BOYS BB: (2A) Wilson Memorial 57 (1A) Riverheads 50 - FINAL
- Thread starter pizzzzza
- Start date
As pizzzzzzzzza mentioned in one of his updates, the key to the Hornet win tonight had to be those three triples that came in rapid succession late in the third quarter from three different players. Prior to that, it had been a nip and tuck game with neither team leading by more than six points. But those three buckets gave Wilson its largest lead of the night at 7 and they were able to hold on.
The Gladiators got the fourth quarter off to a good start as Fulton connected on his third triple of the night, the team's sixth, to trim the Wilson lead to a deuce at 48-46. But moments later, the Hornets fed big man Greg Woodard on a nicely-executed fast break slam that made it 52-46 and pretty much settled the issue.
Just like with SD last night, Riverheads got off to a decent start as once again they led most of the first half and took a 29-28 advantage into the locker room. But the numbers game (RHS only dressed eight tonight) and the fatigue factor from last night's war with Stuarts Draft probably combined forces to keep RHS from maintaining its energy level down the stretch.
One thing was totally different about tonight's game as compared to last night's and that was the officiating. Even though we had one guy that called both games, this one was much more loosely officiated, which helped Riverheads stay in the game, given their low numbers. In fact the Gladiators went the entire first and third quarters with no fouls at all and only ended up with maybe 10 or 11 for the entire game and most of those came in the final few minutes when they were playing catch-up.
Fulton led the scoring for RHS with 20, followed by Grant Painter with 10. Elijah Dunlap added eight, including two of the team's triples, and Bradley Roberts scored five of the first seven for the visitors despite being less than 100% with an ankle tweak. Hopefully the four day rest before the Big Red hosts Fort Defiance on Wednesday will give him some healing time, not to mention Josh Kinzel should return to action after missing these last two games due to illness.
Tonight's JV game in terms of drama and competitiveness was actually the better of the two games. Wilson was rolling along with a 34-18 lead in the third quarter and appeared to be on the verge of blowing the game open when the Big Red suddenly caught fire. They scored the final 15 points of the period to trim the lead to 34-33 and when Michael Robertson dropped in a reverse lay-up to open the fourth period, RHS found itself ahead 35-34.
Big burly Ty Snead, who was the main architect of Wilson's big lead in the first place, finally broke the 17-0 Gladiator scoring run to put WM back ahead by one. The teams then traded buckets, leaving the margin at one, until Adam Painter stroked a triple from the deep right corner to put RHS ahead for good at 40-38.
From that point on, anything that could go wrong did go wrong for Wilson including a missed point blank uncontested lay-up and a three-pointer that went 92.47% of the way down into the cylinder (I measured!) before it somehow popped back out. That sequence of events gave the ball back to RHS, still holding tightly to its two-point lead.
The game had been so cleanly played to that point that each team had only two team fouls, so with the clock ticking under a minute, Wilson continued to foul in hopes of regaining possession. Riverheads hit three charity tosses to move ahead 43-38 before Wilson drained a long bomb cutting it to only two with 7 seconds still left.
RHS missed its final foul shot but a mad scramble for the rebound took all but 1.7 seconds off the clock and Wilson was unable to get off a shot as RHS escaped with the surprising and very much needed 43-41 win. Robertson and Painter were the two who had been moved up to the varsity Friday night for the Draft game and having them back down on the JV squad tonight most definitely helped the Big Red play a more fluid game.
As mentioned above, Riverheads will now spend some time in the comfy confines of their home gym as I believe five of the next six games are at home. That should be just what the doctor ordered and hopefully they can use those opportunities to climb up the standings and turn the tide back toward a winning season and favorable playoff seeding.
The Gladiators got the fourth quarter off to a good start as Fulton connected on his third triple of the night, the team's sixth, to trim the Wilson lead to a deuce at 48-46. But moments later, the Hornets fed big man Greg Woodard on a nicely-executed fast break slam that made it 52-46 and pretty much settled the issue.
Just like with SD last night, Riverheads got off to a decent start as once again they led most of the first half and took a 29-28 advantage into the locker room. But the numbers game (RHS only dressed eight tonight) and the fatigue factor from last night's war with Stuarts Draft probably combined forces to keep RHS from maintaining its energy level down the stretch.
One thing was totally different about tonight's game as compared to last night's and that was the officiating. Even though we had one guy that called both games, this one was much more loosely officiated, which helped Riverheads stay in the game, given their low numbers. In fact the Gladiators went the entire first and third quarters with no fouls at all and only ended up with maybe 10 or 11 for the entire game and most of those came in the final few minutes when they were playing catch-up.
Fulton led the scoring for RHS with 20, followed by Grant Painter with 10. Elijah Dunlap added eight, including two of the team's triples, and Bradley Roberts scored five of the first seven for the visitors despite being less than 100% with an ankle tweak. Hopefully the four day rest before the Big Red hosts Fort Defiance on Wednesday will give him some healing time, not to mention Josh Kinzel should return to action after missing these last two games due to illness.
Tonight's JV game in terms of drama and competitiveness was actually the better of the two games. Wilson was rolling along with a 34-18 lead in the third quarter and appeared to be on the verge of blowing the game open when the Big Red suddenly caught fire. They scored the final 15 points of the period to trim the lead to 34-33 and when Michael Robertson dropped in a reverse lay-up to open the fourth period, RHS found itself ahead 35-34.
Big burly Ty Snead, who was the main architect of Wilson's big lead in the first place, finally broke the 17-0 Gladiator scoring run to put WM back ahead by one. The teams then traded buckets, leaving the margin at one, until Adam Painter stroked a triple from the deep right corner to put RHS ahead for good at 40-38.
From that point on, anything that could go wrong did go wrong for Wilson including a missed point blank uncontested lay-up and a three-pointer that went 92.47% of the way down into the cylinder (I measured!) before it somehow popped back out. That sequence of events gave the ball back to RHS, still holding tightly to its two-point lead.
The game had been so cleanly played to that point that each team had only two team fouls, so with the clock ticking under a minute, Wilson continued to foul in hopes of regaining possession. Riverheads hit three charity tosses to move ahead 43-38 before Wilson drained a long bomb cutting it to only two with 7 seconds still left.
RHS missed its final foul shot but a mad scramble for the rebound took all but 1.7 seconds off the clock and Wilson was unable to get off a shot as RHS escaped with the surprising and very much needed 43-41 win. Robertson and Painter were the two who had been moved up to the varsity Friday night for the Draft game and having them back down on the JV squad tonight most definitely helped the Big Red play a more fluid game.
As mentioned above, Riverheads will now spend some time in the comfy confines of their home gym as I believe five of the next six games are at home. That should be just what the doctor ordered and hopefully they can use those opportunities to climb up the standings and turn the tide back toward a winning season and favorable playoff seeding.
