Boys - Shenandoah District Tournament - Wilson Memorial 72 Riverheads 63 - FINAL
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BOYS BASKETBALL: Wilson Memorial 72, Riverheads 63.
Greg Woodard pours in 25 points while Matt Poole has 22 as Green Hornets clinch berth in Region 2B tournament. Wilson will travel to top-seeded Robert E. Lee on Wednesday for district semifinals.
Greg Woodard pours in 25 points while Matt Poole has 22 as Green Hornets clinch berth in Region 2B tournament. Wilson will travel to top-seeded Robert E. Lee on Wednesday for district semifinals.
As pizzzza just noted, it was too much Woodard inside and too much overall hustle from sophomore Matt Poole for the Gladiators to overcome in this one. Wilson established Woodard from the very beginning, which they had been completely unable to do in the rout at Riverheads, but tonight he was virtually unstoppable. Wilson beat the Gladiators to just about every rebound and loose ball and just seemed to want it more. The Hornets relentlessly pounded it inside against the smaller Gladiators and drew a tremendous number of fouls. I have not seen an official box score but I would not be surprised if Wilson shot 20-25 free throws tonight. The term "and one" was almost re-defined tonight.
The PA announcer said at the end of the game that Wilson had clinched a regional berth with this win, and I see that Stuarts Draft did likewise with its win over Page. So I guess that answers the question I had posed earlier....that the Group 2 teams in the Shenandoah needed at least one win to advance to the regionals, whereas Group 1 teams Riverheads and Stonewall already had their tickets punched regardless of what happened tonight. I won't go so far as to say that caused my Gladiators to lack motivation tonight, because they did make a nice comeback, but I think we probably witnessed a case of Wilson just feeling that urgency of knowing that they HAD to win.
As for the flow of the game, Riverheads took its one and only lead at 4-2 on a pair of Bradley Roberts' baskets. The Hornets then went on an 11-2 spurt to move ahead 13-6 and from that point on, it was one long comeback effort for the Gladiators.
Wilson led by as many as 14 in the third quarter but Riverheads ended the period with consecutive threes by Braeson Fulton to cut the lead to six entering the final stanza. Wilson could never quite put it away but yet Riverheads never got closer than six points, which they did one more time at 66-60.
In addition to Fulton's threes, the Gladiators got a strong second-half effort from Grant Painter, who finished with 24. Fulton's 20 gave the Gladiators a 1-2 punch of their own that nearly matched the Woodard/Poole show, but unfortunately for the Big Red, the rest of the team did not contribute enough to help them over the hump. Roberts did have one of his better games of the season with 12, but otherwise the Gladiators only got seven total points from the other five guys that saw action in the game.
So the Hornets will get the "honor", if you want to call it that, of visiting the Paul Hatcher gym next Wednesday to try to derail the Leemen. I am sure they will make the most of it, especially since we now know that game will not have that "must win" feeling hanging in the air.
As for Riverheads, I am sure the players and coaches would say they are saddened by not winning this one tonight, but there might be another viewpoint to take. RHS has been rushed and pushed all season long to get its schedule completed due to the football delay, and that pace has taken its toll. So maybe the idea of finally getting some time to rest and re-focus will not be such a bad thing. Not only that, but there have been some individual flu bug cases to deal with and maybe the 11-day hiatus before the regionals will allow that to run its course.
So you may not hear as much out of me/us for a while, but good luck to the remaining Shenandoah teams in their quest to dislodge the Leemen next week, and of course best wishes to all of our teams in the two widely-different regional set-ups. The trip to the Siegel Center in March is always more interesting if there is at least one area team to root for, so hopefully we will have someone local there this year.
The PA announcer said at the end of the game that Wilson had clinched a regional berth with this win, and I see that Stuarts Draft did likewise with its win over Page. So I guess that answers the question I had posed earlier....that the Group 2 teams in the Shenandoah needed at least one win to advance to the regionals, whereas Group 1 teams Riverheads and Stonewall already had their tickets punched regardless of what happened tonight. I won't go so far as to say that caused my Gladiators to lack motivation tonight, because they did make a nice comeback, but I think we probably witnessed a case of Wilson just feeling that urgency of knowing that they HAD to win.
As for the flow of the game, Riverheads took its one and only lead at 4-2 on a pair of Bradley Roberts' baskets. The Hornets then went on an 11-2 spurt to move ahead 13-6 and from that point on, it was one long comeback effort for the Gladiators.
Wilson led by as many as 14 in the third quarter but Riverheads ended the period with consecutive threes by Braeson Fulton to cut the lead to six entering the final stanza. Wilson could never quite put it away but yet Riverheads never got closer than six points, which they did one more time at 66-60.
In addition to Fulton's threes, the Gladiators got a strong second-half effort from Grant Painter, who finished with 24. Fulton's 20 gave the Gladiators a 1-2 punch of their own that nearly matched the Woodard/Poole show, but unfortunately for the Big Red, the rest of the team did not contribute enough to help them over the hump. Roberts did have one of his better games of the season with 12, but otherwise the Gladiators only got seven total points from the other five guys that saw action in the game.
So the Hornets will get the "honor", if you want to call it that, of visiting the Paul Hatcher gym next Wednesday to try to derail the Leemen. I am sure they will make the most of it, especially since we now know that game will not have that "must win" feeling hanging in the air.
As for Riverheads, I am sure the players and coaches would say they are saddened by not winning this one tonight, but there might be another viewpoint to take. RHS has been rushed and pushed all season long to get its schedule completed due to the football delay, and that pace has taken its toll. So maybe the idea of finally getting some time to rest and re-focus will not be such a bad thing. Not only that, but there have been some individual flu bug cases to deal with and maybe the 11-day hiatus before the regionals will allow that to run its course.
So you may not hear as much out of me/us for a while, but good luck to the remaining Shenandoah teams in their quest to dislodge the Leemen next week, and of course best wishes to all of our teams in the two widely-different regional set-ups. The trip to the Siegel Center in March is always more interesting if there is at least one area team to root for, so hopefully we will have someone local there this year.
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