Riverheads was fortunate enough to earn the right to host a quarterfinal game in both the boys and girls Shenandoah District tournaments tonight and they won both, although neither was very easy. In the opener, the boys held off a series of challenges from Page County to win 66-56 and in the nightcap, the girls pulled slowly away from Luray and won 44-33.
The first thing one noticed upon entering the gym tonight was that a rowdy student section (largely consisting of football players) was on hand, all decked out in their finest red garb, ready to cheer on their schoolmates. The second thing to take note of was the Gladiator boys were fully-staffed tonight. Zack Adams was back after missing Tuesday's game due to the flu, Honor Robinson who played some Tuesday but was clearly not himself had a little more pep to his step tonight, and Drew Bond seemed more comfortable with his shoulder brace.
So the action tipped off with a seesaw first quarter that ended with Riverheads on top 13-9. If there was such a thing as a turning point in the game, it was probably the second quarter as the Gladiators outscored Page 12-6, as Grant Painter, little brother Adam, and Elijah Dunlap each connected from behind the arc to give RHS a ten-point lead at the break.
After all that three-point action, the Gladiators then crossed up the Panthers in the third by giving a lay-up clinic as they jumped out to a 31-17 lead. A couple of fast breaks factored into that advantage. But Page would not go quietly and crept back into the game, largely due to Chase Combs, who would go on to lead all scorers with 26 points. He hit a couple of threes and toward the end of the quarter, Page had the lead down to just six at 41-35.
However, an Adams three just beat the third quarter horn to boost the lead back up to 9. Early in the fourth, Bond became the fifth Gladiator to hit from behind the arc as the lead fluctuated between 8 and 12 over the final stanza. To their credit, the Panthers never gave up as they gave Riverheads the best overall game of the three they played this year.
The Gladiators finished with a nice balanced scoring attack as they came close to having five guys in double digits. Grant Painter led the way with 20, Dunlap had 13, Adam Painter finished with 11, Bond had 8, and Adams 7. The Gladiators hit seven triples altogether and I would venture to say that Page probably topped that.
RHS will now travel to Stuarts Draft Tuesday for the semi-finals. That should be quite interesting as the Gladiators won there 66-64 on a buzzer-beating three by Grant Painter, before the Cougars turned the tables with a 77-73 win in Greenville.
In the nightcap, the girls game featured the individual duel of Riverheads senior Sara Moore against Luray's freshman phenom Emilee Weakley. Moore would eventually win that battle 21-19 but of course others made key plays along the way.
Luray jumped out to an early 6-0 lead on three foul shots from Weakley and a corner three-point shot (not sure who.) But Riverheads warmed up and closed the quarter with two fast-break lay-ups to lead 9-8 at the first horn.
The ragged play continued in the second quarter with more lead changes as the visiting Bulldogs took a 19-18 lead into the locker room. In an interesting statistical quirk, RHS had eight team fouls in the first half to only two by the Dogs, but both of them were committed by Weakley.
The fouls continued to go against the Big Red as the first four of the second half were called on the home team as three different girls picked up their third. But Luray was not able to take advantage as Riverheads surged ahead on a beautiful give and go by Moore and a wild twisting shot by Emma Grubb that gave the Big Red some breathing room at 27-21. Moore scored five straight for RHS for a 32-23 lead before Luray closed the quarter with a 5-1 surge to make it 33-28 heading into the fourth.
However, any thoughts the Lady Bulldogs had of making a comeback were dashed as they did not score again until the 2:47 mark. Meanwhile the Gladiators padded the lead on a nice stickback by Berkeley Tyree and seven more points from Moore. RHS led by as many as 14 down the stretch.
With the win the Gladiators now get a long rest before Wednesday's semi-final visit to Page. I have not seen the Page girls play but Riverheads should go into that one with a ton of confidence considering that: A) they took Page into overtime just this past Tuesday on that same floor; and B) Page had to struggle tonight to squeak past eighth-seeded Buffalo Gap 25-23. If the Bison could have pulled that one out, the Riverheads student section would be spending the weekend designing new costumes for next week as they would have hosted the Bison in the semis.
