If I had to pick one word to describe this afternoon's events at the Fort, it would be "frustration." First of all, no concession stand and for a growing boy like me, that was a catastrophe. Secondly, I am sure the administration would have liked to have seen a few more bodies in the seats, so maybe the word didn't get out. It appeared as if the visiting Gladiators actually outnumbered the home fans, but given the weather maybe we can't blame anyone for passing on this one.
Then there were the two games, which had PLENTY of frustration for fans and players alike. The Indians won a see-saw varsity game 48-39 in which RHS led after the odd numbered quarters and the Indians led at halftime and of course when it counted the most. The key sequence that finally turned the tide in favor of the home team came late in the third and stretched over into the fourth. Riverheads had taken its largest lead of the night at 30-25, but the Fort stormed back with an 11-0 spurt straddling the final two periods and held on from there.
The biggest issue for the visiting Gladiators was that they simply left their shooting shoes at home. Coming into today, four players were averaging at or close to double figures, but only senior forward Levi Byer brought his A game today, and in fact that could more accurately be called his A ++ game. He was a major workhorse inside, pulling down a ton of rebounds and scoring a career high 24 points. In fact that was probably almost double his previous high. He also was a major factor on defense, which I will come back to momentarily.
But for the rest of the Big Red, it just was not their day any way you slice it. The rest of the team combined for only five field goals and nobody else scored more than four points. It wasn't necessarily from lack of effort as they crashed the boards and sometimes had two, three or even four chances to score but the shots just would not fall. As for outside shooting, in our first four games five different guys had connected from behind the arc at least once. But today there was only one successful trey and you guessed it, it was Mr. Byer hitting his first of the season. The rest of the team shot an 0-fer from Bonusland.
As for the victorious Indians, their frustration was of course eased by ultimately coming out on top, but junior sharpshooter Tyreek Veney had what I would assume to be an off game for him because he fouled out in the final few minutes. He is a very aggressive player by nature and if I am not mistaken, all five of his fouls came on charge calls, and since drawing the charge is one of Byer's specialties, I can report that he was in the right place at the right time and was therefore responsible for the majority of those and maybe all five.
Veney did not always respond with the appropriate poise when hit with those charges and also after he had left the game, a teammate was even less in control of his emotions and was ultimately hit with a T. His frustration (there is that word again!) was about Riverheads' fouling in the final few seconds, which of course any team does when they are trying to catch up. But this guy, not once but twice, took offense and seemed ready to take his own shot at somebody. On the second such reaction, the refs T'ed him up. Fortunately the game ended soon after before it had the chance to get any uglier.
Since this was the first district action for each team, that means the Indians are now 1-0 and Riverheads will look for that first conference win at Stuarts Draft on Tuesday. (I will make you a bet.......the shooting will return and win or lose, they will hit at least six in that game!)
Today's JV game was not as emotional as the varsity but certainly had its own drama and frustration. The Gladiators entered the game undefeated, having posted four easy wins over Bath County and Parry McCluer. But they too could not get the shots to fall, at least not for the first three quarters. They trailed 28-13 entering the fourth but came storming all the way back to take their only lead of the game at 32-31 on a Jackson Brammer baseline jumper with only 13 seconds left. However, after a timeout, the Indians drove the lane for a game-winning lay-up.
Making that loss even more exasperating for Gladiator fans was the fact that back in the third quarter, the Indians were called for their seventh team foul, which was definitely not a player control. It was immediately put on the scoreboard as number seven, but none of the three refs (same trio worked both games today) nor the scoreboard operator picked up on the fact that the Big Red should have been given the one-and-one opportunity. Although many Big Red fans tried their darnedest to call their attention to it, no one listened and play continued. It did not seem like a huge deal at the time because the Gladiators were so far behind at that point, but knowing what we know now, it could have made a difference.
To end with some good news to counter-balance all this bad, the weather will be cold this upcoming week but no further precipitation is expected, so everybody should be able to get their games in. After the Gladiators make their third straight road trip Tuesday, they will host Wilson on Friday.
