I "think" the brain to finger combination is working better this morning so let me try again. First of all, I had to sit this one out and watch from home, so anything I report will be based on seeing the game from that limited perspective. So I definitely invite those of you who were there to chime in and correct anything that I might say that is incorrect or could be expanded upon.
But from my viewpoint, this appeared to be a simple case of the Bison showing up with some pride and determination, whereas Riverheads may have come into this game remembering that they had whomped the Bison by 36 points on their own floor. Not only that but the Gap had only scored 23 points total in their last outing against Waynesboro, also on their own floor. So whether or not those thoughts were going through anyone's minds, that is the way it appeared.
As a result the game was tight through the first three quarters and RHS did not take a double-digit lead until the fourth period. After a 15-12 Big Red advantage in the first quarter, the Gladiators knocked down some threes late in the half and had a 28-22 lead with about two minutes left. But as we all know from watching games on the tubes, those few minutes on either side of the halftime break can sometimes be crucial.
But instead of RHS pouring it on and taking a bigger halftime lead, a strange sequence of events allowed the visitors to tie things up at 28-28 heading into the locker room. Again I remind you I was not there, so this is only what it looked like online.
On the Bison end of the floor, Riverheads' Will Gardner and one of the Bison were doing some jawing back and forth. It certainly did not appear to be anything serious but a ref blew his whistle and came over to them. Based on what I could see and the body language of the ref, it appeared that he gave them a "warning" to knock if off. But it appeared that he went so far as to go over to the scorer's desk and make the warnings "official."
Well before the action could resume, Gardner could be seen clapping his hands. Again I remind you that I was not there so if he said anything, I would not have heard it. He was facing in the directions of both benches and the scorer's table but by that time, he and the Bison player were at least 15 feet apart. So it was not like he got in the guy's face as we see them do on TV.
So whatever he said or did, he was T'd up for it, but as near as I could tell, it was a different ref, not the one who had issued the warnings. So by the time that was all sorted out, the Bison came back to tie things up instead of RHS having the chance to take a more comfortable lead.
Gardner then knocked down his fourth triple of the game to start the second half and the Bison never caught up. But yet, as already indicated, they did go away quietly either. The largest Big Red lead was 13 at 62-49 but the Bison made one final push to cut it to single digits.
So as they say a win is a win, and therefore a loss is a loss, and to the best of my knowledge, each team will advance to next week's regional playoffs in their respective divisions.
Riverheads had its usual balanced scoring tonight, led by Gardner's 21, which included five triples. But Henley Dunlap and Joe George each had 11, followed by 9 from Jackson Brammer and 6 from J P Crawford. In some ways, George's 11 points were more impressive because he connected on nine foul shots to only one basket, which gives you a clue as to how hard he battles inside. The same could be said of Brammer night in and night out.
Riverheads also won the JV game 34-13, as the Junior Bison suffered through a scoreless second quarter and only hit one foul shot in the fourth. As I have mentioned throughout the season, the Big Red got a lot of minutes out of a nice eighth-grade class. That may have kept the win total down but if these guys grow as teenagers normally do and they stick with the program, they will be harder to handle in their later years.