But as it is, they still have more home games to look forward to, as Riverheads will be hosting Region B quarterfinals, both boys and girls, on the 18th and 19th, with Stonewall Jackson expected to be the opponent on both nights.
The first thing one noticed upon entering the gym tonight was that a rowdy student section (largely consisting of football players) was on hand, all decked out in their finest red garb, ready to cheer on their schoolmates. The second thing to take note of was the Gladiator boys were fully-staffed tonight. Zack Adams was back after missing Tuesday's game due to the flu, Honor Robinson who played some Tuesday but was clearly not himself had a little more pep to his step tonight, and Drew Bond seemed more comfortable with his shoulder brace.
So the action tipped off with a seesaw first quarter that ended with Riverheads on top 13-9. If there was such a thing as a turning point in the game, it was probably the second quarter as the Gladiators outscored Page 12-6, as Grant Painter, little brother Adam, and Elijah Dunlap each connected from behind the arc to give RHS a ten-point lead at the break.
After all that three-point action, the Gladiators then crossed up the Panthers in the third by giving a lay-up clinic as they jumped out to a 31-17 lead. A couple of fast breaks factored into that advantage. But Page would not go quietly and crept back into the game, largely due to Chase Combs, who would go on to lead all scorers with 26 points. He hit a couple of threes and toward the end of the quarter, Page had the lead down to just six at 41-35.
However, an Adams three just beat the third quarter horn to boost the lead back up to 9. Early in the fourth, Bond became the fifth Gladiator to hit from behind the arc as the lead fluctuated between 8 and 12 over the final stanza. To their credit, the Panthers never gave up as they gave Riverheads the best overall game of the three they played this year.
The Gladiators finished with a nice balanced scoring attack as they came close to having five guys in double digits. Grant Painter led the way with 20, Dunlap had 13, Adam Painter finished with 11, Bond had 8, and Adams 7. The Gladiators hit seven triples altogether and I would venture to say that Page probably topped that.
RHS will now travel to Stuarts Draft Tuesday for the semi-finals. That should be quite interesting as the Gladiators won there 66-64 on a buzzer-beating three by Grant Painter, before the Cougars turned the tables with a 77-73 win in Greenville.
In the nightcap, the girls game featured the individual duel of Riverheads senior Sara Moore against Luray's freshman phenom Emilee Weakley. Moore would eventually win that battle 21-19 but of course others made key plays along the way.
Luray jumped out to an early 6-0 lead on three foul shots from Weakley and a corner three-point shot (not sure who.) But Riverheads warmed up and closed the quarter with two fast-break lay-ups to lead 9-8 at the first horn.
The ragged play continued in the second quarter with more lead changes as the visiting Bulldogs took a 19-18 lead into the locker room. In an interesting statistical quirk, RHS had eight team fouls in the first half to only two by the Dogs, but both of them were committed by Weakley.
The fouls continued to go against the Big Red as the first four of the second half were called on the home team as three different girls picked up their third. But Luray was not able to take advantage as Riverheads surged ahead on a beautiful give and go by Moore and a wild twisting shot by Emma Grubb that gave the Big Red some breathing room at 27-21. Moore scored five straight for RHS for a 32-23 lead before Luray closed the quarter with a 5-1 surge to make it 33-28 heading into the fourth.
However, any thoughts the Lady Bulldogs had of making a comeback were dashed as they did not score again until the 2:47 mark. Meanwhile the Gladiators padded the lead on a nice stickback by Berkeley Tyree and seven more points from Moore. RHS led by as many as 14 down the stretch.
With the win the Gladiators now get a long rest before Wednesday's semi-final visit to Page. I have not seen the Page girls play but Riverheads should go into that one with a ton of confidence considering that: A) they took Page into overtime just this past Tuesday on that same floor; and B) Page had to struggle tonight to squeak past eighth-seeded Buffalo Gap 25-23. If the Bison could have pulled that one out, the Riverheads student section would be spending the weekend designing new costumes for next week as they would have hosted the Bison in the semis.
But as it is, they still have more home games to look forward to, as Riverheads will be hosting Region B quarterfinals, both boys and girls, on the 18th and 19th, with Stonewall Jackson expected to be the opponent on both nights.