Their schedule will then REALLY get wacky the following week as the Gladiators will have a whopping SIX games on the docket between Tuesday the 18th and Tuesday the 25th. One of those, on Saturday the 22nd, will be a make-up date for last night's snowed-out home game with Staunton. Fortunately four of those six will be at home, but there will be a lot of sore muscles around after that kind of marathon...........just hope all the concession stands are open!!!
Then there were the two games, which had PLENTY of frustration for fans and players alike. The Indians won a see-saw varsity game 48-39 in which RHS led after the odd numbered quarters and the Indians led at halftime and of course when it counted the most. The key sequence that finally turned the tide in favor of the home team came late in the third and stretched over into the fourth. Riverheads had taken its largest lead of the night at 30-25, but the Fort stormed back with an 11-0 spurt straddling the final two periods and held on from there.
The biggest issue for the visiting Gladiators was that they simply left their shooting shoes at home. Coming into today, four players were averaging at or close to double figures, but only senior forward Levi Byer brought his A game today, and in fact that could more accurately be called his A ++ game. He was a major workhorse inside, pulling down a ton of rebounds and scoring a career high 24 points. In fact that was probably almost double his previous high. He also was a major factor on defense, which I will come back to momentarily.
But for the rest of the Big Red, it just was not their day any way you slice it. The rest of the team combined for only five field goals and nobody else scored more than four points. It wasn't necessarily from lack of effort as they crashed the boards and sometimes had two, three or even four chances to score but the shots just would not fall. As for outside shooting, in our first four games five different guys had connected from behind the arc at least once. But today there was only one successful trey and you guessed it, it was Mr. Byer hitting his first of the season. The rest of the team shot an 0-fer from Bonusland.
As for the victorious Indians, their frustration was of course eased by ultimately coming out on top, but junior sharpshooter Tyreek Veney had what I would assume to be an off game for him because he fouled out in the final few minutes. He is a very aggressive player by nature and if I am not mistaken, all five of his fouls came on charge calls, and since drawing the charge is one of Byer's specialties, I can report that he was in the right place at the right time and was therefore responsible for the majority of those and maybe all five.
Veney did not always respond with the appropriate poise when hit with those charges and also after he had left the game, a teammate was even less in control of his emotions and was ultimately hit with a T. His frustration (there is that word again!) was about Riverheads' fouling in the final few seconds, which of course any team does when they are trying to catch up. But this guy, not once but twice, took offense and seemed ready to take his own shot at somebody. On the second such reaction, the refs T'ed him up. Fortunately the game ended soon after before it had the chance to get any uglier.
Since this was the first district action for each team, that means the Indians are now 1-0 and Riverheads will look for that first conference win at Stuarts Draft on Tuesday. (I will make you a bet.......the shooting will return and win or lose, they will hit at least six in that game!)
Today's JV game was not as emotional as the varsity but certainly had its own drama and frustration. The Gladiators entered the game undefeated, having posted four easy wins over Bath County and Parry McCluer. But they too could not get the shots to fall, at least not for the first three quarters. They trailed 28-13 entering the fourth but came storming all the way back to take their only lead of the game at 32-31 on a Jackson Brammer baseline jumper with only 13 seconds left. However, after a timeout, the Indians drove the lane for a game-winning lay-up.
Making that loss even more exasperating for Gladiator fans was the fact that back in the third quarter, the Indians were called for their seventh team foul, which was definitely not a player control. It was immediately put on the scoreboard as number seven, but none of the three refs (same trio worked both games today) nor the scoreboard operator picked up on the fact that the Big Red should have been given the one-and-one opportunity. Although many Big Red fans tried their darnedest to call their attention to it, no one listened and play continued. It did not seem like a huge deal at the time because the Gladiators were so far behind at that point, but knowing what we know now, it could have made a difference.
To end with some good news to counter-balance all this bad, the weather will be cold this upcoming week but no further precipitation is expected, so everybody should be able to get their games in. After the Gladiators make their third straight road trip Tuesday, they will host Wilson on Friday.
Their schedule will then REALLY get wacky the following week as the Gladiators will have a whopping SIX games on the docket between Tuesday the 18th and Tuesday the 25th. One of those, on Saturday the 22nd, will be a make-up date for last night's snowed-out home game with Staunton. Fortunately four of those six will be at home, but there will be a lot of sore muscles around after that kind of marathon...........just hope all the concession stands are open!!!
