The visiting Central Falcons made two or three fat ladies sing tonight instead of just one as they rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit to sneak out of Riverheads with a 47-44 victory. You have heard that old sports cliche'... a tale of two halves, right? Well how about this stat.......Riverheads won the first half 31-13 and Central won the second half 34-13.
Ironically the Gladiators lost this one in almost the exact same fashion that they appeared ready to win it, namely the foul situation. in the first half, Central was called for a bucket load of fouls, including two very early ones on their talented big man, Luke Williams. That sent him to the bench early and the Gladiators took full advantage. They knocked down about a dozen foul shots and only scored one two-point basket, while the trio of J P Crawford, Henley Dunlap, and Grady Campbell each connected from behind the arc to open the second quarter. They could do no wrong and at halftime Crawford had 19 points and the entire Central team had only 13.
At the halftime break, some of the old timers and I speculated as to whether Central could make up that large a deficit. Not only did they do so, but they managed to cut 15 of the 18 points off the lead in the third quarter alone. They turned up the pressure on defense and finally got Williams going. Not only did he score at will but he was drawing fouls on the Big Red left and right as that particular stat did a complete 180 in the second half.
The third quarter ended with Riverheads clinging to a 36-33 lead. Central finally caught up and took the lead at the midway point of the final period.
As mentioned, getting Williams going was the real difference-maker but also helping the Falcon cause was an excellent floor game in the second half from a tiny little thing named Millyon Teklemicael. Not sure if he is ordinarily that effective at the point, but he certainly was tonight, so somebody in Woodstock should buy his lunch Monday.
Despite such a disastrous second half, the Gladiators still had one last chance to win it at the buzzer. Central had moved out to its largest lead of the game at 46-41 when RHS' Jackson Brammer became the fourth Gladiator to knock down a triple as his shot cut the lead to two with just under five seconds left. After a time out the Gladiators did what they had to do.....foul.
Central only hit one of the two to make it 47-44 and the Big Red had something like 3.6 seconds to pull off a miracle of their own. Central had a foul to give, but chose not to use it, and after a couple of out of bounds deflections, Dunlap had one final attempt, an off-balance corner triple that failed to find the mark.
Crawford finished with 23 to lead the Big Red, which I am sure is a career high for him. Dunlap added nine and Brammer had seven. I assume Williams' production in the second half was enough to make him Central's top scorer but I cannot say for sure.
Even though it goes into the books as a loss, the Gladiators have to be seeing improvement in their game as they get used to their new post-football line-up. So if they hang in there, they will turn some of these narrow losses into wins. Their next chance to do so will be Tuesday when they travel to Stuarts Draft for each team's Shenandoah District opener. They will then take a long break before hosting a holiday tournament on the 28th and 29th with Liberty Bedford, Buffalo Gap, and Mountain View making up the field.
Central also won the JV game tonight 38-16 as the Gladiators just could not get untracked. They were within a bucket going into the second quarter as both teams were struggling to find the range. Unfortunately for the home fans, Central warmed up and Riverheads did not. Despite the loss, the RHS JVs are still a respectable 4-3 on the season.
Ironically the Gladiators lost this one in almost the exact same fashion that they appeared ready to win it, namely the foul situation. in the first half, Central was called for a bucket load of fouls, including two very early ones on their talented big man, Luke Williams. That sent him to the bench early and the Gladiators took full advantage. They knocked down about a dozen foul shots and only scored one two-point basket, while the trio of J P Crawford, Henley Dunlap, and Grady Campbell each connected from behind the arc to open the second quarter. They could do no wrong and at halftime Crawford had 19 points and the entire Central team had only 13.
At the halftime break, some of the old timers and I speculated as to whether Central could make up that large a deficit. Not only did they do so, but they managed to cut 15 of the 18 points off the lead in the third quarter alone. They turned up the pressure on defense and finally got Williams going. Not only did he score at will but he was drawing fouls on the Big Red left and right as that particular stat did a complete 180 in the second half.
The third quarter ended with Riverheads clinging to a 36-33 lead. Central finally caught up and took the lead at the midway point of the final period.
As mentioned, getting Williams going was the real difference-maker but also helping the Falcon cause was an excellent floor game in the second half from a tiny little thing named Millyon Teklemicael. Not sure if he is ordinarily that effective at the point, but he certainly was tonight, so somebody in Woodstock should buy his lunch Monday.
Despite such a disastrous second half, the Gladiators still had one last chance to win it at the buzzer. Central had moved out to its largest lead of the game at 46-41 when RHS' Jackson Brammer became the fourth Gladiator to knock down a triple as his shot cut the lead to two with just under five seconds left. After a time out the Gladiators did what they had to do.....foul.
Central only hit one of the two to make it 47-44 and the Big Red had something like 3.6 seconds to pull off a miracle of their own. Central had a foul to give, but chose not to use it, and after a couple of out of bounds deflections, Dunlap had one final attempt, an off-balance corner triple that failed to find the mark.
Crawford finished with 23 to lead the Big Red, which I am sure is a career high for him. Dunlap added nine and Brammer had seven. I assume Williams' production in the second half was enough to make him Central's top scorer but I cannot say for sure.
Even though it goes into the books as a loss, the Gladiators have to be seeing improvement in their game as they get used to their new post-football line-up. So if they hang in there, they will turn some of these narrow losses into wins. Their next chance to do so will be Tuesday when they travel to Stuarts Draft for each team's Shenandoah District opener. They will then take a long break before hosting a holiday tournament on the 28th and 29th with Liberty Bedford, Buffalo Gap, and Mountain View making up the field.
Central also won the JV game tonight 38-16 as the Gladiators just could not get untracked. They were within a bucket going into the second quarter as both teams were struggling to find the range. Unfortunately for the home fans, Central warmed up and Riverheads did not. Despite the loss, the RHS JVs are still a respectable 4-3 on the season.
