Lucky for you guys, I have already consulted one of the local papers regarding this game, so I will borrow a little bit from them as I go along because trust me, to convey THIS one to you I need all the help I can get . I believe our eminent football coach, Mr. Casto's favorite term "slobberknocker" might come the closest to doing it justice.
The final score was 84-77 in favor of the visiting Cougars but that does not even come close to telling the story of the game. You guys know the Draft and their style of play. It is all about mass substitutions every minute or two, accompanied by intense full-court pressure from the opening tip, and of COURSE their offensive attack is aptly titled THREEDICULOUS. Great term by the way so congrats to whoever first coined it.
So just how "threediculous" was this particular game you might ask? Well I will borrow the first stat from that newspaper I just mentioned. According to that gentleman, and I certainly believe it, the two teams combined tonight for, are you ready, NINETY-EIGHT three-point attempts! He did not break it down into which team attempted how many but I am guessing it would be at least a 2-1 if not 3-1 ratio in favor of the Cougars.
The reporter further says that the teams combined to make 30 of them. So since my Riverheads only stats had them making 13 themselves, that means the Draft made 17. In all honesty I would have guessed they hit 20 or more.
BUT BEFORE I GO ONE STEP FURTHER...........CONGRATS TO THE BIG RED AND IF YOU CONSIDER THE FULL CAPS TO BE OBNOXIOUS..........TOO BAD BECAUSE THEY DESERVE THE PRAISE.
When Grant Painter drained his fourth triple of the night just a few seconds before the final horn, he made the final score 84-77. But more importantly that 13th trey of the night for the Gladiators set a new school record, breaking the previous mark of 12.
In fact Grant and his brother, junior Adam, had one of the best 1-2 punches a pair of Gladiators has ever had in one game as they combined for an amazing 53 points on the night, as Grant tallied 28 and Adam 25. Adam had five of the 13 triples, with Zach Adams hitting three and D'ante Gray hitting the other. I have not yet had the chance to check my records but it is possible that Gray's bucket was his first career three-pointer, since he is not known as an outside threat.
(Cougar fans hang in there...your share of the praise is coming.)
OK to start at the beginning, as we all had surmised, the Big Red's injured 6'5" senior center, Honor Robinson, did not play tonight. So from the get-go, that made the roster numbers 16-9 in favor of the Cougars. Carrying that many players is a trademark of theirs and of course contributes greatly to their success as they generally wear down their opponents.
So knowing he would not have a significant inside presence tonight, RHS Coach Coffey rolled the dice and decided to try and play at SD's tempo instead of trying to slow them down, and for the better part of three quarters, it looked very much like the Gladiators were going to get the job done. Riverheads was breaking the Cougar pressure for the most part and the shots were falling, enabling them to take the lead early and maintain it.
Late in the first quarter, each Painter brother canned a bucket (a dull and boring two in each case) that put the home team ahead 20-17. They continued to pad that lead for the next two quarters, leading 22-19 at the first horn, 43-38 at halftime, and 62-53 after three. The Cougars were doing their usual thing as well but RHS was clicking on all cylinders and staying ahead.
Adam Painter did a great impersonation of his big brother as he came out smoking to start the third quarter, scoring a personal eight points to get the Gladiators going. As you may recall, Grant had done the same thing Tuesday night against Buffalo Gap to jump-start that Gladiator victory. One of Adam's threes in the period was a wild one as it bounced all over the place and hit every part of the rim before it settled through the net. Zach Adams, another senior being saluted tonight, drained his final triple from the left corner late in the third to give the Gladiators what might have appeared to be a comfortable 9 point lead. The lead had actually reached 12 twice during the period.
But then...............oh come on do I HAVE to?...............oh alright!
As much as I try to praise my Gladiators and as much praise as they deserve for tonight's effort, you just could not BELIEVE Stuarts Draft's turnaround in the fourth quarter, as they outscored RHS 31-15 in that stanza. It did not appear that Riverheads was tiring out, but maybe that was in fact part of it.
