it on after that, never allowing Bath to score more than 3 in any of the remaining quarters. The running clock was in effect for most of the second half as the game wrapped up in a little over an hour.
With Tuesday's weather sounding like a royal mess, at least Riverheads won't have a game to worry about as they are now off until Friday, when they will try to get back on track by hosting Waynesboro. At this point, it is uncertain if the weather will impact school tomorrow and/or whatever Shenandoah District games may be on tap.
