Sometimes the life of a kid brother can be downright frustrating. Take Riverheads' Bennett Dunlap for example. The eighth-grader had already excelled on the football field this season, quarterbacking the Big Red JVs to a perfect 10-0 record. So tonight he had by far his best basketball game of the season as he blistered the nets for six three-pointers to lead the Gladiators JVs past the Junior Indians.
But before Mom and Dad had the chance to adequately congratulate him and promise him his first car, Big Brother Elijah bombed in seven of them.............IN THE FIRST HALF.....as the junior point guard led the Gladiator varsity team to a resounding win over the visiting Indians.
To tell the story in chronological order, the Big Red JVs needed every one of Bennett's shots as the Junior Indians just refused to fold. The teams were never separated by more than six points as the Fort hit some timely threes of its own to keep the game close.
Finally, another football star, freshman Aiden Miller, opened the fourth quarter with a nice back-door move that gave RHS the lead for good. Later with just 21 seconds showing on the clock and RHS clinging to a two-point lead, he nailed two free throws to give the home team a four-point advantage. Michael King then added two more freebies with six seconds left to make the final 41-35 in favor of the Big Red, as they moved to 5-2 on the season.
As the varsity team took the floor, victory was expected as the Indians came into tonight's contest with an 0-7 record, but the total domination by the Gladiators may have come as a surprise. E. Dunlap hit his first three missiles in the first four minutes of the game as the Big Red raced out to a quick 11-5 advantage.
Zack Adams added a couple of close-in shots before Grant Painter, Riverheads' normal leading scorer, canned a triple of his own at the buzzer to make it 20-8 after one period. The second quarter was pretty much all Dunlap as he drained four more treys, each one more off-balance and dazzling than the one before. His 23-point first half almost doubled the effort of the Indians as the halftime score read 37-12.
With the school scoring records of eight triples by an individual (set by the aforementioned Mr. Painter last season) and the team total of 12 both in jeopardy, the more knowledgeable fans among us watched the second half with a great deal of interest to see if either or both would bite the dust.
As it turned out, Dunlap "only" hit one more to finish with 26 points and tie his teammate's record, and Painter added one more of his own for a team total tonight of 10. One of the reasons the records were not broken is that Coach Coffey wisely subbed a complete second team for most of the second half because the Gladiators have a tough road test at Page County on Friday and could use the rest.
As the fourth quarter rolled along, we even got to see a running clock for at least a little bit as the margin reached 30, before a late flurry by the Indians made the final 58-33. In addition to Dunlap's game-and-career high 26, Adams finished with eight and Painter seven. Four other Gladiators scored either four or five points to help the cause.
With the win, RHS is now 4-3 on the season, but looking ahead at their next three games (at Page, at Draft, and home to East Rock) they will be hard-pressed to stay above .500, but a favorable schedule awaits for the second half of the season as tonight was only Riverheads' second home game against five road contests.
But before Mom and Dad had the chance to adequately congratulate him and promise him his first car, Big Brother Elijah bombed in seven of them.............IN THE FIRST HALF.....as the junior point guard led the Gladiator varsity team to a resounding win over the visiting Indians.
To tell the story in chronological order, the Big Red JVs needed every one of Bennett's shots as the Junior Indians just refused to fold. The teams were never separated by more than six points as the Fort hit some timely threes of its own to keep the game close.
Finally, another football star, freshman Aiden Miller, opened the fourth quarter with a nice back-door move that gave RHS the lead for good. Later with just 21 seconds showing on the clock and RHS clinging to a two-point lead, he nailed two free throws to give the home team a four-point advantage. Michael King then added two more freebies with six seconds left to make the final 41-35 in favor of the Big Red, as they moved to 5-2 on the season.
As the varsity team took the floor, victory was expected as the Indians came into tonight's contest with an 0-7 record, but the total domination by the Gladiators may have come as a surprise. E. Dunlap hit his first three missiles in the first four minutes of the game as the Big Red raced out to a quick 11-5 advantage.
Zack Adams added a couple of close-in shots before Grant Painter, Riverheads' normal leading scorer, canned a triple of his own at the buzzer to make it 20-8 after one period. The second quarter was pretty much all Dunlap as he drained four more treys, each one more off-balance and dazzling than the one before. His 23-point first half almost doubled the effort of the Indians as the halftime score read 37-12.
With the school scoring records of eight triples by an individual (set by the aforementioned Mr. Painter last season) and the team total of 12 both in jeopardy, the more knowledgeable fans among us watched the second half with a great deal of interest to see if either or both would bite the dust.
As it turned out, Dunlap "only" hit one more to finish with 26 points and tie his teammate's record, and Painter added one more of his own for a team total tonight of 10. One of the reasons the records were not broken is that Coach Coffey wisely subbed a complete second team for most of the second half because the Gladiators have a tough road test at Page County on Friday and could use the rest.
As the fourth quarter rolled along, we even got to see a running clock for at least a little bit as the margin reached 30, before a late flurry by the Indians made the final 58-33. In addition to Dunlap's game-and-career high 26, Adams finished with eight and Painter seven. Four other Gladiators scored either four or five points to help the cause.
With the win, RHS is now 4-3 on the season, but looking ahead at their next three games (at Page, at Draft, and home to East Rock) they will be hard-pressed to stay above .500, but a favorable schedule awaits for the second half of the season as tonight was only Riverheads' second home game against five road contests.
