Fort Defiance 47 Riverheads 43 nm
- Thread starter kwhs95fan
- Start date
Fort Defiance has been playing better of late and beat Staunton over the weekend. I think they've won 4 out of 5 games now.
As you may have already read in other threads, the Shenandoah continued its wild and wacky ride tonight to the point that it is almost a coin toss any given night as to who is going to beat who in ANY game, not just the ones involving Riverheads. In this particular case, the Gladiators learned for the third time this season (Wilson and Buffalo Gap being the first two) that you just cannot go on the road, fall behind by double digits in the first half, and hope that the home team is going to let you come back and win the game.
The Big Red has no problem winning at home as they had beaten the Fort earlier by 16 and whipped Wilson by 22 just this past Friday. The Bison will pay their visit to Greenville next Tuesday, where we will see if the Gladiators can complete the trifecta. But after tonight, the Big Red has now lost on the road to those three county rivals by a combined total of just 10 points. In the first two occasions, RHS had a lead in either the fourth quarter or overtime, and tonight they had it tied in the final two minutes. But of course you have to finish games and that is where the Big Red is coming up agonizingly short. Then there is the matter of those little guys in the striped shirts, who sometimes decide they have to impact things, as one did tonight. More on that later.....
If you are a glass half empty person, you might choose to think that the Big Red just doesn't have what it takes this year and that they will continue to struggle and maybe even make a quick exit come playoff time. But hopefully Coach Coffey and his troops are still looking at things (even after tonight) in the best possible light.........and that he is driving home these pertinent points..........we are 10-6 and many teams across the state would kill to have that record; we have amassed that record playing against teams that for the most part are 2-A and 3-A teams with six of our ten wins coming against teams in those higher classifications; and we still hold the number one seed in our playoff ranking. So as frustrating as tonight's loss was, it is not the end of the world for Riverheads but rather just another test of character that will hopefully pay off down the road.
The most frustrating part about this one was that they did not make just one comeback attempt.......they actually made three of them. So to start at the beginning, the visitors came out ice cold and could not throw it in the ocean. It was without a doubt their worst first quarter of the season and they fell behind 12-2. A harsh but accurate description of what we witnessed.
But Coach Coffey lit a fire under them between quarters and the combination of Grant Painter and Honor Robinson reeled off the first ten points of the second quarter and all of a sudden we had a brand new ball game at 12-12. But the Indians failed to panic and they inserted Vincent Sipe, who had been their leading score in the game at Riverheads, and the junior guard drilled a triple from each wing to make it 18-12. The half ended shortly thereafter with the lead at 20-13 in favor of the Fort.
Painter scored the first bucket of the second half to make it 20-15 and on the next Indian possession, Robinson went down with what appeared to be an ankle injury. As we all know, those can range from being a minor irritation to something much more serious. I of course won't even hazard a guess, other than to mention that he was heavily taped on the bench, did not return to the game and hobbled off at the end on crutches. With Riverheads scheduled to play both Thursday and Friday this week, we will see if he can return or if the Gladiators have to develop a new game plan without him.
When he exited tonight, it forced the Big Red to go to a more perimeter-oriented offense, which is generally their strength anyway. At the time he left the game, the Gladiators had not hit any three-pointers but by the end of the game, they would knock down six of them as major parts of Comebacks Two and Three.
After Painter's opening bucket, the Indians went on a 9-1 surge of their own to grab their largest lead of the game at 29-16. At that point it would have been easy to count RHS completely out of the game, but instead they went on their second 10-point roll and suddenly it was 29-26. The third quarter then ended at 31-26.
The Fort once again stretched it to double digits at 36-26, setting the stage for Riverheads' final and arguably best rally of the night. They outscored the Indians 14-4 and deadlocked the game at 40-40, our first tie since it was 12-12. Included in that particular run was eight straight points by Painter and a deep corner three by his younger brother Adam that bounced high off the rim before it dropped through.
As much as the Gladiators needed a stop and needed to taste the lead at least once, it was not to be as the Fort scored the next five to move ahead 45-40. That is when that man, who will be referred to simply as HE, decided that he had to make sure we noticed him out there. Here is what happened next.....
