They say it is hard to beat a team three times in one season and the Riverheads Gladiators came within one clank of the rim from learning that lesson the hard way tonight. But as they say, a win is a win and the Big Red will move on to meet Altavista Wednesday, whereas Stonewall's season comes to an end. However, with no seniors on their roster, the Generals will live to see better days ahead.
And speaking of seniors, RHS' only active one, Dakota Cave, saved the best game of his career for his home finale as he led the Gladiator scoring tonight with 14. Brett Hostetler finished with 12, Austin Craft 10 and Bradley Roberts 8 as only five players dented the scoring column. Freshman Drew Bond scored the remaining five RHS points. Stonewall seemed to be led by Kaelan Sorrells and William Sims from what I could tell.
Both teams came out nervous as the action started with a ton of missed shots and turnovers. Stonewall finally put the first points on the board at the 4:20 mark of the first quarter and the clock ticked under 3:00 before the Big Red scored. Once they got going, Craft and Cave added two inside buckets each to give RHS a narrow 8-7 lead at the first horn.
Stonewall scored first in the second to re-take the lead but then the Gladiators scored 10 in a row to grab an 18-9 lead and it looked like a rout might be on. Stonewall trimmed it to 18-13 before another 5-0 run sent the teams to the locker room with a 23-13 score.
The lead remained in double digits for most of the third quarter but it soon became clear that Stonewall was not going to go quietly. They crept back to within 33-26 entering the final period.
Cave hit a couple of crucial buckets, added some foul shots, and Bond hit a three to temporarily hold off the visitors, but they clawed their way back to within two points to set the stage for a wild finish in which they actually had not one, but two chances to snatch the victory.
After scoring to make it 49-47, the Generals forced a questionable five-second count and got the ball back under their own basket with exactly 4 seconds left. They took a time-out and set up a play, but as the guy made his move toward the basket, the refs correctly called traveling with only .8 left.
RHS then called for the deep pass, which ordinarily will kill the clock and save the win in that situation. However in this case, nobody caught up to the ball, which meant that it went back to Stonewall again, still under their own basket and with the .8 still showing on the clock. They got a surprisingly decent look at a three which would have won the game but it was long and bounced off the far side of the rim, giving RHS the hard-fought win.
Hats off to Stonewall, as the Generals really came to play. They should be able to use this game as a jump-start and confidence-booster for next season, when everyone returns as I mentioned above.
For Riverheads it was a lesson in how to handle a close game. With them also being young and having most of this year's team back next season, maybe they too gained some valuable experience tonight.
The Gladiators are now 5-15 going into Wednesday's Conference 44 semi-final on the Colonels' home floor. Altavista leads the all-time series between the two 5-0 but all have been played on neutral-court playoff sites, including a 2004 state championship bout at VCU between the two. This will be the first time either has hosted a game against the other in basketball.
And speaking of seniors, RHS' only active one, Dakota Cave, saved the best game of his career for his home finale as he led the Gladiator scoring tonight with 14. Brett Hostetler finished with 12, Austin Craft 10 and Bradley Roberts 8 as only five players dented the scoring column. Freshman Drew Bond scored the remaining five RHS points. Stonewall seemed to be led by Kaelan Sorrells and William Sims from what I could tell.
Both teams came out nervous as the action started with a ton of missed shots and turnovers. Stonewall finally put the first points on the board at the 4:20 mark of the first quarter and the clock ticked under 3:00 before the Big Red scored. Once they got going, Craft and Cave added two inside buckets each to give RHS a narrow 8-7 lead at the first horn.
Stonewall scored first in the second to re-take the lead but then the Gladiators scored 10 in a row to grab an 18-9 lead and it looked like a rout might be on. Stonewall trimmed it to 18-13 before another 5-0 run sent the teams to the locker room with a 23-13 score.
The lead remained in double digits for most of the third quarter but it soon became clear that Stonewall was not going to go quietly. They crept back to within 33-26 entering the final period.
Cave hit a couple of crucial buckets, added some foul shots, and Bond hit a three to temporarily hold off the visitors, but they clawed their way back to within two points to set the stage for a wild finish in which they actually had not one, but two chances to snatch the victory.
After scoring to make it 49-47, the Generals forced a questionable five-second count and got the ball back under their own basket with exactly 4 seconds left. They took a time-out and set up a play, but as the guy made his move toward the basket, the refs correctly called traveling with only .8 left.
RHS then called for the deep pass, which ordinarily will kill the clock and save the win in that situation. However in this case, nobody caught up to the ball, which meant that it went back to Stonewall again, still under their own basket and with the .8 still showing on the clock. They got a surprisingly decent look at a three which would have won the game but it was long and bounced off the far side of the rim, giving RHS the hard-fought win.
Hats off to Stonewall, as the Generals really came to play. They should be able to use this game as a jump-start and confidence-booster for next season, when everyone returns as I mentioned above.
For Riverheads it was a lesson in how to handle a close game. With them also being young and having most of this year's team back next season, maybe they too gained some valuable experience tonight.
The Gladiators are now 5-15 going into Wednesday's Conference 44 semi-final on the Colonels' home floor. Altavista leads the all-time series between the two 5-0 but all have been played on neutral-court playoff sites, including a 2004 state championship bout at VCU between the two. This will be the first time either has hosted a game against the other in basketball.
