BOYS BB: Shenandoah District Semis - (2) Stuarts Draft 92 (3) Riverheads 90 - FINAL in OT
- Thread starter pizzzzza
- Start date
Stuarts Draft boys finish on a 9-3 run but still trail Riverheads 45-39 at the half in the Shenandoah District semifinals.
Zack Adams, Honor Robinson and Grant Painter had 11 points each in the first half for Riverheads.
Jared Rosen led Stuarts Draft with 11, followed by 8 each for Jo'-el Howard and Freddie Watkins.
Zack Adams, Honor Robinson and Grant Painter had 11 points each in the first half for Riverheads.
Jared Rosen led Stuarts Draft with 11, followed by 8 each for Jo'-el Howard and Freddie Watkins.
Draft hit 8 3-pointers in the 3Q.
Five straight points from Drew Bond pulls Riverheads back to within 67-61 early in 4Q.
Stuarts Draft 75-74 with 3:07 left.
After Painter puts Riverheads ahead, Rosen nails a 3 to make it 79-77 Draft with 2:19 remaining.
Five straight points from Drew Bond pulls Riverheads back to within 67-61 early in 4Q.
Stuarts Draft 75-74 with 3:07 left.
After Painter puts Riverheads ahead, Rosen nails a 3 to make it 79-77 Draft with 2:19 remaining.
Since pizzzzzzzzzza has hit the highlights, my job might be a little easier tonight and on this particular occasion, I could use the break!!
I will start by saying the atmosphere was electric. Great crowd on both sides and the noise level was the highest I have heard at a high school game in quite some time. I will be surprised if Lee brings as many people Thursday as Riverheads did tonight, but even if they do, I cannot imagine it being a better game.
In fact I had said for years that the best Riverheads basketball game ever was the 2004 state quarter-final win over W & L. (Sorry for those of you who will say "before my time.") But after tonight I just might have to change my thinking on that point, because this one was insane.
The irony is that I personally went to the game not necessarily caring if Riverheads won or lost. I say that because our regional seed was secure and it appeared that even if we won tonight, we would have to go to East Rock and get pummeled, and I was not looking forward to witnessing that. But as the word spread around the gym about the Lee upset, believe me I then wanted to see the Big Red win as much as anybody else did.
When I got to the gym, the first thing people were talking about was the status of senior forward Forrest Shuey, who was sitting on the bench in street clothes. Story was that it was his turn to battle the flu bug that has been hounding Riverheads. So that left the Gladiators with only 9 guys dressed to SD's full complement of 15.
You would have assumed that fatigue would turn the game in SD's favor but one of the amazing things about this game was the way Riverheads hung in there until the bitter end, which I will get to momentarily.
Anyway, as reported, first quarter was fairly calm. SD was ahead 13-9 when Riverheads closed on a 7-0 spurt to take a 16-13 lead.
The second quarter was by contrast an offensive explosion. The threes were not falling as regularly for the Cougars, whereas Riverheads was shooting well and beating the Draft downcourt for easy buckets and transition threes of their own. Riverheads would ultimately finish with 9 threes in the game, which was above their average and not the usual approach anyone takes to try and beat the Cougars. So the Big Red again outscored the Cougars, this time 29-26 to take the 45-39 halftime lead. after leading by as many as 12. (I would have to look through a LOT of back records to find the last time Riverheads had a 29-point quarter!)
But you know what they say about third quarters and sure enough the Draft came out smoking tonight. I would have guessed the eight triples that someone has already posted to be about right. Rosen hit the first two in rapid fire fashion but then everybody, even the concession stand lady, joined in the shooting frenzy, as SD very quickly moved out to a double-digit lead of their own. At that point, a betting man would have said that Riverheads was exhausted and the Cougars were about to blow it wide open and win by 25 or 30.