The Big Red, still determined not to give up, hustled into the front court and Elijah Dunlap drained his first three of the night to make it 45-43. Just like they do on the TV, RHS immediately called time out. However as anyone in the gym will admit, even the biggest Fort fan that ever lived, the clock ran for at least an extra second or two after Coach Coffey requested the TO. When it was finally granted the clock showed 9.7 seconds remaining, although most of us in the stands agreed that somewhere around 11 would have been more accurate.
Well, in keeping with the theme of this season, you will never guess what happened next. Coach Coffey quite logically and understandably questioned the timing situation. Now I will admit I was not close enough to hear any of the dialogue between him and the ref in question. But I can most certainly tell you that neither his body language nor his volume even came remotely close to being considered offensive. Yet the referee t'd him up and the Indians got their final two points at the line.
Now we all watch enough basketball to know that with a two point lead and the ball and somewhere around 10 seconds left, the Indians were most likely going to win this game anyway, and maybe even win it 47-43. If there had been no technical called, RHS would have fouled as soon as the Indians inbounded the ball and would have needed some big time luck to pull it out. So the timing issue was not so much a factor as the ref's decision to call the T.
Maybe I watch too much TV but it has always been my understanding that you let the kids decide the game on the floor and that you do not T up a coach in the last 10 seconds unless he has gotten completely out of control, which did not appear to be the case here. And are you ready for the ultimate irony? They re-set the clock back to 10.7 after all, thereby validating Coach Coffey's point!
But it is in the books now and with Wilson's totally unexpected road win at Stuarts Draft (on that one I should have listened to my own prediction from earlier in the season!), Riverheads is now in last place in the standings, having lost one game to each of the four county teams plus Staunton. They play a make-up game at Bath County on Thursday and then finish up at Staunton on Friday and at home against Gap and Draft next week. Needless to say, as unpredictable as this season has been, the Gladiators could lose all three of those district games and finish in the cellar, or they could win all three and even their district record at 5-5, or maybe they will finish somewhere in between. Robinson's status will of course play a major part. As for the Bath game, based on the weather forecast, the major goal that night will be to make it back home without being washed off one of those mountain roads.
In a very ragged JV game tonight, neither team could ever get any real rhythm established. Riverheads strung together six straight points late in the first half to take a 16-11 lead into the locker room, but the Indians found the range just enough in the second half to pull out a 30-26 win and avenge an earlier 41-38 loss in Greenville. Almost enough to make you wish there could be a rubber match somewhere on a neutral court!!!
The Big Red has no problem winning at home as they had beaten the Fort earlier by 16 and whipped Wilson by 22 just this past Friday. The Bison will pay their visit to Greenville next Tuesday, where we will see if the Gladiators can complete the trifecta. But after tonight, the Big Red has now lost on the road to those three county rivals by a combined total of just 10 points. In the first two occasions, RHS had a lead in either the fourth quarter or overtime, and tonight they had it tied in the final two minutes. But of course you have to finish games and that is where the Big Red is coming up agonizingly short. Then there is the matter of those little guys in the striped shirts, who sometimes decide they have to impact things, as one did tonight. More on that later.....
If you are a glass half empty person, you might choose to think that the Big Red just doesn't have what it takes this year and that they will continue to struggle and maybe even make a quick exit come playoff time. But hopefully Coach Coffey and his troops are still looking at things (even after tonight) in the best possible light.........and that he is driving home these pertinent points..........we are 10-6 and many teams across the state would kill to have that record; we have amassed that record playing against teams that for the most part are 2-A and 3-A teams with six of our ten wins coming against teams in those higher classifications; and we still hold the number one seed in our playoff ranking. So as frustrating as tonight's loss was, it is not the end of the world for Riverheads but rather just another test of character that will hopefully pay off down the road.
The most frustrating part about this one was that they did not make just one comeback attempt.......they actually made three of them. So to start at the beginning, the visitors came out ice cold and could not throw it in the ocean. It was without a doubt their worst first quarter of the season and they fell behind 12-2. A harsh but accurate description of what we witnessed.
But Coach Coffey lit a fire under them between quarters and the combination of Grant Painter and Honor Robinson reeled off the first ten points of the second quarter and all of a sudden we had a brand new ball game at 12-12. But the Indians failed to panic and they inserted Vincent Sipe, who had been their leading score in the game at Riverheads, and the junior guard drilled a triple from each wing to make it 18-12. The half ended shortly thereafter with the lead at 20-13 in favor of the Fort.
