Just 24 hours after suffering their first losses at home this season, the Riverheads JV and Varsity teams rebounded big time tonight as each one produced a double-digit victory over visiting Waynesboro. The JVs won 50-36 and the varsity took a 65-43 win that even involved the rarely-seen running clock for a brief period in the fourth quarter.
However, we are good sports on here so it is only fair to acknowledge that the Little Giants were out two starters tonight, including their big man Damien Fisher who had been a HUGE factor in Waynesboro's five-point win the first time the two teams met. His absence was somewhat of a disappointment because the Gladiators had given Waynesboro an excellent game even with him in the line-up so they were no doubt looking forward to this game to see if they could handle him better this time around.
But it is what it is, and you have to play every game with the line-ups that are available on that particular tonight. So the healthier Gladiators led this one from wire to wire, taking as much as a 33 point lead before the Giants closed the gap late.
As soon as the visitors entered the gym tonight, the bandage just below Fisher's knee was evident and the tongues started to wag among the more knowledgeable Big Red fans. Would he start? Would he perhaps come in late or only if needed? But as the game wore on, it was obvious that he would not play at all. The good news for Giants fans is that he is expected to be back in action as early as Friday.
The Giants actually did have two other big men available that dwarfed anyone RHS could put on the floor but neither 6'5" Samir Moore or 6'7" Kyan Kirby could offer anywhere near Fisher's ability and as a result the Gladiators were able to control the boards on the evening.
The Big Red also won the turnover battle and obviously shot better. Elijah Dunlap led the way with a season-high 24 points, followed by 14 from Grant Painter. All of Painter's scoring came in the first half and each of them canned four three pointers. Content to work the perimeter and also fast-break when it was available, the Gladiators did not really need a big inside game tonight, but senior center Honor Robinson produced a respectable 11 points to give RHS a third double figure scorer.
To their credit the visitors did hang in the game reasonably well for most of the first half, trailing only 14-10 at the end of one. When Riverheads scored the first five points of the second quarter to make it 19-10, Waynesboro responded with six straight to get within one possession, but RHS ended the half with a 16-6 spurt to take a 35-22 lead into the locker room.
Any thoughts of a Giant rally were quickly dashed as the Big Red opened the second half on a 9-0 run to double up the score at 44-22 and they coasted from there. All 10 Gladiators were able to get into the game and nine of them scored.......the other six each tallying anywhere from two to four points. Wide-body Deacon Moore, who looks like anything BUT a three-point shooter, loves to try a couple each game and probably has a pretty decent percentage, so he gave the Big Red its ninth connection from behind the arc tonight.
So as they say in the sports world, a win is a win and the Gladiators will take it. Their big job now will be to put this one into its proper context and prepare for a trip to Buffalo Gap Friday where the Gladiators "could" fall to 1-3 in the district if they fail to handle the highly-unpredictable Bison. All the more reason to put this one in the rear view mirror quickly and focus on that crucial road trip.
As for the JV game, if there were any Waynesboro injuries or absences tonight, they were not evident to us so the Gladiators won this one simply by playing one of their best games of the season. Levi Byer especially was all over the floor tonight, leading the scoring but also playing an incredibly intelligent game on defense, including rebounding his butt off and drawing several charges on frustrated Giants shooters.
But the big difference tonight was in three-point shooting. In the previous game at Waynesboro, freshman Charles Haynes had put on one of the most unconscious three-point exhibitions we had ever seen. He could have connected from Stuarts Draft that night if he had tried. But neither he nor any other Little Giant could find the range consistently tonight as RHS put this one away with a 16-2 third quarter. Waynesboro rallied ever-so-briefly in the fourth but never enough to make a game of it as the Junior Gladiators improved their record to 8-4 on the season.
Meanwhile over in Waynesboro, the Lady Gladiators also swept both games to keep that train running, so we might want to mark this date on the calendar as the night the "country kids" were a perfect 4-0 against the school from the city.
However, we are good sports on here so it is only fair to acknowledge that the Little Giants were out two starters tonight, including their big man Damien Fisher who had been a HUGE factor in Waynesboro's five-point win the first time the two teams met. His absence was somewhat of a disappointment because the Gladiators had given Waynesboro an excellent game even with him in the line-up so they were no doubt looking forward to this game to see if they could handle him better this time around.
But it is what it is, and you have to play every game with the line-ups that are available on that particular tonight. So the healthier Gladiators led this one from wire to wire, taking as much as a 33 point lead before the Giants closed the gap late.
As soon as the visitors entered the gym tonight, the bandage just below Fisher's knee was evident and the tongues started to wag among the more knowledgeable Big Red fans. Would he start? Would he perhaps come in late or only if needed? But as the game wore on, it was obvious that he would not play at all. The good news for Giants fans is that he is expected to be back in action as early as Friday.
The Giants actually did have two other big men available that dwarfed anyone RHS could put on the floor but neither 6'5" Samir Moore or 6'7" Kyan Kirby could offer anywhere near Fisher's ability and as a result the Gladiators were able to control the boards on the evening.
The Big Red also won the turnover battle and obviously shot better. Elijah Dunlap led the way with a season-high 24 points, followed by 14 from Grant Painter. All of Painter's scoring came in the first half and each of them canned four three pointers. Content to work the perimeter and also fast-break when it was available, the Gladiators did not really need a big inside game tonight, but senior center Honor Robinson produced a respectable 11 points to give RHS a third double figure scorer.
To their credit the visitors did hang in the game reasonably well for most of the first half, trailing only 14-10 at the end of one. When Riverheads scored the first five points of the second quarter to make it 19-10, Waynesboro responded with six straight to get within one possession, but RHS ended the half with a 16-6 spurt to take a 35-22 lead into the locker room.
Any thoughts of a Giant rally were quickly dashed as the Big Red opened the second half on a 9-0 run to double up the score at 44-22 and they coasted from there. All 10 Gladiators were able to get into the game and nine of them scored.......the other six each tallying anywhere from two to four points. Wide-body Deacon Moore, who looks like anything BUT a three-point shooter, loves to try a couple each game and probably has a pretty decent percentage, so he gave the Big Red its ninth connection from behind the arc tonight.
So as they say in the sports world, a win is a win and the Gladiators will take it. Their big job now will be to put this one into its proper context and prepare for a trip to Buffalo Gap Friday where the Gladiators "could" fall to 1-3 in the district if they fail to handle the highly-unpredictable Bison. All the more reason to put this one in the rear view mirror quickly and focus on that crucial road trip.
As for the JV game, if there were any Waynesboro injuries or absences tonight, they were not evident to us so the Gladiators won this one simply by playing one of their best games of the season. Levi Byer especially was all over the floor tonight, leading the scoring but also playing an incredibly intelligent game on defense, including rebounding his butt off and drawing several charges on frustrated Giants shooters.
But the big difference tonight was in three-point shooting. In the previous game at Waynesboro, freshman Charles Haynes had put on one of the most unconscious three-point exhibitions we had ever seen. He could have connected from Stuarts Draft that night if he had tried. But neither he nor any other Little Giant could find the range consistently tonight as RHS put this one away with a 16-2 third quarter. Waynesboro rallied ever-so-briefly in the fourth but never enough to make a game of it as the Junior Gladiators improved their record to 8-4 on the season.
Meanwhile over in Waynesboro, the Lady Gladiators also swept both games to keep that train running, so we might want to mark this date on the calendar as the night the "country kids" were a perfect 4-0 against the school from the city.
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