The Riverheads boys closed out the second quarter with a furious 19-2 surge and never relinquished the lead as they held on to knock off the Bison on the road tonight. With the win, the Big Red moves to 3-0 on the season, with East Rock coming to Greenville on Thursday night.
The Gladiators had the best three-point night we have seen in many a moon as four different players combined to hit 10 out of 19 shots from behind the arc. That fell just one short of tying the school record, which is 11 in a game. Senior Brett Hostetler knocked down four of the long-range bombs, and the freshmen trio of Braeson Fulton, Grant Painter, and Elijah Dunlap hit two each. One of Dunlap's came with just 3 seconds left before halftime and was actually a rare four-point play.
In the early stages of the game, there were no indications whatsoever that Riverheads had even come to play as they seemed lethargic, enabling the Bison to grab the early lead. Gap led 15-11 after one, and soon stretched the advantage out to 12 points at 25-13.
But the Gladiators suddenly caught fire as Fulton, who had been held scoreless to that point, went on a personal 10-point spurt, and with Riverheads leading 28-27, a Bison turnover gave them one last opportunity and Dunlap knocked down his four points to send the visitors to the locker room ahead 32-27.
One of Painter's triples gave the Big Red its largest lead to that point of eight points at 37-29, but just when it looked like RHS would pull away to an easy win, the Bison made one last charge to tie things up at 37. Hostetler then put the Pride ahead to stay with back-to-back triples and moments later, Dunlap's second rainbow of the evening gave them a double-digit lead.
The stubborn Bison still would not accept their fate and closed to within 51-46, before some clutch free throws from Bradley Roberts and Drew Bond sealed the deal. At times in the second half, the Gladiators were using what amounted to a five-guard offense to take advantage of their quickness. In fact the game was so perimeter-oriented that Riverheads' two big men saw limited action and neither scored.
The balanced scoring had to put a smile on Coach Coffey's face as Fulton finished with 16, Hostetler 12, Roberts 9, Painter 8, Dunlap 7, and Bond 6. That kind of balance will make the Gladiators a hard team to defend, and if the three-point shooting continues to be a strength of the team, they should be in just about every game they play.
The Bison gave a game effort considering they were short-handed tonight and only dressed eight players. McGuffin led them with 16.
The Gladiators made it a clean sweep, as they pulled out a rugged 35-32 overtime decision in the JV game. Each team had multiple opportunities to score down the stretch but just couldn't put together enough points to pull away. I believe Zach Adams scored all five RHS points in the extra session as an intentional foul against the Bison proved to be the key play.
Having read the post about the Lady Gladiators also winning tonight, there is great joy in Greenville for the moment with each varsity team unbeaten. But both will be hard-pressed to keep their streaks alive, with the boys hosting East Rock Thursday and the girls traveling to Elkton, where wins by a visiting team are hard to come by. The Riverheads boys have never won there and if our girls ever have, it has only happened once. I seem to recall a Riverheads' girls win in Elkton last year or maybe the year before.....yes? no? maybe so?
The Gladiators had the best three-point night we have seen in many a moon as four different players combined to hit 10 out of 19 shots from behind the arc. That fell just one short of tying the school record, which is 11 in a game. Senior Brett Hostetler knocked down four of the long-range bombs, and the freshmen trio of Braeson Fulton, Grant Painter, and Elijah Dunlap hit two each. One of Dunlap's came with just 3 seconds left before halftime and was actually a rare four-point play.
In the early stages of the game, there were no indications whatsoever that Riverheads had even come to play as they seemed lethargic, enabling the Bison to grab the early lead. Gap led 15-11 after one, and soon stretched the advantage out to 12 points at 25-13.
But the Gladiators suddenly caught fire as Fulton, who had been held scoreless to that point, went on a personal 10-point spurt, and with Riverheads leading 28-27, a Bison turnover gave them one last opportunity and Dunlap knocked down his four points to send the visitors to the locker room ahead 32-27.
One of Painter's triples gave the Big Red its largest lead to that point of eight points at 37-29, but just when it looked like RHS would pull away to an easy win, the Bison made one last charge to tie things up at 37. Hostetler then put the Pride ahead to stay with back-to-back triples and moments later, Dunlap's second rainbow of the evening gave them a double-digit lead.
The stubborn Bison still would not accept their fate and closed to within 51-46, before some clutch free throws from Bradley Roberts and Drew Bond sealed the deal. At times in the second half, the Gladiators were using what amounted to a five-guard offense to take advantage of their quickness. In fact the game was so perimeter-oriented that Riverheads' two big men saw limited action and neither scored.
The balanced scoring had to put a smile on Coach Coffey's face as Fulton finished with 16, Hostetler 12, Roberts 9, Painter 8, Dunlap 7, and Bond 6. That kind of balance will make the Gladiators a hard team to defend, and if the three-point shooting continues to be a strength of the team, they should be in just about every game they play.
The Bison gave a game effort considering they were short-handed tonight and only dressed eight players. McGuffin led them with 16.
The Gladiators made it a clean sweep, as they pulled out a rugged 35-32 overtime decision in the JV game. Each team had multiple opportunities to score down the stretch but just couldn't put together enough points to pull away. I believe Zach Adams scored all five RHS points in the extra session as an intentional foul against the Bison proved to be the key play.
Having read the post about the Lady Gladiators also winning tonight, there is great joy in Greenville for the moment with each varsity team unbeaten. But both will be hard-pressed to keep their streaks alive, with the boys hosting East Rock Thursday and the girls traveling to Elkton, where wins by a visiting team are hard to come by. The Riverheads boys have never won there and if our girls ever have, it has only happened once. I seem to recall a Riverheads' girls win in Elkton last year or maybe the year before.....yes? no? maybe so?
