The Eagles really rolled in this one tonight, despite my earlier speculation that they might be looking ahead to Spotswood tomorrow night and might not be as focused on this one. Shows what I know. Maybe they hold a grudge over our football domination....
Whatever the case, Javon Butler, who was honored for reaching the 1,000 point milestone in a pre-game ceremony, hit twice from in close in the first minute to get the Eagles started and then added a couple of threes as ER stormed out to a 31-10 first quarter lead. But perhaps the real X factor guiding that early surge was a player Riverheads did not see the first time around, Chris Rogers.
The junior point guard certainly seems fully recovered now and adds a whole new dimension to a team that was already pretty darn good without him. He had more assists in the first quarter than some guys get in a season. So to put it mildly, the Eagles are now a VERY well-oiled machine, one that I could easily see making it to Richmond this year.
On the Riverheads side of things, they just did not have the experience to compete tonight, but also their outside shooting woes continued for a second straight game. RHS has six guards that can hit from behind the arc, but for some reason, they have all gone into a funk as Drew Bond hit the only one of the night after the Big Red had an o-fer in Saturday's game. Since both those games occurred on unfamiliar courts, maybe returning to the friendly confines of RHS, which they will do in less than 24 hours, will solve the problem.
Of course the news was not all bad for the Gladiators tonight because when one door closes, another one opens, and they may have just found an inside threat or two they didn't know they had. With the guards having an off-night, that opened up the lane for some second-chance opportunities and as a result, sophomore Forrest Shuey had a career-high 14 points on seven baskets from in close. His classmate Avery Schaefer, another inside banger, was the second high scorer with 8 points.
Hopefully those two can build upon those two nice games and the guards can regain their touch to give the Big Red a few more wins yet this season. They are home to Fort Defiance tomorrow night, a team they have already beaten on the road. So let's hope tonight doesn't stick in anyone's craw and is treated exactly for what it was.......a road loss by a very young team to a senior-dominated team that may very well win the state title. Two or three years from now, when ER has sent this group off to bigger and better things, but many of these same Gladiators are still playing, don't be surprised if the results are a bit different.
In JV action, the Eagles won 69-34. The Gladiators kept it respectable early as Adam Painter connected on a couple of first-quarter triples, and Deacon Moore and Zach Adams settled in to do the dirty work inside, but the Eagles just turned out to be too quick and too deep for the Big Red.
Whatever the case, Javon Butler, who was honored for reaching the 1,000 point milestone in a pre-game ceremony, hit twice from in close in the first minute to get the Eagles started and then added a couple of threes as ER stormed out to a 31-10 first quarter lead. But perhaps the real X factor guiding that early surge was a player Riverheads did not see the first time around, Chris Rogers.
The junior point guard certainly seems fully recovered now and adds a whole new dimension to a team that was already pretty darn good without him. He had more assists in the first quarter than some guys get in a season. So to put it mildly, the Eagles are now a VERY well-oiled machine, one that I could easily see making it to Richmond this year.
On the Riverheads side of things, they just did not have the experience to compete tonight, but also their outside shooting woes continued for a second straight game. RHS has six guards that can hit from behind the arc, but for some reason, they have all gone into a funk as Drew Bond hit the only one of the night after the Big Red had an o-fer in Saturday's game. Since both those games occurred on unfamiliar courts, maybe returning to the friendly confines of RHS, which they will do in less than 24 hours, will solve the problem.
Of course the news was not all bad for the Gladiators tonight because when one door closes, another one opens, and they may have just found an inside threat or two they didn't know they had. With the guards having an off-night, that opened up the lane for some second-chance opportunities and as a result, sophomore Forrest Shuey had a career-high 14 points on seven baskets from in close. His classmate Avery Schaefer, another inside banger, was the second high scorer with 8 points.
Hopefully those two can build upon those two nice games and the guards can regain their touch to give the Big Red a few more wins yet this season. They are home to Fort Defiance tomorrow night, a team they have already beaten on the road. So let's hope tonight doesn't stick in anyone's craw and is treated exactly for what it was.......a road loss by a very young team to a senior-dominated team that may very well win the state title. Two or three years from now, when ER has sent this group off to bigger and better things, but many of these same Gladiators are still playing, don't be surprised if the results are a bit different.
In JV action, the Eagles won 69-34. The Gladiators kept it respectable early as Adam Painter connected on a couple of first-quarter triples, and Deacon Moore and Zach Adams settled in to do the dirty work inside, but the Eagles just turned out to be too quick and too deep for the Big Red.
