After Friday night's humbling loss to Staunton, Riverheads needed a confidence boost and got it tonight with a dominating 56-30 rout of the visiting Minutemen. The Big Red controlled the action so completely that........Liberty did not score its first point until the 5 minute mark of the second quarter.........at halftime two different Riverheads players each had more points than Liberty had as a team.....and Liberty did not reach double digits on the scoreboard until the midway point of the third quarter.
The Gladiators were able to substitute frequently and as a result, all nine players got plenty of playing time and each of them scored. Sophomore sharpshooter Will Gardner returned to his early-season form and led the scoring with 19 to be the only Gladiator in double figures, with seven other guys scoring between 4 and 7 points. Gardner hit three triples and three other guys combined for another four shots from behind the arc.
It was a rather hectic game and was tightly called by the officials. Of course there were the usual cat calls and raised eyebrows over some of the calls, or lack thereof, but for the most part I thought they did a good job. It was one of those games where one team got the better of things in the first half and the other in the second.
With the win, Riverheads is now an even 7-7 on the season, with sights still set on a possible winning season and/or a Region 1-B playoff berth. Their next two games will be county rivalry battles, as they will host Stuarts Draft Tuesday and travel to Buffalo Gap Friday.
Tonight's JV game was much more entertaining and by far the more competitive of the two games. The respectable delegation from Liberty that made the trip must have been comprised mainly of JV family members because they were much louder and more enthusiastic during that game.
Of course part of that would be because they led most of the way. But RHS finally came to life in the fourth quarter and pulled out an exciting 37-32 win. Prior to that final period, Liberty had Riverheads on the ropes and in fact held the Big Red to just two third-quarter points. The Minutemen led 22-15 heading into the fourth but in one of the strangest stats you will ever hear, Riverheads scored just those 15 points through the first 21 minutes of action, but scored nine points in the first 1:21 of the fourth quarter as Chase Donathan and Ethan Mulcahy combined to hit three quick triples to surge the Big Red into the lead.
Moments later, Brody Phillips dropped in the fourth triple of the quarter and down the stretch Mulcahy fired in one more. But Liberty was keeping pace and the game was tied at 32-32 entering the final minute or so, when Riverheads was able to squeak out the win. Just as important as all those triples were four pressure packed free throws from Chris Dotson. His twin Jayden made his mark tonight also as he hit Riverheads' only triple of the first half.
So it was a good night to be a Gladiator as they completed a 4-0 sweep of the Class 3-A Minutemen, having also won both games last week on Liberty's home floor. The two teams had never met before and the idea for this home and home series actually came about because a holiday tournament Riverheads was hosting was canceled due to weather. The Gladiators were scheduled to host Liberty, Mountain View and Harrisonburg over two nights and when that event did not materialize, RHS instead scheduled series with MV and LB. Perhaps the same four schools can try the tournament idea again next season.
The Gladiators were able to substitute frequently and as a result, all nine players got plenty of playing time and each of them scored. Sophomore sharpshooter Will Gardner returned to his early-season form and led the scoring with 19 to be the only Gladiator in double figures, with seven other guys scoring between 4 and 7 points. Gardner hit three triples and three other guys combined for another four shots from behind the arc.
It was a rather hectic game and was tightly called by the officials. Of course there were the usual cat calls and raised eyebrows over some of the calls, or lack thereof, but for the most part I thought they did a good job. It was one of those games where one team got the better of things in the first half and the other in the second.
With the win, Riverheads is now an even 7-7 on the season, with sights still set on a possible winning season and/or a Region 1-B playoff berth. Their next two games will be county rivalry battles, as they will host Stuarts Draft Tuesday and travel to Buffalo Gap Friday.
Tonight's JV game was much more entertaining and by far the more competitive of the two games. The respectable delegation from Liberty that made the trip must have been comprised mainly of JV family members because they were much louder and more enthusiastic during that game.
Of course part of that would be because they led most of the way. But RHS finally came to life in the fourth quarter and pulled out an exciting 37-32 win. Prior to that final period, Liberty had Riverheads on the ropes and in fact held the Big Red to just two third-quarter points. The Minutemen led 22-15 heading into the fourth but in one of the strangest stats you will ever hear, Riverheads scored just those 15 points through the first 21 minutes of action, but scored nine points in the first 1:21 of the fourth quarter as Chase Donathan and Ethan Mulcahy combined to hit three quick triples to surge the Big Red into the lead.
Moments later, Brody Phillips dropped in the fourth triple of the quarter and down the stretch Mulcahy fired in one more. But Liberty was keeping pace and the game was tied at 32-32 entering the final minute or so, when Riverheads was able to squeak out the win. Just as important as all those triples were four pressure packed free throws from Chris Dotson. His twin Jayden made his mark tonight also as he hit Riverheads' only triple of the first half.
So it was a good night to be a Gladiator as they completed a 4-0 sweep of the Class 3-A Minutemen, having also won both games last week on Liberty's home floor. The two teams had never met before and the idea for this home and home series actually came about because a holiday tournament Riverheads was hosting was canceled due to weather. The Gladiators were scheduled to host Liberty, Mountain View and Harrisonburg over two nights and when that event did not materialize, RHS instead scheduled series with MV and LB. Perhaps the same four schools can try the tournament idea again next season.