But trailing by 11 entering the fourth quarter, Riverheads stayed the course and came roaring back to take as much as a three point lead. Deacon Moore found himself alone under the basket for a lay-up and added a foul shot seconds later to give the Big Red an 82-79 lead with less than a minute to go in regulation, but the Draft hit yet another three and tied it up. SD actually had a golden opportunity to win it in regulation as they had two easy ones inside but neither fell and the refs, who of course had taken the usual amount of heat, let the kids play out those final few seconds and didn't put anyone on the foul line, even though there was a ton of action under the boards for that final few seconds.
If you didn't believe that SD's third quarter shooting frenzy was the turning point, then surely their first possession of OT was. They fired up a three that missed. They grabbed the offensive rebound, fired it back outside and someone jacked up a second one. That one missed, followed by another offensive board and finally on the third try, they canned the three. It is that kind of relentless pressure that makes them so hard to handle.
They moved out to a 91-84 lead but RHS had one final run in them. They cut the lead to 91-90, thanks to some missed foul shots by the Cougars. Finally on their last possession of the game, Draft hit one to leave the door open for Riverheads to snatch another win on the Cougar court.
And sure enough, it was deja vu all over again as RHS brought the ball downcourt and called timeout with 6 seconds left, just like they did back in mid January. For those of you who may have forgotten, that night Grant Painter drilled a triple at the buzzer to give RHS a come-from-behind win.
Well in this case, Painter had already scored 32, including five of the aforementioned Gladiator triples. So he was just TOO obvious a guy to go to this time, so the Big Red instead set up Elijah Dunlap. He had an open look from the top of the key, but it just didn't fall. Drew Bond's attempted tip in was too strong and that might be a blessing because I hate to think of the chaos that would have resulted, no matter whether the refs called his attempt good or not.....it was THAT close.
So an incredible game folks......definitely the best these two have ever played against one another. Good luck to the Cougars against Lee Thursday and for Riverheads, they can rest up until Monday, when they will host Stonewall in the first Region B playoff game.
In addition to Painter's game-high 32 tonight, Bond had 17, Zack Adams 13, and 6'5" senior forward Honor Robinson added 11, all scored in the first half when the Gladiators enjoyed some success in the paint before deciding to try and beat the Cougars at their own three-point game.
I will start by saying the atmosphere was electric. Great crowd on both sides and the noise level was the highest I have heard at a high school game in quite some time. I will be surprised if Lee brings as many people Thursday as Riverheads did tonight, but even if they do, I cannot imagine it being a better game.
In fact I had said for years that the best Riverheads basketball game ever was the 2004 state quarter-final win over W & L. (Sorry for those of you who will say "before my time.") But after tonight I just might have to change my thinking on that point, because this one was insane.
The irony is that I personally went to the game not necessarily caring if Riverheads won or lost. I say that because our regional seed was secure and it appeared that even if we won tonight, we would have to go to East Rock and get pummeled, and I was not looking forward to witnessing that. But as the word spread around the gym about the Lee upset, believe me I then wanted to see the Big Red win as much as anybody else did.
When I got to the gym, the first thing people were talking about was the status of senior forward Forrest Shuey, who was sitting on the bench in street clothes. Story was that it was his turn to battle the flu bug that has been hounding Riverheads. So that left the Gladiators with only 9 guys dressed to SD's full complement of 15.
You would have assumed that fatigue would turn the game in SD's favor but one of the amazing things about this game was the way Riverheads hung in there until the bitter end, which I will get to momentarily.
Anyway, as reported, first quarter was fairly calm. SD was ahead 13-9 when Riverheads closed on a 7-0 spurt to take a 16-13 lead.
The second quarter was by contrast an offensive explosion. The threes were not falling as regularly for the Cougars, whereas Riverheads was shooting well and beating the Draft downcourt for easy buckets and transition threes of their own. Riverheads would ultimately finish with 9 threes in the game, which was above their average and not the usual approach anyone takes to try and beat the Cougars. So the Big Red again outscored the Cougars, this time 29-26 to take the 45-39 halftime lead. after leading by as many as 12. (I would have to look through a LOT of back records to find the last time Riverheads had a 29-point quarter!)
