Riverheads dropped a double-whammy on visiting Buffalo Gap tonight as each of the boys teams jumped out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back. The JVs won 51-37 while the Varsity Gladiators completely stifled the Bison on defense and held them to what I am sure must be the lowest point total a Gap team has ever scored against Riverheads in the 55-year history of the rivalry.
The JV game was actually not as close as that score would indicate as Riverheads expanded its early lead to a 20-point halftime advantage, and extended it to as much as 24 points, before a couple of late Bison baskets trimmed the margin a little. The easiness of the victory was a tad surprising considering that RHS had needed an overtime period to take a three-point win the first time the teams met. Josh Kinzel, Zach Adams, and Adam Painter led the scoring for the Big Red.
The final score of the Varsity game could easily be mistaken for one of the football games between the two and at times the play somewhat reminded you of the gridiron as the Gladiator defense controlled Buffalo Gap in just about every way possible. However, in fairness to the Bison, they were without the services of leading scorer Addison McGuffin, which had to impact their performance. No news as to why he was missing tonight.
After holding Luray scoreless for the entire fourth quarter on Tuesday, the Gladiators looked for a while as if they might make it two goose-egg quarters in a row, but Weston Smith dropped in a triple for the Gap at about the three-minute mark as the quarter ended with RHS on top 17-3. The Gladiators meanwhile needed very little production from behind the arc, hitting only three this evening, as they were able to consistently drive into the teeth of the Bison defense and either score or draw fouls.
Riverheads' domination was so complete that they scored more points in the first quarter than the Bison did in the first three combined. At one point in the third quarter, RHS had two players (Brett Hostetler and Braeson Fulton) who had more points as individuals than the Bison did as a team. The limited success Gap had from the field came from behind the arc as they did not hit their first two-point basket of the evening until the midway point of the third quarter.
The Gladiators were just the quicker team in all aspects and the Gap just could not get into any rhythm. The closest they had to a productive quarter was the third when they scored 8 points. The fourth quarter was pretty ragged for both teams and ended with only a 6-3 Riverheads advantage.
Nevertheless, when RHS took its largest lead at 46-15, we got to see the running clock employed for a second straight time and the game ended so quickly the gym was empty by 8:15. If there was a highlight play in that fourth quarter, it was delivered by RHS' reserve guard Jalen Brown. Listed as a generous 5'9" in the program, he drove into the trees to try and hit a lay-up. When it was swatted back at him, he grabbed the rebound and aggressively took it up again in heavy traffic to score.
The Gladiators were led in scoring by Fulton with 14, Hostetler with 12, and Drew Bond with 9. Smith led the Bison with exactly half of their 18 points and I believe that came on three triples.
As mentioned on various threads this week, the Gladiators will be right back in action Saturday morning at 10:00 as they take on Parry McCluer in the opening game of the Rock the Ribbon Classic. Conditioning and fatigue may determine that one as the Big Red hopes to even the score for an earlier four-point loss in Buena Vista. If they are successful and can pull out the win, RHS would move to 8-6 on the year and travel up to East Rock on Tuesday with a three-game win streak under their belts.
The JV game was actually not as close as that score would indicate as Riverheads expanded its early lead to a 20-point halftime advantage, and extended it to as much as 24 points, before a couple of late Bison baskets trimmed the margin a little. The easiness of the victory was a tad surprising considering that RHS had needed an overtime period to take a three-point win the first time the teams met. Josh Kinzel, Zach Adams, and Adam Painter led the scoring for the Big Red.
The final score of the Varsity game could easily be mistaken for one of the football games between the two and at times the play somewhat reminded you of the gridiron as the Gladiator defense controlled Buffalo Gap in just about every way possible. However, in fairness to the Bison, they were without the services of leading scorer Addison McGuffin, which had to impact their performance. No news as to why he was missing tonight.
After holding Luray scoreless for the entire fourth quarter on Tuesday, the Gladiators looked for a while as if they might make it two goose-egg quarters in a row, but Weston Smith dropped in a triple for the Gap at about the three-minute mark as the quarter ended with RHS on top 17-3. The Gladiators meanwhile needed very little production from behind the arc, hitting only three this evening, as they were able to consistently drive into the teeth of the Bison defense and either score or draw fouls.
Riverheads' domination was so complete that they scored more points in the first quarter than the Bison did in the first three combined. At one point in the third quarter, RHS had two players (Brett Hostetler and Braeson Fulton) who had more points as individuals than the Bison did as a team. The limited success Gap had from the field came from behind the arc as they did not hit their first two-point basket of the evening until the midway point of the third quarter.
The Gladiators were just the quicker team in all aspects and the Gap just could not get into any rhythm. The closest they had to a productive quarter was the third when they scored 8 points. The fourth quarter was pretty ragged for both teams and ended with only a 6-3 Riverheads advantage.
Nevertheless, when RHS took its largest lead at 46-15, we got to see the running clock employed for a second straight time and the game ended so quickly the gym was empty by 8:15. If there was a highlight play in that fourth quarter, it was delivered by RHS' reserve guard Jalen Brown. Listed as a generous 5'9" in the program, he drove into the trees to try and hit a lay-up. When it was swatted back at him, he grabbed the rebound and aggressively took it up again in heavy traffic to score.
The Gladiators were led in scoring by Fulton with 14, Hostetler with 12, and Drew Bond with 9. Smith led the Bison with exactly half of their 18 points and I believe that came on three triples.
As mentioned on various threads this week, the Gladiators will be right back in action Saturday morning at 10:00 as they take on Parry McCluer in the opening game of the Rock the Ribbon Classic. Conditioning and fatigue may determine that one as the Big Red hopes to even the score for an earlier four-point loss in Buena Vista. If they are successful and can pull out the win, RHS would move to 8-6 on the year and travel up to East Rock on Tuesday with a three-game win streak under their belts.
