Although the average high school kid might not mind the road trips to other schools, there is probably still some relief at Riverheads that the Gladiators are not even halfway through the season, but yet they have already finished their four road trips to the schools "up north." Other than a short jaunt down to Lexington next weekend for Rock the Ribbon, the Big Red will not have to venture out of the county for the rest of the regular season.
Best news of all is that they went 3-1 on that northerly swing, defeating Stonewall, Luray and now Page all by double digits, losing only to East Rock, which is of course a fate anyone will suffer if they go to Elkton this season. So the Gladiators can now wait for return engagements in Greenville with all four teams and wrap up the rest of the schedule with a variety of games against their County Brethren.
As for tonight's game...........do not automatically assume from the above score that the Gladiators had a cake walk this evening. Truth is the Panthers staged a big second half rally, trimming a 26-point lead all the way down to 8 at one point before Riverheads regained control and salted the game away.
It was clear from the beginning that the teams had different approaches to tonight's game. The Panthers wanted to work the perimeter and in the first quarter they must have fired up at least eight triples, but none of them found the mark. By contrast, Riverheads, after bombing in 10 triples Wednesday night against Fort Defiance, almost completely abandoned the long ball tonight and instead relied on back door cuts and a patient offense designed to get the high percentage inside bucket. To the best of my recollection, they only tried about 4 or 5 threes and hit a season low two of them.
Drew Bond, at 6'4", was the main workhorse for the Big Red as he scored the first four points to make sure the visitors never trailed. He continued to produce consistently throughout the game and actually outscored the Panthers by himself in the first half. Without checking my files I am not sure if tonight's 18 points was a career high but it was most certainly his high for this season.
The Gladiators led 12-4 after one period and Page finally got a triple to fall midway through the second quarter, only to see Riverheads drop in their two from Grant Painter and Josh Kinzel to offset the one from the Panthers. The Big Red poured in 20 second-quarter points to take a surprising 32-9 lead into the locker room. Bond had 11 at that point and Painter's 8 almost matched the Panthers' total.
Zack Adams opened the third quarter for Riverheads to make it 34-9 and shortly thereafter the Big Red had its largest lead of the game at 39-13. But you just knew the Panthers had a rally in them and sure enough, they stepped up their defensive intensity to force some turnovers, shots started to fall, and they reeled off the next 12 points to trim the lead to 39-25. RHS stopped the surge momentarily, but Page kept coming and by the midway point of the final period the lead was down to just 44-36 and fans on both sides really started to wonder if they might actually make it all the way back.
But almost like someone turning off a switch, the Gladiators stifled the rally by going to an effective delay game and settling for only lay-ups and foul shots the rest of the way. The Panthers hit another cold spell and RHS finished the game on a 16-2 run.
The win moves Riverheads to 4-2 in district play and 5-3 overall with a trip to Stuarts Draft on tap for Tuesday. The Pride then hosts East Rock on Thursday before tackling Parry McCluer again on Saturday at RCHS. Those should certainly be three distinctly different games with their own plot twists!
In tonight's JV game, the Junior Panthers scored the first 14 points of the game before Riverheads could find the bottom of the bucket and although the Gladiators warmed up a little bit, the damage was done as Page prevailed 43-22. Meanwhile down in Greenville it was a clean sweep for the visiting Lady Panthers, so if you look at it that way, Page won the night 3-1. The teams will all battle once again in the regular season finales in early February.
Best news of all is that they went 3-1 on that northerly swing, defeating Stonewall, Luray and now Page all by double digits, losing only to East Rock, which is of course a fate anyone will suffer if they go to Elkton this season. So the Gladiators can now wait for return engagements in Greenville with all four teams and wrap up the rest of the schedule with a variety of games against their County Brethren.
As for tonight's game...........do not automatically assume from the above score that the Gladiators had a cake walk this evening. Truth is the Panthers staged a big second half rally, trimming a 26-point lead all the way down to 8 at one point before Riverheads regained control and salted the game away.
It was clear from the beginning that the teams had different approaches to tonight's game. The Panthers wanted to work the perimeter and in the first quarter they must have fired up at least eight triples, but none of them found the mark. By contrast, Riverheads, after bombing in 10 triples Wednesday night against Fort Defiance, almost completely abandoned the long ball tonight and instead relied on back door cuts and a patient offense designed to get the high percentage inside bucket. To the best of my recollection, they only tried about 4 or 5 threes and hit a season low two of them.
Drew Bond, at 6'4", was the main workhorse for the Big Red as he scored the first four points to make sure the visitors never trailed. He continued to produce consistently throughout the game and actually outscored the Panthers by himself in the first half. Without checking my files I am not sure if tonight's 18 points was a career high but it was most certainly his high for this season.
The Gladiators led 12-4 after one period and Page finally got a triple to fall midway through the second quarter, only to see Riverheads drop in their two from Grant Painter and Josh Kinzel to offset the one from the Panthers. The Big Red poured in 20 second-quarter points to take a surprising 32-9 lead into the locker room. Bond had 11 at that point and Painter's 8 almost matched the Panthers' total.
Zack Adams opened the third quarter for Riverheads to make it 34-9 and shortly thereafter the Big Red had its largest lead of the game at 39-13. But you just knew the Panthers had a rally in them and sure enough, they stepped up their defensive intensity to force some turnovers, shots started to fall, and they reeled off the next 12 points to trim the lead to 39-25. RHS stopped the surge momentarily, but Page kept coming and by the midway point of the final period the lead was down to just 44-36 and fans on both sides really started to wonder if they might actually make it all the way back.
But almost like someone turning off a switch, the Gladiators stifled the rally by going to an effective delay game and settling for only lay-ups and foul shots the rest of the way. The Panthers hit another cold spell and RHS finished the game on a 16-2 run.
The win moves Riverheads to 4-2 in district play and 5-3 overall with a trip to Stuarts Draft on tap for Tuesday. The Pride then hosts East Rock on Thursday before tackling Parry McCluer again on Saturday at RCHS. Those should certainly be three distinctly different games with their own plot twists!
In tonight's JV game, the Junior Panthers scored the first 14 points of the game before Riverheads could find the bottom of the bucket and although the Gladiators warmed up a little bit, the damage was done as Page prevailed 43-22. Meanwhile down in Greenville it was a clean sweep for the visiting Lady Panthers, so if you look at it that way, Page won the night 3-1. The teams will all battle once again in the regular season finales in early February.