But whatever the case, the Cougars attacked the boards with a vengeance for the entire eight minutes and some of their threes (the paper says they hit six in that quarter) absolutely defied description, in terms of their distance and the fact that they would leave the shooter's hands and you would think "ain't no way," only to see the net barely move. So I don't know how they do it or what Coach Gale says to them, but it sure as heck worked tonight.
Riverheads was still ahead 64-58 as the clock ticked under 6 minutes. But in what seemed like a nanosecond, the Cougars went on a tear and took their first lead since the first quarter at 66-64. RHS managed to tie it at 66 and again at 68, but then in the time it took me to take the final swig of my Dr. Pepper, it was 76-69. Seriously folks, you cannot believe that team's intensity and how quickly they can turn a game around until you see them in action.
So even though we led the game for about 75% of the time tonight, it goes into the books as a loss for the Big Red. They are understandably disappointed with that turn of events, but at the same time, they now have 12 days for Robinson to get healthy and 12 days to realize that they have fought their tails off all season long against some very talented Class 2 and Class 3 teams. So unless something goes very wrong, the Gladiators should be just fine in the Class 1 playoffs. They will entertain the eighth-seeded Franklin Broncos in the first round on Tuesday the 25th.
Riverheads won the JV game tonight 67-56, essentially leading wire to wire. They finished their season with an 11-8 record and you can tell already that some of them will be capable replacements for tonight's five departing seniors. An iron-man quartet consisting of Noah Williams, Levi Byer, Bennett Dunlap and Michael King scored 65 of those 67 points as the Gladiators hit their highest point total of the season.
Last but not least there was no joy up Route 340 tonight as the Lady Gladiators hit the road and swept both games from the Cougars. So a three-out-of-four night for Big Red basketball is not too shabby, even if we did come up short on the one we wanted the most. The Lady Gladiators also get that long break and they will open Region B playoff action on Monday the 24th against seventh-seeded Rappahannock County, a team they know all too well from softball and volleyball competition.
The final score was 84-77 in favor of the visiting Cougars but that does not even come close to telling the story of the game. You guys know the Draft and their style of play. It is all about mass substitutions every minute or two, accompanied by intense full-court pressure from the opening tip, and of COURSE their offensive attack is aptly titled THREEDICULOUS. Great term by the way so congrats to whoever first coined it.
So just how "threediculous" was this particular game you might ask? Well I will borrow the first stat from that newspaper I just mentioned. According to that gentleman, and I certainly believe it, the two teams combined tonight for, are you ready, NINETY-EIGHT three-point attempts! He did not break it down into which team attempted how many but I am guessing it would be at least a 2-1 if not 3-1 ratio in favor of the Cougars.
The reporter further says that the teams combined to make 30 of them. So since my Riverheads only stats had them making 13 themselves, that means the Draft made 17. In all honesty I would have guessed they hit 20 or more.
BUT BEFORE I GO ONE STEP FURTHER...........CONGRATS TO THE BIG RED AND IF YOU CONSIDER THE FULL CAPS TO BE OBNOXIOUS..........TOO BAD BECAUSE THEY DESERVE THE PRAISE.
When Grant Painter drained his fourth triple of the night just a few seconds before the final horn, he made the final score 84-77. But more importantly that 13th trey of the night for the Gladiators set a new school record, breaking the previous mark of 12.
In fact Grant and his brother, junior Adam, had one of the best 1-2 punches a pair of Gladiators has ever had in one game as they combined for an amazing 53 points on the night, as Grant tallied 28 and Adam 25. Adam had five of the 13 triples, with Zach Adams hitting three and D'ante Gray hitting the other. I have not yet had the chance to check my records but it is possible that Gray's bucket was his first career three-pointer, since he is not known as an outside threat.