But you know what they say about third quarters and sure enough the Draft came out smoking tonight. I would have guessed the eight triples that someone has already posted to be about right. Rosen hit the first two in rapid fire fashion but then everybody, even the concession stand lady, joined in the shooting frenzy, as SD very quickly moved out to a double-digit lead of their own. At that point, a betting man would have said that Riverheads was exhausted and the Cougars were about to blow it wide open and win by 25 or 30.
But trailing by 11 entering the fourth quarter, Riverheads stayed the course and came roaring back to take as much as a three point lead. Deacon Moore found himself alone under the basket for a lay-up and added a foul shot seconds later to give the Big Red an 82-79 lead with less than a minute to go in regulation, but the Draft hit yet another three and tied it up. SD actually had a golden opportunity to win it in regulation as they had two easy ones inside but neither fell and the refs, who of course had taken the usual amount of heat, let the kids play out those final few seconds and didn't put anyone on the foul line, even though there was a ton of action under the boards for that final few seconds.
If you didn't believe that SD's third quarter shooting frenzy was the turning point, then surely their first possession of OT was. They fired up a three that missed. They grabbed the offensive rebound, fired it back outside and someone jacked up a second one. That one missed, followed by another offensive board and finally on the third try, they canned the three. It is that kind of relentless pressure that makes them so hard to handle.
They moved out to a 91-84 lead but RHS had one final run in them. They cut the lead to 91-90, thanks to some missed foul shots by the Cougars. Finally on their last possession of the game, Draft hit one to leave the door open for Riverheads to snatch another win on the Cougar court.
And sure enough, it was deja vu all over again as RHS brought the ball downcourt and called timeout with 6 seconds left, just like they did back in mid January. For those of you who may have forgotten, that night Grant Painter drilled a triple at the buzzer to give RHS a come-from-behind win.
Well in this case, Painter had already scored 32, including five of the aforementioned Gladiator triples. So he was just TOO obvious a guy to go to this time, so the Big Red instead set up Elijah Dunlap. He had an open look from the top of the key, but it just didn't fall. Drew Bond's attempted tip in was too strong and that might be a blessing because I hate to think of the chaos that would have resulted, no matter whether the refs called his attempt good or not.....it was THAT close.
So an incredible game folks......definitely the best these two have ever played against one another. Good luck to the Cougars against Lee Thursday and for Riverheads, they can rest up until Monday, when they will host Stonewall in the first Region B playoff game.
In addition to Painter's game-high 32 tonight, Bond had 17, Zack Adams 13, and 6'5" senior forward Honor Robinson added 11, all scored in the first half when the Gladiators enjoyed some success in the paint before deciding to try and beat the Cougars at their own three-point game.
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@longtimerhsfan, great recap to an amazing game to witness. I think this Gladiator team has a chance to make a little noise this post season.
I was at that 04 game against W&L that was played at King William. Very electrifying game between two evenly matched teams. I cant think of their names off the top of my head, but I know Riverheads had a 6'6 point guard who was really good and a 6'9 guy down low. They also had this little guard who could really shoot the lights out. I want to say the final was 66-63, but don't hold me to that. I believe Riverheads advanced to the state championship and lost to fellow Region B mate, Altavista.
6'8 Josh Fox. A double double machine his junior and senior seasons at Riverheads. 6'6 Josh LaPorte was the other. Riverheads lost to Kenny Hunt and Altavista in the A state final.
It's funny how I can't remember what I did yesterday, but give me something on football and basketball or even wrestling and my memory goes way back. Thanks for the help with the names.
I can relate to the both of you walking down memory lane...
Joe Taylor, who is in one of the pictures in this article is now the head football coach at Washington and Lee. Next year will be his 3rd season there, and I believe I've heard that W&L will play Riverheads in football next year.
Gladiator fans travel well and they will welcome the challenge. While I have your attention, pizzzzza, can we assume that you will be on the job this upcoming week and will post the various regional scores as they come in? If so that will be most appreciated.
