With the boys on the road and the girls defending the home turf, Riverheads got the job done tonight with victories in all four games, three of which were won by double digits. In the two girls games, RHS won the JV matchup 42-28 and the varsity 49-30. The latter victory, considering that it involves a 1-A team beating a 3-A, should pretty much lock up the number one seed for Riverheads when Region B action begins in a couple of weeks.
In the boys games, the Gladiator JVs prevailed 47-40 and the varsity won 54-43. Just like with the girls, the Gladiators will get some bonus points for beating a D-3 team but it is too early to tell how it will impact their Region B picture and of course being a non-district game, tonight's tilt had nothing to do with the wacky Shenandoah District race.
However, one observation I will make, and this is not meant to be any kind of slight against the Indians, but I do not think this game took as much out of Riverheads, either emotionally or physically as some others, which hopefully will mean they can be better prepared for tomorrow night's crucial district game at R E Lee.
What I mean by that is that tonight's game featured a lot of three-point action as unofficially RHS hit seven of them and the Indians eight. Obviously each of them also missed quite a few since nobody is perfect. So that means that there was less banging inside and the game just did not have the intensity we have seen in some of our games this season. For example, the recent home game with Stuarts Draft was an all-out war. Hopefully my theory will be correct and the Big Red will come out with a full tank of energy tomorrow night and give the Leemen all they can handle.
The Gladiator (boys) pretty much won each game tonight in the same fashion.....they started out a little bit slow but then put together two strong middle quarters, thereby forcing the Indians to play catch-up the rest of the way.
In the JV game, Fort led 8-6 after a sluggish first quarter, but Bennett Dunlap and Haydn Melady combined for three triples in a 17 point second quarter to put the visitors ahead 23-16 at the break. They extended that advantage to 35-21 after three quarters. The Indians then made a little bit of a rally, trimming it to five late in the game but the Gladiators kept their composure and salted away the win.
The nightcap was then somewhat similar with its script. Early triples by Grant Painter and Zack Adams, along with a pair of inside hoops from Forrest Shuey, put RHS ahead 12-6 late in the first. However, the Indians caught fire and went on a 9-0 spurt to take their largest lead of the game at 15-12 early in the second period.
But Riverheads spurted right back and by the time they ended the half on an 8-0 run and then began the second half with 11 more points in a row, they were up 31-15. Adams was the main force behind that third quarter spurt as he tallied six quick points, all on driving lay-ups, which have become a specialty of his lately.
Fort trimmed the lead to 41-30 by the end of the third and got it down to 8 a time or two in the fourth but you never really sensed that they were going to come back and win. After Josh Kinzel became the fifth Gladiator to connect from behind the arc, Honor Robinson did most of the hard work inside the rest of the way.
In a very balanced Gladiator attack, Painter finished with 13, Robinson 10, Adams 9, and three others had six......Drew Bond, Elijah Dunlap and Shuey. Vincent Sipe and Clayton Kershner led the home team with 12 and 11 respectively.
With the win, the Gladiators are now 10-7 on the season going into tomorrow night's Lee game. They then finish at home with Parry McCluer and Page County. Of course as announced months ago, next year any game in any sport between RHS and the Fort WILL be a Shenandoah District match as the league will be a compact, six-team All-Augusta County family for at least the next two years.
In the boys games, the Gladiator JVs prevailed 47-40 and the varsity won 54-43. Just like with the girls, the Gladiators will get some bonus points for beating a D-3 team but it is too early to tell how it will impact their Region B picture and of course being a non-district game, tonight's tilt had nothing to do with the wacky Shenandoah District race.
However, one observation I will make, and this is not meant to be any kind of slight against the Indians, but I do not think this game took as much out of Riverheads, either emotionally or physically as some others, which hopefully will mean they can be better prepared for tomorrow night's crucial district game at R E Lee.
What I mean by that is that tonight's game featured a lot of three-point action as unofficially RHS hit seven of them and the Indians eight. Obviously each of them also missed quite a few since nobody is perfect. So that means that there was less banging inside and the game just did not have the intensity we have seen in some of our games this season. For example, the recent home game with Stuarts Draft was an all-out war. Hopefully my theory will be correct and the Big Red will come out with a full tank of energy tomorrow night and give the Leemen all they can handle.
The Gladiator (boys) pretty much won each game tonight in the same fashion.....they started out a little bit slow but then put together two strong middle quarters, thereby forcing the Indians to play catch-up the rest of the way.
In the JV game, Fort led 8-6 after a sluggish first quarter, but Bennett Dunlap and Haydn Melady combined for three triples in a 17 point second quarter to put the visitors ahead 23-16 at the break. They extended that advantage to 35-21 after three quarters. The Indians then made a little bit of a rally, trimming it to five late in the game but the Gladiators kept their composure and salted away the win.
The nightcap was then somewhat similar with its script. Early triples by Grant Painter and Zack Adams, along with a pair of inside hoops from Forrest Shuey, put RHS ahead 12-6 late in the first. However, the Indians caught fire and went on a 9-0 spurt to take their largest lead of the game at 15-12 early in the second period.
But Riverheads spurted right back and by the time they ended the half on an 8-0 run and then began the second half with 11 more points in a row, they were up 31-15. Adams was the main force behind that third quarter spurt as he tallied six quick points, all on driving lay-ups, which have become a specialty of his lately.
Fort trimmed the lead to 41-30 by the end of the third and got it down to 8 a time or two in the fourth but you never really sensed that they were going to come back and win. After Josh Kinzel became the fifth Gladiator to connect from behind the arc, Honor Robinson did most of the hard work inside the rest of the way.
In a very balanced Gladiator attack, Painter finished with 13, Robinson 10, Adams 9, and three others had six......Drew Bond, Elijah Dunlap and Shuey. Vincent Sipe and Clayton Kershner led the home team with 12 and 11 respectively.
With the win, the Gladiators are now 10-7 on the season going into tomorrow night's Lee game. They then finish at home with Parry McCluer and Page County. Of course as announced months ago, next year any game in any sport between RHS and the Fort WILL be a Shenandoah District match as the league will be a compact, six-team All-Augusta County family for at least the next two years.
