After a rough week battling the likes of Staunton and Stuarts Draft, the Riverheads Gladiators needed a confidence-boosting win and got it tonight with a running clock, double 'em up 72-36 win in front of the Buffalo Gap home fans. It was one of the Big Red's most satisfying wins of the season and also one of their better-balanced scoring efforts. Although only seven players scratched in the scorebook, four of them scored in double figures and a fifth guy had seven points by early in the second half but could not connect again.
That commitment to balance and teamwork no doubt left Coach Weller with a big grin on his face and hopefully it made some Gladiator fans appreciate the team as well. There have been times this season we would hear grumbling in the stands about lack of team play but tonight that was certainly not an issue for the Red Pride. In fact, even though they were playing against an overmatched opponent, I don't see how the Gladiators could have played better team ball.
The game turned against the Bison very early tonight when their 6'2" wide body Riley Smith picked up two very quick fouls and had to take a seat. Even when he came back in midway through the second period, the poor guy picked up numbers three and four within about 30 seconds of one another.
With him a non-factor, that gave the visiting Gladiators two big advantages.......one it opened up the middle for them to easily work the ball inside to Jackson Brammer and reserve forward Joe George, who had by far his best game of the season. Unofficially I believe he tied his career high with 13 points. I don't keep rebounding stats, but he was a man possessed and easily had a double double. I would not be surprised if he finished with close to 20 boards tonight.
The other reason why Smith's foul trouble played right into the hands of the Gladiators was because it put more pressure on BG's very young and inexperienced guards. By contrast, Riverheads has two senior guards, Henley Dunlap and J P Crawford, who can hit consistently from outside but also are stingy on defense. So tonight each of them was able to steal the ball from the frustrated Bison repeatedly and take it in for easy lay-ups. Also just for extra fun and games, each one had a buzzer-beating triple. Crawford hit from the top of the key to close out the first quarter and Dunlap buried a contested shot from the left corner to close out the first half.
That bucket gave the Gladiators a 36-23 lead at the break, which might not have been considered insurmountable, but a 20-4 third quarter settled the issue and then for the better part of the fourth quarter, the running clock was put into effect. Gladiator football fans know all about that feature in the rule books.
Crawford and Dunlap led the scoring with 18 and 16 respectively. George was third in line with his 13 and Brammer finished with 10, but also a ton of rebounds. Will Gardner added seven points, and Chase Donathan (5) and Jaxon Duff (3) rounded out the Gladiator scoring.
In the JV game, eighth-grader Sam Jarvis hit a corner triple late in the third quarter to give the Gladiators their biggest lead at 30-25. They then opened the fourth quarter on a seven-point spurt to put the Baby Bison away 46-35. The three point basket played a prominent role in that victory.
It would have been nice to go 4-0 over the Bison in one night, but my sources tell me the Lady Gladiator won the JV game at home tonight, but not the varsity contest. Still a 3 out of 4 night over any county rival is a good night's work.
Next up for the Gladiator teams will be some Tuesday night encounters with Fort Defiance. The girls are at home and should be favored. The boys lost at home the first time to the Indians but if they can put out the effort they did in this week's two road trips, they just might come out of the Fort as winners.
That commitment to balance and teamwork no doubt left Coach Weller with a big grin on his face and hopefully it made some Gladiator fans appreciate the team as well. There have been times this season we would hear grumbling in the stands about lack of team play but tonight that was certainly not an issue for the Red Pride. In fact, even though they were playing against an overmatched opponent, I don't see how the Gladiators could have played better team ball.
The game turned against the Bison very early tonight when their 6'2" wide body Riley Smith picked up two very quick fouls and had to take a seat. Even when he came back in midway through the second period, the poor guy picked up numbers three and four within about 30 seconds of one another.
With him a non-factor, that gave the visiting Gladiators two big advantages.......one it opened up the middle for them to easily work the ball inside to Jackson Brammer and reserve forward Joe George, who had by far his best game of the season. Unofficially I believe he tied his career high with 13 points. I don't keep rebounding stats, but he was a man possessed and easily had a double double. I would not be surprised if he finished with close to 20 boards tonight.
The other reason why Smith's foul trouble played right into the hands of the Gladiators was because it put more pressure on BG's very young and inexperienced guards. By contrast, Riverheads has two senior guards, Henley Dunlap and J P Crawford, who can hit consistently from outside but also are stingy on defense. So tonight each of them was able to steal the ball from the frustrated Bison repeatedly and take it in for easy lay-ups. Also just for extra fun and games, each one had a buzzer-beating triple. Crawford hit from the top of the key to close out the first quarter and Dunlap buried a contested shot from the left corner to close out the first half.
That bucket gave the Gladiators a 36-23 lead at the break, which might not have been considered insurmountable, but a 20-4 third quarter settled the issue and then for the better part of the fourth quarter, the running clock was put into effect. Gladiator football fans know all about that feature in the rule books.
Crawford and Dunlap led the scoring with 18 and 16 respectively. George was third in line with his 13 and Brammer finished with 10, but also a ton of rebounds. Will Gardner added seven points, and Chase Donathan (5) and Jaxon Duff (3) rounded out the Gladiator scoring.
In the JV game, eighth-grader Sam Jarvis hit a corner triple late in the third quarter to give the Gladiators their biggest lead at 30-25. They then opened the fourth quarter on a seven-point spurt to put the Baby Bison away 46-35. The three point basket played a prominent role in that victory.
It would have been nice to go 4-0 over the Bison in one night, but my sources tell me the Lady Gladiator won the JV game at home tonight, but not the varsity contest. Still a 3 out of 4 night over any county rival is a good night's work.
Next up for the Gladiator teams will be some Tuesday night encounters with Fort Defiance. The girls are at home and should be favored. The boys lost at home the first time to the Indians but if they can put out the effort they did in this week's two road trips, they just might come out of the Fort as winners.
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