In a wild and woolly county rivalry game, the Fort Defiance Indians trailed visiting Riverheads by 10 points late in the first half, but scored the final 5 points of the half, and then hit the Gladiators with a 35 point third quarter to take a double digit lead of their own. Even after that avalanche, the Gladiators fought back fiercely with a 30 point fourth quarter and had the lead down to four points three different times before the Indians held on to squeak out a 79-74 victory.
in some ways the game resembled the first match up between the teams, when Riverheads tried for a slower tempo but the Indians were able to apply pressure and turn the game into more of their track meet style of play. As always, Gio Cruz was the leader for the Fort but it seemed like everyone else who got in the game in that wild third quarter buried a triple the moment he stepped out on the floor. I would not be surprised to read that as many as six or seven Indians hit from behind the arc and they did plenty of damage in the lane as well.
Of course to score 74 points, the Gladiators were doing some pretty hot shooting themselves. I have them down unofficially for 9 three-pointers, with J P Crawford hitting four of them, Will Gardner three, and Henley Dunlap and Jaxon Duff one each. In total points, the Big Red had their usual balanced attack with Gardner leading the way with 20, followed closely by Crawford with 18 and Dunlap with 13. Four other Gladiators scored between 4 and 7.
Riverheads got its early lead behind six quick points from Gardner. Late in the first quarter, Duff came off the bench and just like he has done several times this season, hit right away as the Big Red took an 18-10 lead into the second quarter. They continued to lead for the entire period and when Crawford buried a corner triple, followed by a tough baseline drive from Joe George, the Gladiator lead was 27-17.
Fort's 35-17 third quarter advantage put them up by as many as 15 and the scoreboard read 57-44 in favor of the home team heading into the final period. But as already mentioned, the Gladiators were determined not to go quietly and they finished the game with a flurry of threes and many trips to the foul line. The refs for the most part were kind to the Big Red and they were the first to enjoy the bonus in all four quarters, but it was not enough to overcome the Indians' depth.
Tonight's game was the third road game in a row for RHS and considering that they took both SD and FD to the wire, and pounded Buffalo Gap in between, they held their own as they averaged 68 points per game in those three contests. A re-match with the Cougars is on tap Friday night when the Gladiators finally return home.
In tonight's JV game, the pattern was somewhat similar as the Indians outscored RHS 20-8 in the third quarter to take a comfortable lead, only to see the spunky Gladiators fight back in the fourth quarter. RHS scored more in that fourth quarter than they had in the first three put together, but the deficit was too much to overcome as the Fort won 57-41.
in some ways the game resembled the first match up between the teams, when Riverheads tried for a slower tempo but the Indians were able to apply pressure and turn the game into more of their track meet style of play. As always, Gio Cruz was the leader for the Fort but it seemed like everyone else who got in the game in that wild third quarter buried a triple the moment he stepped out on the floor. I would not be surprised to read that as many as six or seven Indians hit from behind the arc and they did plenty of damage in the lane as well.
Of course to score 74 points, the Gladiators were doing some pretty hot shooting themselves. I have them down unofficially for 9 three-pointers, with J P Crawford hitting four of them, Will Gardner three, and Henley Dunlap and Jaxon Duff one each. In total points, the Big Red had their usual balanced attack with Gardner leading the way with 20, followed closely by Crawford with 18 and Dunlap with 13. Four other Gladiators scored between 4 and 7.
Riverheads got its early lead behind six quick points from Gardner. Late in the first quarter, Duff came off the bench and just like he has done several times this season, hit right away as the Big Red took an 18-10 lead into the second quarter. They continued to lead for the entire period and when Crawford buried a corner triple, followed by a tough baseline drive from Joe George, the Gladiator lead was 27-17.
Fort's 35-17 third quarter advantage put them up by as many as 15 and the scoreboard read 57-44 in favor of the home team heading into the final period. But as already mentioned, the Gladiators were determined not to go quietly and they finished the game with a flurry of threes and many trips to the foul line. The refs for the most part were kind to the Big Red and they were the first to enjoy the bonus in all four quarters, but it was not enough to overcome the Indians' depth.
Tonight's game was the third road game in a row for RHS and considering that they took both SD and FD to the wire, and pounded Buffalo Gap in between, they held their own as they averaged 68 points per game in those three contests. A re-match with the Cougars is on tap Friday night when the Gladiators finally return home.
In tonight's JV game, the pattern was somewhat similar as the Indians outscored RHS 20-8 in the third quarter to take a comfortable lead, only to see the spunky Gladiators fight back in the fourth quarter. RHS scored more in that fourth quarter than they had in the first three put together, but the deficit was too much to overcome as the Fort won 57-41.
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