(Cougar fans hang in there...your share of the praise is coming.)
OK to start at the beginning, as we all had surmised, the Big Red's injured 6'5" senior center, Honor Robinson, did not play tonight. So from the get-go, that made the roster numbers 16-9 in favor of the Cougars. Carrying that many players is a trademark of theirs and of course contributes greatly to their success as they generally wear down their opponents.
So knowing he would not have a significant inside presence tonight, RHS Coach Coffey rolled the dice and decided to try and play at SD's tempo instead of trying to slow them down, and for the better part of three quarters, it looked very much like the Gladiators were going to get the job done. Riverheads was breaking the Cougar pressure for the most part and the shots were falling, enabling them to take the lead early and maintain it.
Late in the first quarter, each Painter brother canned a bucket (a dull and boring two in each case) that put the home team ahead 20-17. They continued to pad that lead for the next two quarters, leading 22-19 at the first horn, 43-38 at halftime, and 62-53 after three. The Cougars were doing their usual thing as well but RHS was clicking on all cylinders and staying ahead.
Adam Painter did a great impersonation of his big brother as he came out smoking to start the third quarter, scoring a personal eight points to get the Gladiators going. As you may recall, Grant had done the same thing Tuesday night against Buffalo Gap to jump-start that Gladiator victory. One of Adam's threes in the period was a wild one as it bounced all over the place and hit every part of the rim before it settled through the net. Zach Adams, another senior being saluted tonight, drained his final triple from the left corner late in the third to give the Gladiators what might have appeared to be a comfortable 9 point lead. The lead had actually reached 12 twice during the period.
But then...............oh come on do I HAVE to?...............oh alright!
As much as I try to praise my Gladiators and as much praise as they deserve for tonight's effort, you just could not BELIEVE Stuarts Draft's turnaround in the fourth quarter, as they outscored RHS 31-15 in that stanza. It did not appear that Riverheads was tiring out, but maybe that was in fact part of it.
But whatever the case, the Cougars attacked the boards with a vengeance for the entire eight minutes and some of their threes (the paper says they hit six in that quarter) absolutely defied description, in terms of their distance and the fact that they would leave the shooter's hands and you would think "ain't no way," only to see the net barely move. So I don't know how they do it or what Coach Gale says to them, but it sure as heck worked tonight.
Riverheads was still ahead 64-58 as the clock ticked under 6 minutes. But in what seemed like a nanosecond, the Cougars went on a tear and took their first lead since the first quarter at 66-64. RHS managed to tie it at 66 and again at 68, but then in the time it took me to take the final swig of my Dr. Pepper, it was 76-69. Seriously folks, you cannot believe that team's intensity and how quickly they can turn a game around until you see them in action.
So even though we led the game for about 75% of the time tonight, it goes into the books as a loss for the Big Red. They are understandably disappointed with that turn of events, but at the same time, they now have 12 days for Robinson to get healthy and 12 days to realize that they have fought their tails off all season long against some very talented Class 2 and Class 3 teams. So unless something goes very wrong, the Gladiators should be just fine in the Class 1 playoffs. They will entertain the eighth-seeded Franklin Broncos in the first round on Tuesday the 25th.
Riverheads won the JV game tonight 67-56, essentially leading wire to wire. They finished their season with an 11-8 record and you can tell already that some of them will be capable replacements for tonight's five departing seniors. An iron-man quartet consisting of Noah Williams, Levi Byer, Bennett Dunlap and Michael King scored 65 of those 67 points as the Gladiators hit their highest point total of the season.
Last but not least there was no joy up Route 340 tonight as the Lady Gladiators hit the road and swept both games from the Cougars. So a three-out-of-four night for Big Red basketball is not too shabby, even if we did come up short on the one we wanted the most. The Lady Gladiators also get that long break and they will open Region B playoff action on Monday the 24th against seventh-seeded Rappahannock County, a team they know all too well from softball and volleyball competition.
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