Painter scored the first bucket of the second half to make it 20-15 and on the next Indian possession, Robinson went down with what appeared to be an ankle injury. As we all know, those can range from being a minor irritation to something much more serious. I of course won't even hazard a guess, other than to mention that he was heavily taped on the bench, did not return to the game and hobbled off at the end on crutches. With Riverheads scheduled to play both Thursday and Friday this week, we will see if he can return or if the Gladiators have to develop a new game plan without him.
When he exited tonight, it forced the Big Red to go to a more perimeter-oriented offense, which is generally their strength anyway. At the time he left the game, the Gladiators had not hit any three-pointers but by the end of the game, they would knock down six of them as major parts of Comebacks Two and Three.
After Painter's opening bucket, the Indians went on a 9-1 surge of their own to grab their largest lead of the game at 29-16. At that point it would have been easy to count RHS completely out of the game, but instead they went on their second 10-point roll and suddenly it was 29-26. The third quarter then ended at 31-26.
The Fort once again stretched it to double digits at 36-26, setting the stage for Riverheads' final and arguably best rally of the night. They outscored the Indians 14-4 and deadlocked the game at 40-40, our first tie since it was 12-12. Included in that particular run was eight straight points by Painter and a deep corner three by his younger brother Adam that bounced high off the rim before it dropped through.
As much as the Gladiators needed a stop and needed to taste the lead at least once, it was not to be as the Fort scored the next five to move ahead 45-40. That is when that man, who will be referred to simply as HE, decided that he had to make sure we noticed him out there. Here is what happened next.....
The Big Red, still determined not to give up, hustled into the front court and Elijah Dunlap drained his first three of the night to make it 45-43. Just like they do on the TV, RHS immediately called time out. However as anyone in the gym will admit, even the biggest Fort fan that ever lived, the clock ran for at least an extra second or two after Coach Coffey requested the TO. When it was finally granted the clock showed 9.7 seconds remaining, although most of us in the stands agreed that somewhere around 11 would have been more accurate.
Well, in keeping with the theme of this season, you will never guess what happened next. Coach Coffey quite logically and understandably questioned the timing situation. Now I will admit I was not close enough to hear any of the dialogue between him and the ref in question. But I can most certainly tell you that neither his body language nor his volume even came remotely close to being considered offensive. Yet the referee t'd him up and the Indians got their final two points at the line.
Now we all watch enough basketball to know that with a two point lead and the ball and somewhere around 10 seconds left, the Indians were most likely going to win this game anyway, and maybe even win it 47-43. If there had been no technical called, RHS would have fouled as soon as the Indians inbounded the ball and would have needed some big time luck to pull it out. So the timing issue was not so much a factor as the ref's decision to call the T.
Maybe I watch too much TV but it has always been my understanding that you let the kids decide the game on the floor and that you do not T up a coach in the last 10 seconds unless he has gotten completely out of control, which did not appear to be the case here. And are you ready for the ultimate irony? They re-set the clock back to 10.7 after all, thereby validating Coach Coffey's point!
But it is in the books now and with Wilson's totally unexpected road win at Stuarts Draft (on that one I should have listened to my own prediction from earlier in the season!), Riverheads is now in last place in the standings, having lost one game to each of the four county teams plus Staunton. They play a make-up game at Bath County on Thursday and then finish up at Staunton on Friday and at home against Gap and Draft next week. Needless to say, as unpredictable as this season has been, the Gladiators could lose all three of those district games and finish in the cellar, or they could win all three and even their district record at 5-5, or maybe they will finish somewhere in between. Robinson's status will of course play a major part. As for the Bath game, based on the weather forecast, the major goal that night will be to make it back home without being washed off one of those mountain roads.
In a very ragged JV game tonight, neither team could ever get any real rhythm established. Riverheads strung together six straight points late in the first half to take a 16-11 lead into the locker room, but the Indians found the range just enough in the second half to pull out a 30-26 win and avenge an earlier 41-38 loss in Greenville. Almost enough to make you wish there could be a rubber match somewhere on a neutral court!!!
