I say "part two" because when I started to type my headline, the original one popped up from the last time these two schools met, and since the results were the same tonight as they were the last time, I may as well use that same lead-in. So that's right folks, the East Rock boys won 62-36 at Riverheads, but I just this minute learned that the Lady Gladiators swept the series from the Eagles with a 58-51 overtime win up in Elkton.
Since I was at the boys game, I know very few details about the girls, other than to report that Riverheads had NEVER beaten East Rock prior to this year, but now they have the sweep. Not too shabby!!! RHS is now 9-6 overall.
As for the boys game, an East Rock win of course was expected tonight, as they are leading the district whereas Riverheads is struggling along in a rebuilding year with its very young team. So the Gladiators gave all we could ask of them...their best effort.
The Eagles' superior depth and athleticism would have been more than enough to handle, but the Gladiators problems were compounded tonight by the fact that they suffered through not one, but two, poor shooting quarters. Unfortunately one of those was the first, in which the Big Red managed only a single foul shot while East Rock ran out to a 17-1 lead.
Bradley Roberts finally got the Big Red going in the second quarter with a couple of fearless moves down the lane that resulted in off-balanced but still successful buckets. Brett Hostetler, who would go on to lead the scoring for RHS, then hit a three as the Gladiators climbed back to within a semi-respectable 32-14 score at the break.
Freshman Drew Bond connected from behind the arc to open the second half scoring for RHS, but unfortunately that was the last Gladiator bucket until the last minute of the quarter as they hit their second dry spell and fell behind 51-19.
To their credit they kept trying and in fact almost doubled their total, outscoring the Eagles 17-11 in the fourth quarter. Hostetler got things going with five quick points, including a three that touched every square inch of the backboard and rim before it dropped through the hoop. Jason Ham then added an old-fashioned three and big man Austin Craft hit two in a row to finish out the night for RHS.
The Gladiators next host Page County on Friday before finishing up the regular season with a grueling four-game schedule next week. That does not include a possible make-up game from Monday night in which RHS was supposed to have hosted Bath County. The Big Red would love to see that one played, since it might result in a win, but yet there are only so many days left on the calendar, so we will just have to wait and see.
Once again tonight our JVs gave us a nice effort and encouragement for the future. I was a late arrival and when I walked in late in the first quarter, RHS was ahead 21-8. From that point, East Rock tried to fight back but never made what I would call a serious challenge as the Big Red won 55-46. That win gives them a split with the Junior Eagles and leaves them at 9-4 on the year, with almost every major producer on the team being only an eighth-grader.
Since I was at the boys game, I know very few details about the girls, other than to report that Riverheads had NEVER beaten East Rock prior to this year, but now they have the sweep. Not too shabby!!! RHS is now 9-6 overall.
As for the boys game, an East Rock win of course was expected tonight, as they are leading the district whereas Riverheads is struggling along in a rebuilding year with its very young team. So the Gladiators gave all we could ask of them...their best effort.
The Eagles' superior depth and athleticism would have been more than enough to handle, but the Gladiators problems were compounded tonight by the fact that they suffered through not one, but two, poor shooting quarters. Unfortunately one of those was the first, in which the Big Red managed only a single foul shot while East Rock ran out to a 17-1 lead.
Bradley Roberts finally got the Big Red going in the second quarter with a couple of fearless moves down the lane that resulted in off-balanced but still successful buckets. Brett Hostetler, who would go on to lead the scoring for RHS, then hit a three as the Gladiators climbed back to within a semi-respectable 32-14 score at the break.
Freshman Drew Bond connected from behind the arc to open the second half scoring for RHS, but unfortunately that was the last Gladiator bucket until the last minute of the quarter as they hit their second dry spell and fell behind 51-19.
To their credit they kept trying and in fact almost doubled their total, outscoring the Eagles 17-11 in the fourth quarter. Hostetler got things going with five quick points, including a three that touched every square inch of the backboard and rim before it dropped through the hoop. Jason Ham then added an old-fashioned three and big man Austin Craft hit two in a row to finish out the night for RHS.
The Gladiators next host Page County on Friday before finishing up the regular season with a grueling four-game schedule next week. That does not include a possible make-up game from Monday night in which RHS was supposed to have hosted Bath County. The Big Red would love to see that one played, since it might result in a win, but yet there are only so many days left on the calendar, so we will just have to wait and see.
Once again tonight our JVs gave us a nice effort and encouragement for the future. I was a late arrival and when I walked in late in the first quarter, RHS was ahead 21-8. From that point, East Rock tried to fight back but never made what I would call a serious challenge as the Big Red won 55-46. That win gives them a split with the Junior Eagles and leaves them at 9-4 on the year, with almost every major producer on the team being only an eighth-grader.
